FWD: New data prove the recall effort is lying about crime in San Francisco

Hi, it's Chesa Boudin.  Yesterday, I sent you a detailed analysis of crime in the Bay Area showing that -- despite the mainstream narrative -- property crime and thefts are down by double digits since my term began in 2019.  The email accidentally included a broken link, so I wanted to share the correct one. You can read the full article here. Despite our success in reducing crime by reforming the criminal justice system, the recall effort is spending millions to overturn the will of the voters and stop our movement in its tracks. So again, I'm asking for your help: Please, consider making a contribution of whatever amount is meaningful to you to stave off the recall and keep our movement on track. Thank you,  Chesa Boudin Year-End Stats Show SF Property Crime Down 11.2% Below Pre-Pandemic Levels, Despite ‘Moral Panic’

 

A detailed analysis of property crime in Bay Area cities shows that San Jose and Berkeley have seen property crime decrease over the last two years, and while many Bay Area cities saw an increase in 2021, thefts are still down double-digit percentages compared to 2019.

There are two dueling Bay Area priority crime analysis pieces circulating in the media discourse today, and you pick which one you want to reinforce your assessment of whether property crime is out of control, or being wildly exaggerated by people with political agendas. The Los Angeles Times has a provocative article called “San Francisco confronts a crime wave unusual among U.S. cities,” which is long on individual anecdotes but skimpy on data, and drawing the expected response from the “Recall Chesa Boudin and replace Him with Batman” crowd.

San Francisco confronts a crime wave unusual among U.S. cities.#recallchesa@safersfnoboudin https://t.co/7tBIbwhgbo

— David Perry (@DavidPerrySF) January 3, 2022

Meanwhile, the Bay Area News Group has its own piece published today entitled “Amid mob theft scare, Bay Area property crime in 2021 was modestly up and down.” The point of that one, which does analyze year-to-year data now that we have complete 2021 data, is that yes, property crime was generally up in 2021 compared to 2020 in many Bay Area cities. Yet even the 2021 rate was well below the pre-pandemic rate from 2019, a perception undermined by a number of high-profile cases which begat predictable Fox News hysteria.

Amid mob theft scare, Bay Area property crime in 2021 was modestly up and down https://t.co/Gw203HG8pu

— Mercury News (@mercnews) January 3, 2022

The Bay Area News Group’s assessment breaks this down by city. “Oakland saw a 7.5% increase in all property crime from 2020 but is still down 12.3% overall from 2019,” according to the assessment. “San Francisco, up 11.8% in property crime from the year before, remains 11.2% below its 2019 levels.”

“Even Walnut Creek — where a mid-November mass attack on a downtown Nordstrom reverberated nationwide — has seen property crime decline 9% from two years ago,” the news group notes. "And even more contrary to public perception, the new group adds that “Many cities — San Jose and Berkeley, for two — enjoyed a second consecutive year of decreases in property crime.”

Image: SFGov.org

But the issue has become a political hot potato, and one where elected Democrats from Nancy Pelosi to Gavin Newsom to London Breed have felt the need to make a big stink of how they are tougher on crime than the rest of their fellow Democrats. Assessing the political winds with their fingers just pulled freshly from their mouths, many are unapologetic about ignoring the data and deferring to media hype.

“I’m not a big person into just looking at macroeconomic statistics. I look at what are people in my district are feeling,” Bay Area congressional Rep. Ro Khanna told the Bay Area News Group. “They’re concerned about public safety. They’re concerned about going to shop outside, being outside at coffee shops, their cars being stolen.”

The blame for the crime surge that is not a crime surge is typically directed at San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and/or the 2012 measure Prop. 47, which reduced penalties for non-violent crimes. Yet it seems far-fetched that flash-mob burglars know what Prop. 47 even is, or who their county’s district attorney happens to be at a given time.

“As for Prop. 47, there’s a lot of different opinions out there. I’m not sure we have enough data yet to make any definitive conclusions on it,” Walnut Creek police chief Jamie Knox told the News Group. “Crime ebbs and flows on a number of factors.”  

