San Francisco Crime Levels

[catsinthecity]

I couldn’t agree with you more. Last week a drug addicted woman gave birth to baby on the sidewalk. People walk around with their pants down, and children walk past this on their way to school, and somehow people see this as normal. I love SF, but city officials are not doing enough, and whatever they are doing isn’t working.

[ChezCurie]

I am deleting what I wrote here. Thank you @jym626 for your post—you said it all.

[jym626]

I am sorry you chose to delete your post. It was a balanced description of your experiences in SF. Hope you reconsider.

[ChezCurie]

Thank you @jym626. Although I won’t be able recreate my post, I would say that my day in SF just a few months ago was wonderful. We had great food that my kid said rivaled what they had eaten in Beijing, enjoyed an in depth conversation with a store clerk whose son just graduated from med school, and looked at cheap jewelry and trinkets displayed outside on a sunny September afternoon.

When I lived in SF in 1991-1992, I was constantly afraid. The majority of my fear came from real and perceived violence both in my neighborhood and from that experienced by my students. From the quick google searches I did, SF had more violent crimes in the 1990s than it does now. Maybe this decrease is what I was picking up on.

Because of my experiences during 1991-1992 and all that I’ve read on the news and in the posts on this thread, I would have expected to be writing about all of the atrocities I saw or experienced that day. This just didn’t happen. This is not to say that I don’t believe anyone else’s experiences. I don’t doubt that a woman gave birth on the sidewalk, nor do I doubt that near the Civic Center one has to walk around numerous people who have no other place to live but the street. I am simply posting about my truth on one, very nice, day.

[jym626]

Again, who said it was “normal”? Please point that out.

[ucbalumnus]

@ChezCurie

When I lived in SF in 1991-1992, I was constantly afraid. The majority of my fear came from real and perceived violence both in my neighborhood and from that experienced by my students. From the quick google searches I did, SF had more violent crimes in the 1990s than it does now. Maybe this decrease is what I was picking up on.

1991-1992 was during the peak crime years in the US generally, so it is not surprising that most places in the US had much higher crime then than now.

[OhiBro]

Confirmed my side excursion to the Bay during my upcoming trip to LA. Going to be fun.

[1NJParent]

From The New York Times today:

SAN FRANCISCO — Last year, with pandemic lockdowns in the rearview mirror, Whole Foods Market made a bet on a gritty San Francisco neighborhood. The high-end supermarket chain opened a giant flagship store in a part of the city that is home to both tech companies like Twitter and open-air drug dealing.

But the store was soon confronted head-on with many of the problems plaguing the area. People threatened employees with guns, knives and sticks. They flung food, screamed, fought and tried to defecate on the floor, according to records of 568 emergency calls over 13 months, many depicting scenes of mayhem.

“Male w/machete is back,” the report on one 911 call states. “Another security guard was just assaulted,” another says. A man with a four-inch knife attacked several security guards, then sprayed store employees with foam from a fire extinguisher, according to a third.

In September, a 30-year-old man died in the bathroom from an overdose of fentanyl, a highly potent opioid, and methamphetamine.

When Whole Foods announced in mid-April that it was closing the store, citing the safety of its employees, many in San Francisco saw it as a representation of some of the city’s most intractable problems: property crimes like shoplifting and car break-ins, an entrenched network of dealers selling fentanyl and other illicit drugs and people suffering from untreated mental illness wandering the streets.

The closure also seemed to be the latest indicator of San Francisco’s faltering economic prospects, providing more grist for an ongoing debate over where the city is headed after tying its fate to the tech industry. The Whole Foods was supposed to cater to tech workers and other professionals, part of a long-term redevelopment plan downtown. But the store fell victim to a grinding decline in the city’s center that began with the pandemic and could continue for years as companies vacate offices because of remote work.
…
Police described theft as rampant at Whole Foods, with thieves walking out with armfuls of alcohol, at least at the start. After 250 shopping hand baskets were stolen, the company restocked with 50 more. Those went missing, too.

During the store’s 13 months in operation, at least 14 people were arrested, including on charges of grand theft and battery, according to official reports. Chief Scott said that plainclothes officers were sent there and security improved over time, but seemingly not enough for the company.

On a recent chilly night across from the shuttered store, Joseph Peterson, a former construction worker who lost both of his legs to diabetes and is homeless, rolled down the sidewalk in his wheelchair. Mr. Peterson could see the 2,000-unit Trinity apartments, the high-end complex that Whole Foods had hoped would be its customer base. Across the intersection, security guards stood sentry in front of the Orpheum Theater, where “Pretty Woman: The Musical” was playing. A few dozen steps away, dealers peddled fentanyl and crystal meth.

Mr. Peterson said he understood why Whole Foods had closed the store.

“People kept stealing from it,” he said. He, too, had taken macaroni and cheese and chicken from the hot food bar a number of times, he said. But he made a distinction. Other people stole from the store because they wanted to resell what they took.

“I just stole to eat,” he said.

San Francisco Whole Foods Closure Reflects City’s Economy and Crime Woes - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

[jym626]

The city has been very lax on prosecuting shoplifters. Whether right or wrong, there is a level of understanding for the homeless, and it gets taken advantage of.

[gosmom]

from SF Chronicle Sunday…
https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/whole-foods-civic-center-17906567.php?cmpid=gsa-sfgate-result

It wasn’t solely a safety issue…

[Rivet2000]

Yes, let’s keep saying that. Until we no longer can.

[vpa2019]

It seems WF is rectifying a poor business decision regardless of whether it’s crime or demographics or both that precipitated the closure.

[seal16]

Nordstrom to Close Both Stores in Downtown San Francisco

[sbinaz]

Wow!

[bluebayou]

Not surprised, with the organized theft rings it will be extremely difficult for any retailer to remain in business.

[gouf78]

It’ll be interesting to see where the crime rings move to next as the easy pickings dry up.

[silverlady]

Do you blame them?

[sbinaz]

Nope!

It’s sad, though. I grew up in the SF Bay Area and when I was a kid, we’d take BART to SF and it was great fun just browsing through all of the fancy stores like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, etc. Now no more Nordstrom in downtown SF! Sad. But I’m not surprised.

The urban blight is going to spread. Downtown Portland, OR is having similar problems, with stores like REI closing their downtown flagship store after being there for YEARS. With big stores like that closing, crime rising, the police having 1 hand tied behind their backs because local city laws/ordinances prohibit them from arresting and prosecuting certain crimes, enough people are fed up that they’re leaving.

Businesses are leaving. People are moving away. And the people that do live close enough to visit are going to visit a lot less.

Before you know it, it’ll end up looking like Detroit did before Detroit started some of its urban revitalization stuff.

[mtmind]

@bluebayou

Not surprised, with the organized theft rings it will be extremely difficult for any retailer to remain in business.

@gouf78

It’ll be interesting to see where the crime rings move to next as the easy pickings dry up.

The article said nothing about “organized theft rings.”

[bluebayou]

Just bcos the NYT doesn’t include write about stuff doesn’t mean that other stuff doesn’t exist.

hint: there have been plenty of local articles about the theft rings and how they operate.