I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled • Hacker News Board

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#51

Post by epicureanideal » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:12 AM UTC

ma2rten wrote: post #41

throwaway1959 wrote: post #7

I do not think that the current crime situation in San Francisco appeared by some fluke or an accident. Specific policies were put in place by the progressive government officials and progressive people in San Francisco voted for these policies. I think is a cautionary tale for the rest of the country on what happens when progressive utopia gets voted in.

I actually don't know if the crime rate in SF is higher than elsewhere, but if it is I think cause is the opposite. It's what happens when capitalism goes unchecked. Cost of living is on the rise while wages are stagnant. Crimes are often committed by people who are desperate. Also there are no facilities for people who are mentally ill, who will go on to commit crimes.

Capitalism isn't what's happening in SF.

NIMBYism, cronyism, inability to build, tons of regulatory red tape to do anything, high taxes, etc. is not capitalism.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#52

Post by smsm42 » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:13 AM UTC

jypepin wrote: post #27

There are a lot of homeless and SF is indeed in shit hole in a lot of areas, but I don't understand people who say they wouldn't visit because it's not safe or whatever. Looking at crime rate rankings [0], SF is pretty low compared to other US cities both in terms or violant crimes and property crimes. What am I missing? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...

Compared to Medellín or Fallujah, it's probably even more safe. But I don't go to these places either. And compared to, say, just going to the beach, going there is much more dangerous, with pretty much zero benefits - even if I don't get mugged (which I most likely won't - I don't have anything valuable on me and I don't look like somebody inviting to be messed with) I will just end up being pissed off about how disgusting it all became. And then there's a risk they break a window in my car just because, if I go in a car. Or I step in somebody's poop. Why would I need all that trouble?

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#53

Post by yupper32 » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:13 AM UTC

84fryb75 wrote: post #9

In early 2020, before lockdown, I visited San Francisco as a tourist with my wife. We took a wrong turn at a book store and wound up on a street covered in feces. The next street was fine. Then on the next, we watched a homeless woman shoot up on the street. Then a supercar pulled into a garage. I'm not the best traveled, I'll admit, so I can't compare SF to foreign cities. I'm a simple hillbilly from the Southeast,…

> This was my third time in SF.

> Also, I've always refused to move to Silicon Valley

> The author is in denial.

> it is a really expensive shithole

I'm always amazed by people who have visited a place a few times as a tourist and think "I'm qualified to shit on people who choose to live here". What makes you think you have any say in the situation?

SF has massive neighborhood diversity as far as living situations go. Yeah, the downtown and tourist areas suck. So what? That's the case in a ton of cities. I've lived in a neighborhood here for 7 years that has low crime, no shit on the streets, and is generally a great place to live.

Yeah, we've got a shit DA right now which hurts the city with increased petty crimes. We'll turn it around eventually.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#54

Post by kenneth » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:13 AM UTC

bosswipe wrote: post #20

A lot of people blame SF's prosecutor but that makes no sense, this is a policing problem. The police is lazy and won't do their job. The police union sees their role as deflecting blame while working as little as possible and collecting their six figure salaries. The reason to defund the police is because they're awful at their jobs, throwing more money after bad won't help. I know I'll be downvoted here because peo…

Actually, no, the problem isn't so much with the police as with the district attorney's office. The police can arrest these people, but it's entirely pointless when the DA won't prosecute them and they're back on the street in 24h with no penalty for their crimes whatsoever. I can't blame the police for not even bothering to arrest people they know will be let go immediately.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#55

Post by devoutsalsa » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:13 AM UTC

84fryb75 wrote: post #9

In early 2020, before lockdown, I visited San Francisco as a tourist with my wife. We took a wrong turn at a book store and wound up on a street covered in feces. The next street was fine. Then on the next, we watched a homeless woman shoot up on the street. Then a supercar pulled into a garage. I'm not the best traveled, I'll admit, so I can't compare SF to foreign cities. I'm a simple hillbilly from the Southeast,…

Yeah, I lived in the Tendernob neighborhood of SF for almost 10 years. I’d always pass by a lot of what you’re talking about...

- At one point I did a lot of walking there and to keep myself entertained I started tracking PPM (poops per mile)

- one day I walked by a woman peeing between two cars, and she noticed me & apologized. Later I walked back that same route and saw her again. She thanked me for not yelling at her, as she had no where else to go :(

- one day while walking to work, a guy facing away from me pulled down his pants and leaned over. I had to dodge what he launched out the backside. It was maybe the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen.