Related: SFPD and City Hall Announce Initiative to Crack Down On Retail Theft Which Includes Privately Funded Police [SFist]

Image: @BrockKeeling via Twitter

Thank you

 

Thanks to you, December was our strongest month ever in terms of individual contributions to our campaign to defeat the recall. Thanks to you, we received thousands of signatures rejecting the recall. Thanks to you, our grassroots campaign for criminal justice reform is strong and growing stronger. I can’t thank you enough for the support you’ve shown me in the last year. Thank you. In 2022, with your help, we’re going to defeat the recall effort and show the world that the best way to keep our city safe is by focusing on prevention within our communities, centering victims, and applying the law equally to all -- including corporations and police. With your help, we’re going to keep our movement to reform the criminal justice system going full steam ahead. I’m going to lean on your support quite a bit in 2022. But for now, I just want to say: Thank you. Chesa Boudin Chesa Boudin was elected District Attorney of San Francisco in 2019 to reform our criminal justice system. Now, right-wingers  want to reverse our progress and return our city to a time when innocent people were locked away and police acted with impunity.

20 Galli Drive
Ste A
Novato, CA 94949
Friend of Chesa Boudin Opposing the Recall
20 Galli Drive
Ste A
Novato, CA 94949-5731
United States

 

Ad paid for by Friends of Chesa Boudin Opposing the Recall, FPPC #1437058, Financial Disclosures available at SFethics.org Committee major funding from: 1. Christian Larsen ($100,000) 2. Jessica McKellar ($50,000) 3. Laura Skelton ($50,000)

One People flash mob - Occupy

 

On 19 November 2011 over 100 dancers converged at Occupy SF & Oakland to dance the world awake. Other related video about Art and Activism: http://tiny.cc/h84ay. Flash mob Produced & Directed by Magalie Bonneau-Marcil of DancingwithoutBorders.org, Video Directed & Edited by Ben Flanigan (BenFlanigan.com), Thanks to our team of choreographers: Giuliana Blasi, Samantha Sweetwater and Mika Lemoine. Co-sponsors: CODEPINK.org & SFNOW.org Want to bring the flash mob to your community? Go to http://tiny.cc/h3t3w for choreography video tutorial. Music: Thanks to the Black Eyed Peas.

We’re blaming the wrong things for San Francisco retail theft -- please read

 

Chesa Boudin: We’re blaming the wrong things for San Francisco retail theft The criminal justice reform movement is facing strong headwinds in San Francisco. Please consider donating to our campaign to help keep our movement on the right track. Hi, it's Chesa Boudin.  Yesterday, I published an op-ed in SFGate addressing an important topic that’s been on the minds of many San Franciscans in recent months. Our city has been caught in the crossfire of attacks on criminal justice reform, thanks to several high-profile retail thefts of luxury stores around the Bay Area and across the country.   The all-too-common response in these circumstances is to call for more policing, a “crackdown” on crime, and attacks on progressive reform. I’m here to tell you that these knee-jerk reactions are not only short-sighted, they also won’t make us safer. You can read the full text of my op-ed on SFGate. But here’s the bottom line: We are at a tipping point in San Francisco; we’re in danger of making a decision driven by fear. We should not return to the days of locking up every person who commits any offense, no matter how small — a practice which not only failed to stop crime but also disproportionately impacted over-policed communities of color. Returning to those criminal justice policies offers no solution. We can have both safety and justice. I was elected in 2019 to keep San Francisco safe by focusing on prevention, supporting victims, and holding police accountable. The recall efforts are spending millions to reverse our movement, and I need your help. Please consider donating whatever amount is meaningful to you to help me fight back and keep San Francisco and our movement on the right track? It’s only through a multi-faceted approach to criminal justice reform that we can truly make our city the safe, thriving, and just city that it’s meant to be. I’m not done fighting, I hope you’ll keep fighting with me. I can’t thank you enough for your support, Chesa Boudin Chesa Boudin was elected District Attorney of San Francisco in 2019 to reform our criminal justice system. Now, right-wingers  want to reverse our progress and return our city to a time when innocent people were locked away and police acted with impunity.

