Posted on 03/15/2024 9:41:32 PM PDT by Morgana
Citizens in a residential area of San Francisco are bolstering their homes with chicken wire in a bid to keep out intruders.
Happening in the city's Richmond District, the safety measures come amid a recent jump in burglaries, robberies, and homicides in the affluent neighborhood.
Headline-grabbing incidents like thieves making off with a Bank of America ATM earlier this year have even longtime residents on edge - with some installing cameras and safety locks along with the unconventional farm equipment.
Several have attended community meetings and made posts on social media as the rampant crime wave persists.
In interviews with The San Francisco Chronicle, residents spoke about the current state of the neighborhood, offering insight to why these precautions are becoming commonplace.
'My wife doesn't feel safe going out without me these days,' said 66-year-old Sam Hom, a captain with Richmond's neighborhood watch program who recently caught someone trying to pick the lock of his family's home.
A few months before, a 37-year-old man was shot and killed by cops down the street, after he allegedly killed his 76-year-old mother and her dog in their home.
David Heller, president of a local merchants associating, added that businesses are also bearing the brunt of the spate of crime, which appears to be spilling over from the city's long-embattled Downtown.
He brought up how business owners are frustrated not only by the constant stream of incidents, but a lack of policing.
He went on to share how when his own business, Beauty Network salon on Geary Blvd was burglarized last year, the police response was slow enough to give the thief ample time to steal bags full of products before returning for a second run.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Spanish curtains, I’ve heard them called.
The Richmond was always the middle class suburb in San Francisco, hardly “wealthy “. It was a world apart from downtown, the Tenderloin, Market Street, North Beach and the tourist areas. Very safe, white bread environment. Things have definitely changed.
That was me! 🤡
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.