Posted on 12/02/2019 6:47:40 AM PST by karpov
SACRAMENTO — An epidemic of car burglaries in San Francisco over the last few years has led one Democratic lawmaker to propose plugging a loophole in state law that allows some break-ins to go unpunished, but the Legislature has balked at prosecutors’ requests to make obtaining convictions easier. The proposal, which would eliminate a requirement that prosecutors prove a car’s doors were locked at the time of a break-in, has been shelved two years in a row in legislative committees. Lawmakers struggling with prison crowding and public pressure to enact criminal justice reform have been reluctant to do anything to put more people behind bars.
But local officials and the legislator behind the bill say the legislation is needed to help chip away at a statewide car burglary problem that they believe has reached crisis levels in some cities.
“It’s ridiculous that under current law you can have a video of someone bashing out a car window, but if you can’t prove that the door is locked you may not be able to get an auto burglary conviction,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who introduced the legislation at the request of the San Francisco district attorney’s office.
Across California, there were 243,000 thefts from automobiles last year. Though the number of car break-ins was higher during the peak year of 2017, last year’s statewide number is well above the annual average of 223,000 for the eight previous years. San Francisco saw car burglaries spike by 24% from 2016 to 2017. While they dropped 13% last year and 4% so far this year, the numbers remain on track to be higher than pre-2017 tallies unless more is done, officials say.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Its all about money and felons are also a Democrat constituency.
We should be more compassionate, there’s always someone that needs your car more than you do.
This is but a small portion of what is going on in California, it is Much Much Worse for Citizens, but still the best place on Earth to be a two bit Criminal.
SF passes laws to make it easier for the “oppressed” underclass to take whatever it wants from their “oppressors” and to get away with it. Just another way of doing “income redistribution.”
It is done with full knowledge and foresight.
And support of the "voters."
San Francisco is also #1 in Porch Piracy.
Soros is having an orgasm watching a US state being Utterly Destroyed.
Because that’s all he’s ever wanted.
And dems and of course the VOTERS are helping out a lot.
San Francisco ....... where every squatter’s tent has a car
Almost a quarter million thefts almost all with damage. At $2,000 a pop that’s real economic damage.
L
This is comical - in a sane world. The implication is that people can enter your car or walk in your house and take whatever they want if you did not lock the door.
That’s just stupid. And stupidity seems to be epidemic in California these days.
Apparently, yes.
I had lunch with a guy in Seattle’s U-District in the late 90’s and left my Chevy Lumina parked on the street with the passenger window rolled down. On the passenger side seat was an old briefcase with a note pad in it. It was a nice sunny day.
Yeah, it was gone when I got back. It was “my own fault”, but someone traded a piece of their soul for a pretty much worthless briefcase, so I kinda feel bad for them. I probably left the window open because the thing really had no value.
Which speaks to my main point: Leaving valuables in your car is really not very bright. The only car I am very careful to always lock is the FR-S because I have a gun in it. The rest? Meh, take my commuter coffee cup if you really need it.
It probably wouldn’t fly but if one shot the perp dead could one use the idea that one was concerned about prison crowding and it seemed to be the best solution? :)
Some San Francisco parking lots are unusable, broken windshield glass everywhere.
Hey - shoplifting is now an approved “career”, why not “salvaging” things from cars.
If someone breaks into my house, even if merely by turning an unlocked doorknob, I ain’t gonna worry about whether the door was locked or not before using deadly force...I wonder how it would app;y to car-jackings....if the door wasn’t locked, does the perp get a free pass?
BTW, my wife’s purse was under the driver’s seat when we parked it on Pill Hill in Seattle once and part of the strap was peeking out in the back seat. So someone smashed the window and took it. The funny part is the car was not locked. :)
There was nothing of value an it. She had taken her wallet with her. The only loss was the cheap purse and some makeup.
I had a nice tape deck stolen out of my Vega GT while at a concert near Seattle Center back in the early 70’s and I said for years that I don’t lock my car because the last time I did, not only was my take deck stolen, but my window was broken too.
i.e. my anti-theft measure is to not have anything worth stealing in the car.
The head of security at a mall was a 40-something female. I watched while she interrogated’ young female shoplifters. Why did they choose a female for the job?
Perfect description of what’s happening on our southern border!
Lock your Car Doors but make sure the Border is unprotected.
Got it.
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