It’s become routine for those living in San Francisco: Turn off the ignition, open your glove compartment and center console, lock the door, and pray that no one breaks in. Unfortunately, luck still won't be on your side.
A surge of automobile break-ins has recently gripped the affluent city. Automobile burglaries in San Francisco have now surpassed those in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and every other major city in the nation, with 25,899 break-ins reported last year.
It’s good business for auto repair shops, that’s for sure.
"It's been insane," said Auto Glass Now manager Julio Lara of the smash-and-grabs. "It's nonstop."
Not even law enforcement is immune. Last fall, a gun was stolen after someone broke into the car of a California Highway Patrol officer. The man who murdered 32-year-old Kate Steinle also acquired his weapon from a smash-and-grab of a vehicle belonging to a federal agent.
The epidemic has now pitted agencies against one another. The police department blames the D.A. The D.A. blames the police department. The mayor blames judges for not going tough enough on criminals. But in the end, they’re all hamstrung by Proposition 47 which reduced many property crimes like auto burglaries to misdemeanors, the critics say. Meanwhile, San Franciscans just want it to stop.
San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr vowed to fight the surge in auto break-ins before he left office. He created a special investigative unit, increased patrols and ordered every burglarized auto to be dusted for fingerprints. Those changes have already led to several recent arrests and convictions, but they have yet to be reflected in the data. The city is therefore hopeful that we’ll get a more positive picture of the situation at the end of the year.
Read more about San Francisco’s automobile burglary epidemic here.
Image Credit: Flickr User scruch, https://flic.kr/p/8pDsKN via (CC BY 2.0)