The numbers are troubling. Last year, San Francisco had the highest per capita property crime rate of any major city in the U.S., continuing a trend we’ve seen for the last couple of years.
According to FBI statistics, there were 54,356 property crimes in San Francisco in 2017, up from 47,000 the previous year. We’re looking at 5,168 crimes per 100,000 people or 148 crimes ranging from car theft to burglary and arson per day in the City by the Bay.
Robert Rueca, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department, blamed the shocking figures on an auto break-in epidemic which City News wrote about back in 2016.
"The epidemic has now pitted agencies against one another," we wrote. "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."
Despite the disappointing numbers, the city continues to make progress on the auto break-in front, Rueca said.
Read more here.