20 Galli Drive
Ste A
Novato, CA 94949

 

Ad paid for by Friends of Chesa Boudin Opposing the Recall, FPPC #1437058, Financial Disclosures available at SFethics.org Committee major funding from: 1. Christian Larsen ($100,000) 2. Jessica McKellar ($50,000) 3. Laura Skelton ($50,000) Chesa Boudin: We’re blaming the wrong things for San Francisco retail theft An op-ed from San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin Chesa Boudin Dec. 21, 2021

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin speaks to reporters before his swearing in ceremony in San Francisco, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Over the past month, following several high-profile retail thefts of luxury stores around the Bay Area and across the country — including in San Francisco’s Union Square — our city has been caught in the crossfire of attacks on criminal justice reform. The all-too-common response to these crimes has been calls for more policing and attacks on progressive reforms, but these knee-jerk reactions are short-sighted. Achieving long-lasting public safety means we must think about these crimes differently.  If we truly care about preventing these crimes — as well as others — we must implement the systemic changes needed to make a real difference.  

Although these crimes have understandably frightened store employees and have shocked those who watched the viral videos capturing the events, these types of thefts with multiple people running into a store and grabbing items are not new — reports of similar crimes go back years. They happened during the Trump administration, and they happened in cities like Los Angeles under the previous reign of an anti-reform prosecutor. Nor are they isolated to the Bay Area or even to progressive cities — retailers in Texas, Minnesota, Florida and beyond have all been targets.

Despite this, some are falsely blaming criminal justice reforms — and reformers — for these offenses. Some have wrongly accused progressive prosecutors like me of not pursuing accountability despite my office’s high prosecution rates on these kinds of crimes and our transparency on filing rates. And some have pointed to laws like Proposition 47 — which reduced some felony theft and drug possession charges to misdemeanors — as somehow responsible for these crimes. These are red herrings.  

Though Fox News might have you think otherwise, the truth is that as District Attorney of San Francisco, I am holding those who have been arrested in connection with the crimes in Union Square accountable. My office filed felony charges against every person San Francisco police have arrested for these crimes. We presented evidence at a preliminary hearing, where a judge agreed there was probable cause to proceed on all felony charges aside from looting — a reminder that aggressive charges do not necessarily translate to convictions. Accountability is important, and my office is vigorously pursuing it, just as we have in 86% of the commercial burglary cases police presented to us this year. For context, police have made arrests in just 8.8% of commercial burglary cases this year.

Organized retail theft is not a problem that can be addressed solely by law enforcement solutions — which come after a crime has been committed. Public safety is a shared responsibility between police, city officials, prosecutors and the courts — and also requires the help of retailers, community groups, public health providers and community members.  State and city officials make laws; police investigate and arrest; district attorneys file charges and prosecute; and the courts release or detain and sentence. Prosecutors don’t receive cases until after a crime has occurred and police have made an arrest. Combating crime can only come through a sense of shared responsibility.

Burger King’s wage theft leaves San Francisco workers waiting for payment

 

Add your name to support workers who have been victimized by wage theft and support our work to hold employers accountable Last year, the franchisee of several Burger Kings in San Francisco was cited $1.9 million for wage theft from hundreds of workers. Today, those workers are still waiting for their money. I am outraged at the scale of wage theft that has occurred here, and I stand firmly on the side of these workers. My message is simple: Workers must be paid. That’s why I was so proud to launch an Economic Crimes Against Workers Unit to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by employers against their workers. Will you join me today by adding your name to my petition, voicing your support for these workers and this critical unit designed to hold employers responsible for crimes committed against them? San Franciscans work hard to earn a living and provide for their families. We cannot let wage theft get in the way of San Franciscans who just want to make a comfortable living. Thanks for your support,  Chesa Boudin Chesa Boudin was elected District Attorney of San Francisco in 2019 to reform our criminal justice system. Now, right-wingers  want to reverse our progress and return our city to a time when innocent people were locked away and police acted with impunity. Friend of Chesa Boudin Opposing the Recall 20 Galli Drive Ste A Novato, CA 94949-5731 United States