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Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

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Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#351

Post by chaboud »

I had a car broken into this last weekend. They broke into every rental car in the lot (by the ferry building).

A police officer was rolling through, telling people not to leave anything visible in their cars (nothing was visible in mine). I asked him if I could file a report, and he told me I would have to go to the station. He told me he wasn't sticking around and refused to take a report.

I had a similar experience last year with an officer who tried to talk us out of filing a report for a man with a hatchet who had shattered car windows with it, and I had a dispatcher refuse to send an officer for a theft crew that I'd stopped in the middle of breaking into a car before they waved a gun at me and drove at me and my son over the sidewalk.

I've also had them refuse to take reports at our neighborhood station, forcing me to go to the Mission station to file a report.

The police in San Francisco are less than useless. We should fire the whole set and start over.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#353

Post by mcntsh »

tchaffee wrote: post #132

Here's a good place to compare to other cities, if comparing is even a reasonable thing to do [1]. Sort by Total for Property Crime. Notably Albuquerque, Spokane, and Memphis have higher total property crime rates. But perhaps wouldn't make such an interesting headline for those in tech. Also notable that Orlando, FL is high on the list. But Irvine, CA and Tampa, FL are at the bottom of the list. Please also read the…

I guess the shocking part is that you have all of this theft and crime and grit, all happening around people making hundreds of thousands a year living in multi million dollar houses. Go look at the tax revenue of San Francisco vs Albuquerque. It's unacceptable for a city so rich to have such a dismal quality of life.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#354

Post by eropple »

thehappypm wrote: post #252
thatfrenchguy wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You probably just live in a safe neighborhood frankly. I live in a safe hood in SF and never got anything stolen, and I've seen only one broken car window in the past year. It's night and day compared to Paris for me.

Boston is a very, very safe place. There are really a very small number of bad neighborhoods (Mass & Cass for example).

I agree with you. Boston has an old reputation for sketchy areas. It surely was justified at one point, too (as well as outlying areas; Somerville was a bit eyebrow-raising when I was young, I remember that). But for most of the city, especially the places folks on HN are likely to ever be, it's quite safe. My parents sent me breathless statistics about Dorchester being a hive of scum and villainy and for being among "the least safe" areas of Boston, I never even saw a broken window, let alone heard gunshots or read reports of violence.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#355

Post by awillen »

barbariangrunge wrote: post #202

First, this survey seems to be about the last 5 years, which is noteworthy. Also, > a quarter have been threatened or physically attacked That's a much scarier thing. 1/4 people were threatened or attacked in a 5 year period? That's pretty rough

Does being screamed at by a homeless person that they're going to murder you count as being threatened? Actual question... I didn't really think they were seriously going to try to murder me (particularly since these were usually either when I was walking my large dog or in the very crowded FiDi).

I live in San Diego now.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#356

Post by [deleted] »

pclmulqdq wrote: post #275
x86x87 wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Law enforcement is useless if they pick and choose which laws to enforce. Laws themselves are pointless if they are not enforced (or even worse: selectively enforced)

I'm guessing that if a rich, white or Asian tech worker decided to loot a Walgreens, they would get the book thrown at them. Look at the small business owners in New York who get arrested and charged with everything possible by the DA's office for defending themselves (until public pressure forces them to back down). That's where we are. This is what the people voted for, though.

[deleted]

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#357

Post by PragmaticPulp »

galangalalgol wrote: post #290
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Reading this headline I thought to myself, this can't be possible. But then I remembered It's funny, this is exactly what happens when I talk to my SF friends about crime. They have an immediate defensive reaction to insist it's not that bad, but then they slowly start recalling various crime experiences they've had in the past year . It's as if the constant background level of crime has reset their expectations of…

My response was "only half?". Seriously, isn't this true everywhere? I've jad things stolen in small towns and in big cities that are "tough on crime" and have citizens that vote for that. Theft is just part of life right? If I've just lived in bad places, where would one suggest that most people don't experience theft?

> Seriously, isn't this true everywhere? I've jad things stolen in small towns and in big cities

This is baffling to me. I'm currently in a medium sized city. When someone in my social circle has something stolen, it's a big deal. The last time it happened was several years back, and it upset the person enough that they moved to a new neighborhood as soon as possible.

It's so weird to read these accounts from people who think constant theft and crime are just normal.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#358

Post by freyr »

rrdharan wrote: post #248

Since folks are sharing stories.. I lived in the Mission for about 10 years (2003-2012). My apartment was broken into, my car was broken into multiple times, my roommate was mugged at knifepoint and stabbed (she was fine), my bike was stripped for parts (they stole the handlebars / shifters and seat while it was locked up), and my car was stolen, driven around the neighborhood in broad daylight when I spotted it at 1…

> the abysmal dating prospects

It really is bad, right, and not my imagination? I feel like I’ve wasted a decade of my life here on an endless string of bad first dates with no mutual attraction.

It wasn’t like that in other places I’ve lived. I mentioned this to a family member recently, and they said it’s harder because I’m getting older. That’s probably true, but I swear it’s rough in this city.

It’s a bit like buying a house here: you spend a huge amount of time, effort, and money, and end up with less than you’d get back home.

Hope NYC worked out better for you.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#359

Post by rufus_foreman »

chaboud wrote: post #351

I had a car broken into this last weekend. They broke into every rental car in the lot (by the ferry building). A police officer was rolling through, telling people not to leave anything visible in their cars (nothing was visible in mine). I asked him if I could file a report, and he told me I would have to go to the station. He told me he wasn't sticking around and refused to take a report. I had a similar experienc…

Who did you vote for?

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#360

Post by Spooky23 »

kalkin wrote: post #347
pclmulqdq wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really up to the prosecutors, not the cops. They tell the cops "we are not charging people for doing X," so the cops don't arrest anyone for X. At least in NYC and SF, there are written statements from the DA's office to this effect.

Can you provide a link to these statements? How old are they? FWIW I don't live in SF but I've had a couple of car break-ins and I don't even remember if I reported them; it was a formality for insurance purposes if so and I never expected nor saw evidence of any police follow up. Are there cities where that's different?

NYC:

> “Bragg said the office will stop prosecuting people for theft of services, trespassing (unless it accompanies a stalking charge), aggravated unlicensed operation, routine traffic violations not accompanied by felony charges, obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest, and prostitution.“

https://gothamist.com/news/manhattan-da-bragg-tells-staff-st...

The Manhattan DA subsequently claimed to roll back the policy, but they are still not interested in prosecuting. I travel to NYC on business regularly, and I’ve seen 6/6 times in the last 8 months people at various stations openly evading Subway fares. In one case, a dude was holding a gate open and yelling at people to come through and not bother paying - with 2 NYPD sitting there talking about 10 feet away.

In my small upstate city, they’ll only even pretend to investigate a burglary. We have issues with people partying (drinking, smoking weed, having sex, eating and dumping trash in the street) in cars in nice neighborhoods. We have muggings, car thefts, robberies, etc like never before. The cops shrug, as their operating orders prevent them from doing anything.

The “progressive” governance model is to suck up to activists to get the campaign cash. Activists want the cops to stand down to street crime. Ultimately the people who live on the wrong side of the tracks suffer. It’s gross.

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