4 ms·

This is amazing. I hope San Francisco residents pull through and get to elect someone who can help turn the city around. The existing policies are in part drivi

This is amazing. I hope San Francisco residents pull through and get to elect someone who can help turn the city around. The existing policies are in part driving record numbers of people away from the Bay Area. I left. I think the area is beautiful but I couldn’t believe it when I called the cops as two men had broke the windows of a CVS down the street from salesforce tower and we’re making drugs on the sidewalk out front when the 911 operator said “what do you want us to do?” in response.

mbgerring 6y ago
It sounds like you’re blaming the DA for the police not doing their jobs, which is strange, because the DA does not run the police department
- SheinhardtWigCo 6y ago
  Why would the police build a case when they know the DA won't bring charges?
  - techrat 6y ago
    Because it's still their job to do so.
    - gnicholas 6y ago
      Police have limited resources. It would be inefficient of them to spend much time investigating crimes that the DA has clearly stated he will not prosecute. It makes much more sense for them to investigate crimes that might actually lead to prosecutions.
      - linseed_213 6y ago
        Is there evidence that they're doing that?
- simplecto 6y ago
  Criminals act with impunity because there is little to no enforcement for those who are detained/apprehended. So yes, the DA definitely has a big hand in this.
  - anigbrowl 6y ago
    And yet crime is down, how mysterious
- roenxi 6y ago
  Traditionally, when things go bad, the public doesn't really have the ability to figure out who specifically did what that caused which problem. They just start rolling people until the situation improves.
- lawnchair_larry 6y ago
  You’re very misinformed on the situation. Like many cities across the country, special interests successfully ran an unqualified activist DA who fires all of the prosecutors and refuses to charge criminals. And they’re all paying the price as crime goes to shit.
  - QuesnayJr 6y ago
    I don't know anything about the situation in SF, but according to the Chronicle article on this crime in SF is down.
    - lawnchair_larry 6y ago
      1. It doesn’t say that, many categories are up. 2. It’s a pandemic with much of the last 9 months in lockdown. 3. The numbers in certain categories are much higher than reported because most people have given up and don’t bother reporting
      - mbgerring 6y ago
        It’s true that like in almost every city in America in 2020, some categories of crime went up in San Francisco in 2020, and I am still waiting for anyone to make a convincing argument that it’s because of the DA, or offer any proof that people stopped reporting crime because of the DA. What’s interesting to me is that violent crime has indisputably not increased since Boudin was elected, yet his critics are constantly using the details of specific violent crimes as a rhetorical cudgel, insinuating that Boudin personally caused a wave of violent crime that simply is not happening.
        lawnchair_larry 6y ago
        > What’s interesting to me is that violent crime has indisputably not increased since Boudin was elected, yet his critics are constantly using the details of specific violent crimes as a rhetorical cudgel, insinuating that Boudin personally caused a wave of violent crime that simply is not happening. Isn’t that amazing? Wait until you see the data behind the black lives matter narrative. It too says precisely the opposite of what everyone thinks.
- wahern 6y ago
  Normally I would think your point a strong one, and that the police should just do their job regardless. But it's difficult to exaggerate how radical are Boudin's policies.[1] It's so bad that I think the police are justified in this case in letting some problems openly fester so Boudin can take the heat now, rather than playing a game of musical chairs, complicate the story, and give Boudin plausible deniability. I mean, it's an inevitable consequence of his policies, so why bother trying to thwart the "will of the people"? This is especially true when the police could be using those resources to patrol residential neighborhoods in an effort to try to prevent some residential burglaries, which are also sky rocketing. The interesting thing is that Boudin only won because of instant run-off voting. Both the moderate and conservative candidates won more votes, but not 50%, and Boudin had the name recognition to be many people's second choice. [1] It's not just the policies of trying to avoid unnecessary and ineffective incarceration, it's that Boudin offers zero alternatives. For example, to justify failing to press felony charges for a violent burglary against a repeat violent offender who would a week later kill two people, Boudin explained that his office had forwarded the matter to the person's parole officer. But did they ever follow up to see if the parole officer had decided to revoke parole or attempt to reign in their parolee at all? AFAIK, no, the DA's office simple threw the matter over the fence. It just boggles the mind. Boudin's policies are simply a dereliction of his responsibilities, pure and simple. It's a real-life Batman movie where a corrupt or inept DA simply stops enforcing the law. Or like if the Joker was elected the DA. It really puts the cops in a bind. Why bother arresting someone when you know they're going to walk that same day, return to doing exactly the same thing, and with little chance the DA would prosecute? (Zero chance of prosecution for property crimes, mind you.) I mean, in this absurd context such an arrest could be argued to be a form of harassment. And, to reiterate, that's not an exaggerated or hyperbolic characterization of the situation. It's gotten so bad that the police are using Twitter to name and shame some of the more egregious cases (of which there are many), and AFAIK nobody else in city government nor the press is chastising the police for playing political games that in any other context would be unacceptable.
  - mbgerring 6y ago
    Just to be clear here: you’re saying that it’s OK for the police to not arrest criminals or prevent crime, which is their only job, because they dislike the DA. Are you also saying that it’s OK for political opponents of the DA to then use bad outcomes caused by the police, purposefully not doing their jobs in order to sabotage the DA, as a reason to recall the DA? If the police really are standing aside and allowing people to be victimized, and threatening to do it until they get what they want, that sounds a lot like a hostage situation to me, and I don’t think there’s any way to justify that.

