4 ms·

"About half the cases here are thefts from vehicles, smash-and-grabs that scatter glittering broken glass onto the sidewalks." This is way too close to home...

"About half the cases here are thefts from vehicles, smash-and-grabs that scatter glittering broken glass onto the sidewalks." This is way too close to home... Was in SF for GDC 2016 about a month ago when my crews vehicle window was smashed (in the Moscone Center Parking Lot) and 5 backpacks full of MacBook Pros, iPads, cash and an expensive digital SLR with even more expensive lenses were swiped in the blink of an eye. We had dropped our stuff there and grabbed a bite to eat when we came back to the horrific site of our rental vehicles window shattered all over the ground. Just the night before we were noting how incredibly quiet SF was at night after 9:30pm. Apparently a quiet city is NOT a crime free one. The security guard and guys in the booth at the parking garage were less than helpful despite there being a variety of security camera screens/cameras. When we called the cops they said we could wait there for an officer but it might be hours so we best just go to the nearest station and file a report. A month out and we've heard nothing on the case despite there being about $20k of belongings grabbed. We didn't really expect to hear much based on their response. Yes I realize it was incredibly stupid to leave that amount of valuables in a vehicle in the city. Lesson learned there. In our city (Boise) you can practically leave your keys in the ignition without any concerns. Thankfully we paid for the no hassle insurance on the vehicle and our company insurance covered most of our stolen goods. It was still a big loss though and a major hassle. I'll never be so naive again. Hopefully someone reading this can learn from our mistake as well.

JamilD 10y ago
In San Francisco, if you leave anything worth more than a couple hundred dollars in your car, it's as good as gone. It took me a while to get used to the level of crime in SF too… it's so different from even North San Jose or Mountain View.
- refurb 10y ago
  In San Francisco, if you leave anything worth more than a couple hundred dollars in your car, it's as good as gone. I'd go further than that. If you leave anything in your car, you can count on it being broken into. A jacket on the floor is enough for them to smash a window to see if there is anything valuable hiding underneath.
- rajacombinator 10y ago
  Sucks for GP but this is true in any major city. Leaving valuable gear in sight is inviting theft.
  - yummyfajitas 10y ago
    This isn't true in NYC, Mumbai, Singapore or London.
    - ninguem2 10y ago
      Interesting that it isn't true in Mumbai. I would have expected far worse, given the level of poverty. What's the reason?
      - yummyfajitas 10y ago
        It's called "law enforcement". If you try to pull off a bunch of smash&grabs in Bandra or Colaba the cops will beat you with lathis. Law enforcement is far from uniform - many neighborhoods (e.g. Baiganwadi) don't have much of it. But no one parks their car in Baiganwadi. What seems to make SF pretty unique is that even in the wealthy areas it lacks effective law enforcement. Also, poverty in Mumbai isn't quite the same as poverty in the rest of India. Significant portions of Mumbai approach US-"poor" levels of income (about $15-20k/year, PPP adjusted) which is considered quite wealthy over here.
        ooooo00000 10y ago
        > It's called "law enforcement". If you try to pull off a bunch of smash&grabs in Bandra or Colaba the cops will beat you with lathis. Where I live thieves are often beaten to death. And the rate of theft is still high. I could point you to some studies about punishment not being an effective crime deterrent, but not sure it would change your mind. It's a complicated problem and law enforcement is a band-aid at best.
        yummyfajitas 10y ago
- alexandercrohde 10y ago
  I live in SF and when I first showed up here, I too was really unaware of how bad the problem was. My car was broken into 6 times, once for only the change in my ashtray! (I can only assume, there was nothing else of value in the 99 corolla!) Eventually I just sold it.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
jupiter90000 10y ago
Lived in Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle for a couple years, once someone smashed the car window to try to grab stuff in a backpack I had in plain view. It only had empty water bottles in it, but they broke the window I had to have fixed. I learned to never leave anything that could be construed to be worth any amount of money in sight in a car I'm not in. Then we moved to Bellevue, thought we got away from the problems of the city. My wife leased a new car and the same night someone smashed the rear window out with rocks, apparently just for kicks as nothing was taken from the car. At trailheads for hiking routes, I often see smashed glass all over the ground. In a city the probability of crime may be higher, but it seems like that kind of stuff could happen anywhere.
userbinator 10y ago
I've heard advice that if you don't have any valuables in the vehicle, leave the windows rolled down and the lock unlocked so anyone who thinks they can steal something won't do much damage getting in, and the fact that it's open in the first place discourages them from believing there'd be anything valuable inside. I've seen stores leave tills empty and opened after they close, presumably for the same reason.
jsjohnst 10y ago
Maybe I'm jaded, and please don't take this as victim blaming, but why on earth would you not put that much gear in the trunk rather than leaving in a seat!?
- curiousphil 10y ago
  It was a Chevy Tahoe... It was all in the rear cargo area. Tinted windows... but that's about it.
  - jsjohnst 10y ago
    Thx for explaining calmly! Was hesitant to post, but your case was too outlandish not to ask. So many SF friends have been bitten, some repeatedly, and I just can't fathom why someone wouldn't use their trunk, especially after having their laptop stolen twice in a month!
    - curiousphil 10y ago
      It's one of those mistakes you only make once in life. Now I wouldn't even dream of leaving my backpack in my car in my relatively low crime city that I previously never would have given it a second thought. It's a little sad that my entire world is now less trusted because of this invasive incident.
marincounty 10y ago
I'm sorry for the theft. I am a third generation San Franciscian. Don't current live there. I had my vechicles broken into many times, when I go to San Francisco now, I clean out my vechicle of anything. It actually forces me to clean my vechicle. I take all my expensive items(laptops, cameras, and especially those white Canon lenses) with me. I take everything out, and put it in a big duffel bag. I take my stuff everywhere. I've had a few funny looks from people, but the natives, I belive, know what I'm doing. Keep an eye on that duffel bag. I use Packsafe products, and will literally lock the duffel to a chair, rail, anything what would slow down a grab and run. As to vechicle, theft--I put kill switches in my vechicles. I learned that one from my dad. He grew up in the Richmnd district, and had a kill switch in his first car in the 50's. I've had a lot of smashed windows, but never a stolen vechicle. I even got to the point, a few years ago, where I would just leave the vechicle unlocked, and kept the glove box open, with a note that read, "There's just a portable radio under the driver's seat. I'm not a wealthy person. My life has not been going great."

