CA smash and grab robberies

Yes!

I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you, but this is not just an inequality issue. It’s also an issue of dereliction of duty.

I mentioned Boudin earlier. There’s a very good reason why there’s plenty of backlash against him. When you have residents, businesses, workers saying, you know what, these policies are making conditions worse and crime rates keep spiking, then something is very wrong.

Restorative justice is one thing, but when you’re constantly failing to prosecute criminals and repeat offenders, then what do you think will happen? The last time I was in SF, I couldn’t believe how much the city had deteriorated. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be out on those streets day or night.

Re Breed’s and Boudin’s promises of accountability after the Union Square robberies, how come it took the burglaries of Saks and Louis Vuitton to do that? When other businesses and individuals were being robbed, I didn’t see this level of outrage from either of them. Walgreens fled the city because of constant theft. Did anyone hear Breed or Boudin lament that fact and promise accountability?

Reading about organized retail crime is a bit confusing. I read this from NBC:

“But city leaders are pushing back at that image after the release Monday of a midyear public safety report. Police data shows overall thefts are down 9 percent in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2020, when the city was on lockdown and many businesses closed during the onset of the pandemic.

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott and Mayor London Breed acknowledged that while some crime is up, including aggravated assaults, homicides and incidents with guns, the overall numbers of violent and property crimes have fallen.”

But also:

“Criminal justice experts say if California officials agree that moving away from mass incarceration and toward decriminalization of low-level offenses is imperative, then it's important to go after the bosses and co-conspirators rather than focusing on the shoplifters themselves, who may be paid juveniles and homeless people, according to officials.”

That makes sense to me, although the thieves should certainly be punished.

And the CA governor’s statement:

“ Governor Newsom Doubles Down on Ending Organized Retail Crime Rings
Published: Nov 22, 2021
SACRAMENTO — In response to a recent increase in organized retail theft activities across the state, Governor Gavin Newsom has directed the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to increase their presence near major retail sites and announced a proposed increase in the 2022-2023 state budget to combat retail theft.

“The level of organized retail theft we are seeing is simply unacceptable,” said Governor Newsom. “Businesses and customers should feel safe while doing their holiday shopping. That’s why California is substantially increasing CHP’s presence, especially near retail areas, and will be investing even more to aggressively curb retail crime. As a small business owner myself, I am resolved to holding these criminals accountable and protecting our local businesses.”

Since the weekend’s string of robberies, the administration has coordinated with local mayors, police departments and retailers to address the increase in felony theft. The state has increased the California Highway Patrol presence in highly-trafficked shopping areas. Saturation patrols will continue through the holiday season to assist allied partners in the apprehension of criminals as well as to improve public safety.

Addressing retail crime and safety has been a top priority for the Newsom Administration. In July, Governor Newsom joined law enforcement leaders and Big 13 mayors to reestablish CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force. Since its inception, the Task Force has held 773 investigations, leading to the arrests of 240 individuals and over $18.9 million in stolen merchandise recovered.

The Organized Retail Crime Task Force is responsible for collaborating with allied law enforcement agencies and district attorneys to identify and prosecute organized theft rings, recover lost merchandise, collaborate with the retail industry to reduce theft and improve safety for shoppers.”



So it seems that they are going to go after the theft rings, which makes sense to me. I hope that they succeed.


ETA: This piece is interesting. It talks about the structure of organized retail crime. We will all pay higher prices for it.

www.khou.com/article/news/crime/stealing-to-sell-organized-retail-crime/285-8ee893a7-35b3-4e39-b47c-4ab172825ff9

"It is too easy to blame the DA."

I’m replying to this post because I’m obviously the one who brought up the DA.

People don’t elect DAs to be advocates of the criminals. That’s not their job. Their job is to uphold the laws and ensure public safety. If you want to be an advocate for them, then be a public defender. I’m not against justice reforms. What I’m against is zealotry that sacrifices the safety of people who actually live, work, own businesses, pay taxes in that city. And we’re not just talking about auto break-ins and home invasions here.

How about the predominantly working class and ethnic areas like, let’s say Tenderloin, where residents and workers have to daily endure widespread open-air drug dealing, drug use, robberies and other crimes? If he truly cares about “communities of color that are so disproportionately affected by crime,” then what has he done about public safety there? For the black people, the Latinos, the Asians who live there and have to somehow find a way to deal with the mayhem because calling 911 is useless when repeat offenders are released anyway by the DA's office? Does he prosecute these criminals who’ve made that area a cesspit of drugs and crime? He said that drug dealers were mostly brought to the US by human traffickers so they’re really victims themselves. Alrighty then. Then be a public defender for those drug dealers, not the DA who’s supposed to advocate for the actual victims of crimes.

When a Dem herself initiated one of the recalls, in ultra-liberal SF, too, then maybe there’s enough people saying, you’re way too extreme with your policies, we need the law-and order people on our side, not the criminals’ side. As recalls go, yes, maybe this one will fail as well. But what it cannot do is silence the growing backlash.

I sometimes wonder if people who think he’s doing a fine job be that understanding and receptive if they had to step out of their homes every day onto sidewalks awash with drug dealers and users. Or have to lose customers for their small businesses because the customers don’t feel safe anymore? Or be raped because a repeat offender wasn’t prosecuted earlier? And I don’t know if a DA exhorting the public to look at “the bigger picture” does anything to anyone who has been a victim of violent crime. What would be your guess on that one?

People are not asking him to solve homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, etc. What people are saying to him is: Do Your Job.

This is why I vehemently dislike the idea of electing prosecutors. They become politicians. Prosecutors should never be ideologues.