B8ta has stores around the globe, and Norby told SFGATE last month that the crime in San Francisco is unlike anything the company experiences elsewhere. “This actually doesn’t happen anywhere else in the country,” he said. “We have 17 other stores, including three internationally. This just doesn’t happen anywhere else. It’s only here.”
Why do the stores in SF attract violent crime compared to, say, a store in another West Coast city? Is there a gang that specializes in this sort of crime in the Bay Area, or is the level of all kinds of violent street crime off the charts? Or something else?
Stealing <$950 is a misdemeanor regardless of how often someone does it.
It would be surprising if this didn't lead to a substantial increase in the crime rate.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_California_Proposition_47
Probably doesn't make a big difference to San Francisco vs other major West Coast cities, since most of the major West Coast cities are also in California.
Theft should be punished in the strongest forms possible so no one even thinks about doing it. Minimum 1 year in prison for stealing anything.
Convince me otherwise.
The B8ta store here is in an upscale mall in the University District. If violent crime starts affecting these more affluent areas, then maybe voters will care.
Guns aren’t really necessary in SF, so there may be some gang initiation threshold.
Not anymore they won't. And you think criminals from outside the city/state don't know that people have no guns there? That's attractive to anyone trying to break the law.
1: https://www.kqed.org/news/11799308/bay-area-has-highest-inco...
Because the people of San Francisco allow it.
Vast wealth right next to abject poverty and hopelessness. Like a spark that, with sufficient potential, jumps a gap.
Some day some tech figure will get stabbed for an empty wallet and people will be shocked.
Population density and economic inequality are probably the big factors.
Hayes Valley used to be the place people wanted to move to because it had good food and local merchants. This was ten years ago. Now it’s just as bad as the b8ta owner makes it out to be.
City politics is to blame for this because they spin up programs to help, but it doesn’t fix the systemic problem long term. Most of the people who are homeless or need help don’t want to abide by the rules for a free place to stay or get the help they need. They’d rather stay on the streets and live life how they see fit. This isn’t a political opinion either. It’s a reality of failed policies of the city.
I still love this place, and its been my home for 15 years but it ain't easy.
Based on the descriptions in this thread, I actually think my neighborhood is safer and more pleasant than many places in San Francisco.
It's making me feel better about my own situation.
Not because there are few b8ta stores but because there is no way that will continue to be considered a nice neighborhood
For months after the first lockdown, the place practically had a favela setup across $6500/mo rental units until someone tricked business owners in signing a petition to summon the police to come with clubs. The police did come and clear it out.
And the Walgreens being continually emptied out despite not being on the main Market St or other typically decrepit neighborhoods was a sign that people would not ignore the place anymore
Pretty much every currently “nice neighborhood” was super sketch during the time periods of SF that people seem to reminisce about
"b8ta is a retail-as-a-service company with a chain of 22 standalone retail stores, which serve as presentation centers for consumer electronics and home goods. Companies can pay to rent out space for their product to be displayed inside the locations, along with a tablet that each brand customizes with software."
I'd imagine it would be really bad for business if customers found out, and they print money at that location
Doesn't really matter. They can still be flipped for a few hundred bucks for the components.
The Devialet speaker in the article is a good example. Retails for over $3k, and weighs 12kg.
This problem is really up to the city to solve, and it doesn't seem the city is interested. Gated communities and all that.
If you check out jewelry or other luxury goods stores, they generally have
- concreted in pillars to prevent cars smashing into them
- a combined doorman/security person (you know the type - 6 foot 4, tight suit, earpiece)
- an airlocked doorway (possibly even a locking revolving door)
see https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/06/02/apples-software-tr... and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8380857/Apple-Store...
For recent iPhones (11+), batteries and screens are tied to the original iPhone. You can't swap out a battery/screen from a spare iPhone 11 to a non-functioning iPhone 11 and resurrect the dead iPhone.
see https://www.ifixit.com/News/32343/apple-is-locking-batteries... and https://www.ifixit.com/News/33147/apple-is-discouraging-scre....