JamilD 10y ago

In San Francisco, if you leave anything worth more than a couple hundred dollars in your car, it's as good as gone. It took me a while to get used to the level of crime in SF too… it's so different from even North San Jose or Mountain View.

refurb 10y ago
In San Francisco, if you leave anything worth more than a couple hundred dollars in your car, it's as good as gone. I'd go further than that. If you leave anything in your car, you can count on it being broken into. A jacket on the floor is enough for them to smash a window to see if there is anything valuable hiding underneath.
rajacombinator 10y ago
Sucks for GP but this is true in any major city. Leaving valuable gear in sight is inviting theft.
- yummyfajitas 10y ago
  This isn't true in NYC, Mumbai, Singapore or London.
  - ninguem2 10y ago
    Interesting that it isn't true in Mumbai. I would have expected far worse, given the level of poverty. What's the reason?
    - yummyfajitas 10y ago
      It's called "law enforcement". If you try to pull off a bunch of smash&grabs in Bandra or Colaba the cops will beat you with lathis. Law enforcement is far from uniform - many neighborhoods (e.g. Baiganwadi) don't have much of it. But no one parks their car in Baiganwadi. What seems to make SF pretty unique is that even in the wealthy areas it lacks effective law enforcement. Also, poverty in Mumbai isn't quite the same as poverty in the rest of India. Significant portions of Mumbai approach US-"poor" levels of income (about $15-20k/year, PPP adjusted) which is considered quite wealthy over here.
      - ooooo00000 10y ago
        > It's called "law enforcement". If you try to pull off a bunch of smash&grabs in Bandra or Colaba the cops will beat you with lathis. Where I live thieves are often beaten to death. And the rate of theft is still high. I could point you to some studies about punishment not being an effective crime deterrent, but not sure it would change your mind. It's a complicated problem and law enforcement is a band-aid at best.
        yummyfajitas 10y ago
alexandercrohde 10y ago
I live in SF and when I first showed up here, I too was really unaware of how bad the problem was. My car was broken into 6 times, once for only the change in my ashtray! (I can only assume, there was nothing else of value in the 99 corolla!) Eventually I just sold it.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

jupiter90000 10y ago

Lived in Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle for a couple years, once someone smashed the car window to try to grab stuff in a backpack I had in plain view. It only had empty water bottles in it, but they broke the window I had to have fixed. I learned to never leave anything that could be construed to be worth any amount of money in sight in a car I'm not in. Then we moved to Bellevue, thought we got away from the problems of the city. My wife leased a new car and the same night someone smashed the rear window out with rocks, apparently just for kicks as nothing was taken from the car. At trailheads for hiking routes, I often see smashed glass all over the ground. In a city the probability of crime may be higher, but it seems like that kind of stuff could happen anywhere.

userbinator 10y ago

I've heard advice that if you don't have any valuables in the vehicle, leave the windows rolled down and the lock unlocked so anyone who thinks they can steal something won't do much damage getting in, and the fact that it's open in the first place discourages them from believing there'd be anything valuable inside. I've seen stores leave tills empty and opened after they close, presumably for the same reason.

jsjohnst 10y ago

Maybe I'm jaded, and please don't take this as victim blaming, but why on earth would you not put that much gear in the trunk rather than leaving in a seat!?

curiousphil 10y ago
It was a Chevy Tahoe... It was all in the rear cargo area. Tinted windows... but that's about it.
- jsjohnst 10y ago
  Thx for explaining calmly! Was hesitant to post, but your case was too outlandish not to ask. So many SF friends have been bitten, some repeatedly, and I just can't fathom why someone wouldn't use their trunk, especially after having their laptop stolen twice in a month!
  - curiousphil 10y ago
    It's one of those mistakes you only make once in life. Now I wouldn't even dream of leaving my backpack in my car in my relatively low crime city that I previously never would have given it a second thought. It's a little sad that my entire world is now less trusted because of this invasive incident.

marincounty 10y ago

I'm sorry for the theft. I am a third generation San Franciscian. Don't current live there. I had my vechicles broken into many times, when I go to San Francisco now, I clean out my vechicle of anything. It actually forces me to clean my vechicle. I take all my expensive items(laptops, cameras, and especially those white Canon lenses) with me. I take everything out, and put it in a big duffel bag. I take my stuff everywhere. I've had a few funny looks from people, but the natives, I belive, know what I'm doing. Keep an eye on that duffel bag. I use Packsafe products, and will literally lock the duffel to a chair, rail, anything what would slow down a grab and run. As to vechicle, theft--I put kill switches in my vechicles. I learned that one from my dad. He grew up in the Richmnd district, and had a kill switch in his first car in the 50's. I've had a lot of smashed windows, but never a stolen vechicle. I even got to the point, a few years ago, where I would just leave the vechicle unlocked, and kept the glove box open, with a note that read, "There's just a portable radio under the driver's seat. I'm not a wealthy person. My life has not been going great."