SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin has proposed an idea to assist victims of smash-and-grabs. Boudin suggested a budget of $1.5 million for reimbursement to victims of vehicle burglaries.
In January, SFist reported a small decrease in San Francisco car burglaries as of November 2019 compared to the previous year. According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s S.F. Car Break-in Map, there were “2,005 vehicle break-ins…roughly 64 per day.”
There were 400 fewer break-ins in 2019 compared to 2018. In January 2018, there were a total of 2,400 break-ins. The number of break-ins averaged to under 2,000 for the rest of the year. A trend in the graph suggests July and August to be the worst months for break-ins in the area over the past two years.
Boudin discussed the issue of break-ins previously in his campaign while running for San Francisco District Attorney. On his campaign page, he discusses the “epidemic of property crime, especially auto-burglaries, in San Francisco” and a two-pronged approach to addressing the issue.
These prongs refer to what Boudin sees as two different groups of people who commit property crime: the “sophisticated criminal networks…responsible for the majority of auto burglaries” and “homeless and addicted people…committing crimes because of poverty and out of desperation.”
His proposal for a budget focuses on balancing the scales of reparations for the victims as opposed to the “unlimited resources to punish perpetrators.” Additional ideas include a “mobile auto-glass operation” that will respond within a few hours to fix the car on the scene from the victim’s photo “for a fraction of the cost.” It is not clear if Boudin’s proposal has a connection to this operation.