- I gave a beer to a homeless guy, and he chugged it & threw the can into the street. I asked him why he didn’t put it in the trash can right next to us, and he explained that he didn’t want the tiny Asian women who forage for recyclables to get stabbed by the needles in the trash cans, and that one of them would be along to get the can shortly. Sure enough, less than 5 minutes later, a woman pushing a shopping cart full of cans walked by, picked up the beer can, and continued on.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#56

Post by smsm42 » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:14 AM UTC

chipotle_coyote wrote: post #42

jypepin wrote: post #27

There are a lot of homeless and SF is indeed in shit hole in a lot of areas, but I don't understand people who say they wouldn't visit because it's not safe or whatever. Looking at crime rate rankings [0], SF is pretty low compared to other US cities both in terms or violant crimes and property crimes. What am I missing? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...

You're "missing" that San Francisco's policies (and to a degree California's as a whole) are always used as political footballs. Whatever the perceived issue is, it's always clearly due to [insert controversial policy and/or politician here, whether the controversy is genuine or imagined] and a sign of why San Francisco is always [the way of the future|an object lesson to others].

I'd really like to see somebody claiming right now that Chesa Boudin's policies and their results are "the way of the future".

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#57

Post by laurent92 » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:14 AM UTC

phsau wrote: post #15

throwaway1959 wrote: post #7

I do not think that the current crime situation in San Francisco appeared by some fluke or an accident. Specific policies were put in place by the progressive government officials and progressive people in San Francisco voted for these policies. I think is a cautionary tale for the rest of the country on what happens when progressive utopia gets voted in.

Which policies?

Same as in France:

- Being lenient towards criminals because we need to have empathy towards all humans (real victims being forgotten here);

- Encouraging “deconstruction”, deconstruction of family values, of masculinity, of marriage, of traditional rules, replacement by state-sponsored benefits, which break the social fabric (a human as a free-spinning electron without roots may be healthy and wealthy, but at extremely high risk in case of unexpected event);

- Cult of female employment as their main role in society, which, in positions of power, happens to soften the stance towards criminals and deconstruct structures (hierarchies, things that worked to develop our nations, justice system). I don’t know the ratio for Cali but in France, 76 to 81% graduates of ENM (main school for judges) are female since 1977, and we basically free the criminals because they have compassion for them.

- Immigration and being ostracized when pointing out illegal immigration or rules about it, which leads to unreasoned immigration. Which turns into people with broken social fabric, which means they weigh on state sponsored rescue instead of family.

But the biggest danger about a California is that it impacts the whole rest of the world: they apply their cultural pressure using the soft power that is social media, which puts the sane parts of the world at risk of having the same ideas.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#58

Post by hn_throwaway_99 » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:15 AM UTC

jypepin wrote: post #27

There are a lot of homeless and SF is indeed in shit hole in a lot of areas, but I don't understand people who say they wouldn't visit because it's not safe or whatever. Looking at crime rate rankings [0], SF is pretty low compared to other US cities both in terms or violant crimes and property crimes. What am I missing? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...

In that wikipedia article, sort by "Larceny-Theft" descending. San Francisco is number 2 per capita.

The issue with San Francisco is that, like this author reported, you see so much brazen property crime, in broad daylight with tons of people around, in otherwise upscale and/or touristy areas. Most of the crime in other cities is concentrated in bad neighborhoods (that is pretty much what makes a bad neighborhood bad).

Years ago I was in a packed Starbucks in a somewhat touristy area of SoMa, when a guy came in and pulled a gun on someone working on a laptop closest to the door, just grabbed his laptop (ripping the plug out of the wall socket) and ran, and there were tons of people on the street.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#59

Post by 8ytecoder » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:15 AM UTC

almost_usual wrote: post #31

SF is a weird city crime wise, lots of property crime and theft. Occasional shootings but nothing like a rust belt war zone city. San Francisco’s crime is mostly inconvenient for rich people, that’s why it’s in the news. St. Louis is the 13th most dangerous city in the world but you won’t hear about it. https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-mo...

Probably just that the contrast is so stark.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#60

Post by epicureanideal » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:15 AM UTC

imgabe wrote: post #50

olivermarks wrote: post #30

SF District Attorney Chesa Boudin ran for office in November 2019 focusing his campaign on ending mass incarceration with restorative justice models, rather than punitive incarceral methods. Since then crime in SF has absolutely exploded, fuelled by proposition 47 which reduced stealing less than $900 day to a misdemeanor. Add in a massive opioid crisis and the result is a rapidly growing crisis of shoplifting, petty…

It seems like a group of 10 concerned citizens could get together and steal $9000 per day from Chesa Boudin until he realizes this is a bad policy.

The politicians would find a way to charge you for it, because the law in the USA is applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner. If you're not a political opponent of them, they'll let the law operate (or not) as it normally would. If you're a political opponent, they'll scour the laws to find something to get you with, or at least prosecute you until you're bankrupt even knowing they won't convict.