mbgerring 6y ago

It sounds like you’re blaming the DA for the police not doing their jobs, which is strange, because the DA does not run the police department

SheinhardtWigCo 6y ago
Why would the police build a case when they know the DA won't bring charges?
- techrat 6y ago
  Because it's still their job to do so.
  - gnicholas 6y ago
    Police have limited resources. It would be inefficient of them to spend much time investigating crimes that the DA has clearly stated he will not prosecute. It makes much more sense for them to investigate crimes that might actually lead to prosecutions.
    - linseed_213 6y ago
      Is there evidence that they're doing that?
simplecto 6y ago
Criminals act with impunity because there is little to no enforcement for those who are detained/apprehended. So yes, the DA definitely has a big hand in this.
- anigbrowl 6y ago
  And yet crime is down, how mysterious
roenxi 6y ago
Traditionally, when things go bad, the public doesn't really have the ability to figure out who specifically did what that caused which problem. They just start rolling people until the situation improves.
lawnchair_larry 6y ago
You’re very misinformed on the situation. Like many cities across the country, special interests successfully ran an unqualified activist DA who fires all of the prosecutors and refuses to charge criminals. And they’re all paying the price as crime goes to shit.
- QuesnayJr 6y ago
  I don't know anything about the situation in SF, but according to the Chronicle article on this crime in SF is down.
  - lawnchair_larry 6y ago
    1. It doesn’t say that, many categories are up. 2. It’s a pandemic with much of the last 9 months in lockdown. 3. The numbers in certain categories are much higher than reported because most people have given up and don’t bother reporting
    - mbgerring 6y ago
      It’s true that like in almost every city in America in 2020, some categories of crime went up in San Francisco in 2020, and I am still waiting for anyone to make a convincing argument that it’s because of the DA, or offer any proof that people stopped reporting crime because of the DA. What’s interesting to me is that violent crime has indisputably not increased since Boudin was elected, yet his critics are constantly using the details of specific violent crimes as a rhetorical cudgel, insinuating that Boudin personally caused a wave of violent crime that simply is not happening.
      - lawnchair_larry 6y ago
        > What’s interesting to me is that violent crime has indisputably not increased since Boudin was elected, yet his critics are constantly using the details of specific violent crimes as a rhetorical cudgel, insinuating that Boudin personally caused a wave of violent crime that simply is not happening. Isn’t that amazing? Wait until you see the data behind the black lives matter narrative. It too says precisely the opposite of what everyone thinks.
wahern 6y ago
Normally I would think your point a strong one, and that the police should just do their job regardless. But it's difficult to exaggerate how radical are Boudin's policies.[1] It's so bad that I think the police are justified in this case in letting some problems openly fester so Boudin can take the heat now, rather than playing a game of musical chairs, complicate the story, and give Boudin plausible deniability. I mean, it's an inevitable consequence of his policies, so why bother trying to thwart the "will of the people"? This is especially true when the police could be using those resources to patrol residential neighborhoods in an effort to try to prevent some residential burglaries, which are also sky rocketing. The interesting thing is that Boudin only won because of instant run-off voting. Both the moderate and conservative candidates won more votes, but not 50%, and Boudin had the name recognition to be many people's second choice. [1] It's not just the policies of trying to avoid unnecessary and ineffective incarceration, it's that Boudin offers zero alternatives. For example, to justify failing to press felony charges for a violent burglary against a repeat violent offender who would a week later kill two people, Boudin explained that his office had forwarded the matter to the person's parole officer. But did they ever follow up to see if the parole officer had decided to revoke parole or attempt to reign in their parolee at all? AFAIK, no, the DA's office simple threw the matter over the fence. It just boggles the mind. Boudin's policies are simply a dereliction of his responsibilities, pure and simple. It's a real-life Batman movie where a corrupt or inept DA simply stops enforcing the law. Or like if the Joker was elected the DA. It really puts the cops in a bind. Why bother arresting someone when you know they're going to walk that same day, return to doing exactly the same thing, and with little chance the DA would prosecute? (Zero chance of prosecution for property crimes, mind you.) I mean, in this absurd context such an arrest could be argued to be a form of harassment. And, to reiterate, that's not an exaggerated or hyperbolic characterization of the situation. It's gotten so bad that the police are using Twitter to name and shame some of the more egregious cases (of which there are many), and AFAIK nobody else in city government nor the press is chastising the police for playing political games that in any other context would be unacceptable.
- mbgerring 6y ago
  Just to be clear here: you’re saying that it’s OK for the police to not arrest criminals or prevent crime, which is their only job, because they dislike the DA. Are you also saying that it’s OK for political opponents of the DA to then use bad outcomes caused by the police, purposefully not doing their jobs in order to sabotage the DA, as a reason to recall the DA? If the police really are standing aside and allowing people to be victimized, and threatening to do it until they get what they want, that sounds a lot like a hostage situation to me, and I don’t think there’s any way to justify that.