Amid a rash of car break-ins, car owners in the San Francisco Bay Area have started doing strange things to deter the crime.
Car owners have started leaving their car doors unlocked, rolling their windows down, and leaving their trunks open so would-be thieves can see that there are no valuables inside.
Former San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Deputy Chief Garret Tom said that he was in shock over the drastic measures car owners are taking to protect their property.
“We’re in different times … that’s unbelievable,” he said. “[Thieves] could steal your batteries, your tires,” he said. “They could go into your glove compartment and find out where you live.”
However, interim SFPD Deputy Police Chief Drennon Lindsey remarked that “it doesn’t really surprise [her].”
“It’s out of control. We have people that are doing this – are breaking into cars in Nob Hill, then they go down to Fisherman’s Wharf, then they come out here. Then they go to another part of the city and the police can’t chase the cars, it’s considered a misdemeanor,” San Francisco Patrol Special Police Officer Alan Byard said.
San Francisco recently reported that the city sees roughly 3,000 car burglaries per month, or an estimated 74 per day — a 32% increase since 2020, according to local police.
San Francisco Democratic Mayor London Breed has begun to denounce left-wing reform policies and calling for a citywide crackdown on crime.
“It is time that the reign of criminals who are destroying our city … to come to an end. It comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies, and less tolerant of all the bullshit that has destroyed our city. We are going to turn this around,” Breed said at a Tuesday press conference.