For iPhone 12, Apple expanded the locked-to-device components to the camera module. see https://www.ifixit.com/News/45921/is-this-the-end-of-the-rep...
The iPhone 12 behaviour is sneaky - it looks like the transplanted component works, but it slowly malfunctions.
Then how do you know it's worse than Manhattan in the 70s/80s?
I live in SF, and it's pretty dangerous. So whatever stats you're quoting don't apply to SF.
I suggest you watch some of the antifa/BLM downtown attacks on pedestrians to see what lawlessness looks like - that happens daily in SF.
If you are in the tech industry, many startups and big companies (e.g. Facebook, Google) have offices in Madrid and Barcelona.
If you wanna do remote work, the Canary Islands might be soon offering a special visa and a low tax regime.
You could also try a digital nomad lifestyle. If you return to the US every now and then, it should be fine.
In SF the climate is such that officers only pursue the most egregious cases where they think their work will have results. They know the DA will pull punches and drag their feet and drop lesser cases so they don't even bother. The DA often times pushes the victim to agree to restorative justice. It's not a deterrent.
Restorative Justice can work in some special cases. We can work to make prisoners more ready for the workforce when they get out. But we need lots of support in the way of social pressure and also some brainwashing/reconditioning. Most criminals will not want to go through the effort of turning things around, unless you change them via stick and carrot. It's hard to change course. It's hard to change course for anybody.
Now, some people are salvageable. We have to get better at spotting potential and providing tools and support for those people who want to change for the better.
Your trying to compare apples to apples. SF is an apple, but the US is one big orange.
There was an article last year about how the thieves know to stay in san francisco county and not cross into san mateo county, because the chances of being arrested and prosecuted is much higher in san mateo county
Real crime rates have been falling ever since they started measuring it, and there is no demonstrable correlation with increased police presence or strength/brutality of their weapons.
When you do a crime close to home you blend in, you are more likely to know about the opportunities, and you can more quickly/easily escape home.
Crimes of passion and opportunity are by definition done where you happen to be, which is likely to be where you typically are anyway.
Many "crimes" are really defined to control populations, so the people committing them aren't really criminals and of course such "crimes" are enforced where the target population lives.
Of course crimes are also committed by people who don't live nearby, but they seem to be a small minority of crimes, though a large majority of book/movie crimes (otherwise...how boring those stories would be)
So it protects the corporate taxpayer over everyday victims.
Part of my point is that they spend so much time on things like traffic tickets and civil forfeiture, little time is left for actually prosecuting these criminals.
https://priceonomics.com/how-police-officers-seize-cash-from...
It's a big cultural change that could take months or years to see the difference in daily shoplifting amounts.
On top of that, SF refuses to punish crimes like theft, so...
They are probably career criminals or drug addicts or both. It seems that those groups flourish in such neighborhoods in SF.
Many cases 90+% ([0], [1]) are plea-bargained out, e.g. the accused couldn't afford representation, the public defender takes the offer, etc.
Some of these people were innocent but serving a year in prison will make it hard for them to rebuild their lives.
[0] https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/prisons-are-packed-bec...
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/innocen...
Let's say someone steals a $300 purse or a $30000 car. Nobody needs either a $300 purse or a $30000 car. But let's say someone steals $10 of food from a grocery store. They may legitimately need that. (Or they may just have poor self-control.) If someone legitimately needs food, I could bend my mind far enough to call that "excusable".
Allowing stealing is not tackling the problem head-on and instead squirming on a morally questionable line and thereby breeding crime and ill in the society.
In the meantime, though, society doesn't do that, at least not consistently enough. So in the current circumstances, I still have some compassion for someone in genuine need who steals food.
This is why laws need to be enforced uniformly.
If you allow that, you will soon enough be without grocery stores!!!
But I think it's important to point out the strong link between crime and poverty. And personally I think that the best ways to address crime start with addressing structural inequality.
I also personally think we should have a lot more mental institutions rather than relying on prisons or just letting everyone with problems fend for themselves. As long as they don't start lobotomizing people again or something.
So, let me get this straight and state curtly - A city allows crime, then complains about rising crime!?
May be people of this city should question their understanding of how to run a good society.