Umpteen stories about the crime crisis in San Francisco have been written just in the last month alone, with CBS News, NBC News, and the SF Chronicle among the numerous outlets interviewing frustrated residents and business owners alike who say they are at their wits’ end and that the city is failing them.
ABC 7 News has a crime tracker for Bay Area cities including San Francisco, and the stats don’t lie.
“Robberies over the last 12 months are up 5% compared to the annual average over the last three years, according to San Francisco Police Department data through March 12,” the site noted on the “robberies” tab as of this writing.
“Thefts over the last 12 months are up 12% compared to the annual average over the last three years, according to San Francisco Police Department data through March 12,” they also noted on the “thefts” tab.
While they indicated that burglaries were down 15%, their map shows three areas in San Francisco (“Southern,” “Central,” and “Northern”) where the crime rate is “higher than the citywide rate.”
Source: ABC 7 Crime Tracker as of 3-19-23.
CNN reporter Kyung Lah and producer Jason Kravarik traveled to San Francisco last week to interview residents about the crime problem there and voter discontent over the matter. But while there, the CNN crew were robbed multiple times according to Lah, who detailed their experience in a Twitter thread:
Kravarik described the criminals in San Francisco as being “on another level” than what you normally see in the average city:
“Bc so many people get their cars broken into and their bags stolen, @SouthwestAir was very used to my lack-of-ID problem and smoothly gave me my ticket after a brief security check. Off to TSA now,” Lah also wrote in a now-deleted (for an unknown reason) tweet.
In another, Lah also highlighted gas station “hits” in Oakland where luggage is routinely stolen:
Last month, the San Francisco Standard described Oakland’s Airport Plaza as being “a thieves’ paradise.”
In another tweet that has since been deleted, Lah provided an update on her colleague’s bag:
“#Update! Bella Trattoria found @jasonkCNN bag. It was dumped near where more thieves were trying to break into a patron’s car. Computer was gone but his personal items were recovered.”
The full thread that includes the two deleted tweets can also be read here.
Sadly, some of the smash and grab robberies in San Francisco have led to murder:
Jen Angel, a beloved local bakery owner and social justice community activist, died on Thursday from injuries she suffered in a violent robbery, according to her close friends. She was 48.[…]On Monday, Angel was sitting inside her car behind a bank on Webster Street in Oakland when a thief broke into the car and grabbed her purse. The robber darted into a getaway vehicle that was waiting nearby, police said.[…]“The victim exited their vehicle and attempted to retrieve their stolen belongings from the individual. While the victim struggled for their belongings, they were knocked to the ground and sustained injuries,” the Oakland Police Department told KRON4.Angel was dragged by the getaway car. The entire incident happened in broad daylight.
Though radical soft-on-crime DA Chesa Boudin was recalled by San Francisco voters last summer, the far-left city has a long way to go to make the city’s residents and business owners feel safe enough to stick around rather than flee to safer cities and states.
A good place to start would be to maybe stop electing woke politicians who prioritize things like reparations over getting tough on crime? Just a thought.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY