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S.F.'s new plan to curb car break-ins: Offering tipsters $100,000
| grizzly galvanic preventive strike | 10/19/21 |
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Date: October 19th, 2021 8:18 PM Author: grizzly galvanic preventive strike S.F.'s new plan to curb car break-ins: Offering tipsters $100,000 Photo of J.K. Dineen J.K. Dineen Oct. 19, 2021 Updated: Oct. 19, 2021 4:53 p.m. Comments San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks during a press conference announcing a new auto burglary deterrence incentive in front of Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, on Tuesday. San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks during a press conference announcing a new auto burglary deterrence incentive in front of Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, on Tuesday.
Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Weary of the relentless auto smash-and-grabs targeting unsuspecting visitors to San Francisco, a group of tourism-related business groups have ponied up $225,000 in rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the leaders of the organized criminal fencing rings.
Standing at Aquatic Park on Tuesday morning with Ghirardelli Square as a backdrop and the bells of cable cars clanging in the distance, San Francisco Mayor London Breed vowed that the post-pandemic reopening of the city would not be marred by the heartbreaking stories of shattered windows and stolen luggage that has become so common in the city.
The incentive to rat out the fencing kingpins for a cash reward will lead to more “eyes and ears on the street” that will help police crack the break-in cases, she said.
“Criminals are committing these acts in broad daylight in the city, and they think they can get away with it,” said Breed.
Under the new cash reward system, which is being fully funded by private donors in the hospitality and tourism industry — including Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the Golden Gate Restaurant Association — individuals who provide accurate information will be compensated up to $100,000. So far, funds raised exceed $225,000.
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The announcement comes three months after the city increased police patrols in tourism-rich enclaves like Fisherman’s Wharf, Alamo Square and the Palace of Fine Arts. That program, dubbed Tourism Deployment Plan, added 26 police officers on bicycle and foot patrols to sought-after travel destinations citywide. Police are being aided by a network of retired officers, called “community-based ambassadors,” who also patrol the areas.
Breed said those efforts have lead to a 37% decrease in auto brake-ins, from 566 the week of July 4, to 358 last week. But she acknowledged that the drop is little consolation to hundreds of visitors and locals who have their cars broken into every week, Breed said.
And this week San Francisco’s auto break-in epidemic again made national news when Australian muscian Clinton Kane was held up at gunpoint and had $30,000 in camera equipment stolen while filming a music video in the Cow Hollow neighborhood. Kane has 1.5 million TikTok followers.
In an Instagram post to his 245,000 followers Kane said: “hey guys just got to San Francisco to film for the album and in an hour of being here we had a gun pointed to our faces and everything was stolen so this trip is going QUITE GREAT.”
But the reduction in auto break-ins “doesn’t matter to that one person who has that experience,” Breed said.
“Just imagine going to visit the most beautiful city in the world and coming back to your car and actually witnessing someone breaking into your car ... and holding you hostage at gunpoint,” Breed said. “That situation would make you think differently about San Francisco. It is tragic. It is really embarrassing for our city. It is frustrating. And it gives people the impression that it’s not safe to come here.”
Small Business Commission President Sharky Laguana said that the recent announcement that Walgreen’s is closing five San Francisco stores because of theft distracts from the fact that most victims of shoplifting and auto break-ins are regular residents or small business owners. He mentioned Warm Planet Bikes on Market Street, which in August had its entire inventory stolen.
“Drugstores are not the biggest victims. The biggest victims are working families who don’t have the money or time to repair windows, replace phones or go find new bicycles,” he said. “They are not the ones who have to close a couple of businesses — they are the ones who have no stores left to close.”
Laguana called the reward “a cruise missile aimed at the leadership of these fencing rings.”
“These are the guys making lots of money,” he said. “Right now they are acting with impunity. They believe they are invulnerable. And they are mistaken.”
The San Francisco Police Department has also stepped up its Park Smart public awareness campaign in recent months, which includes signs telling motorists to avoid placing items in trunks, and leaving valuables in view.
“We have a whole lot more work to do,” said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott. “We know that profit motivates what’s happening in our city and we know fencing is the infrastructure that fuels all this work,” he said.
The cash reward offers an “incentive to do the right thing, and the right thing is put a stop to this madness,” he said. |