4 ms·

Can you provide some more details about the types of issues the PD has shifted onto the DA? As an outsider, the only real issue I'm aware of is the refusal to

by acoard 4y ago

Can you provide some more details about the types of issues the PD has shifted onto the DA? As an outsider, the only real issue I'm aware of is the refusal to prosecute theft under $1k (edit: $950), which seems like something that is completely out of the police's hands.

adastra22 4y ago
Example: the DA won’t prosecute theft under $950, as you say. So the police will literally stand across the street and watch a street vendor get robbed and do nothing. Just because the DA will refuse to press charges doesn’t mean they couldn’t have still arrested the guy for the night and returned the property, not to mention intervening in a potentially dangerous situation for the shop owner and customers.
- trs8080 4y ago
  > So the police will literally stand across the street and watch a street vendor get robbed and do nothing. Are you saying that SFPD is not stopping crimes that are occurring in front of them because they believe that the suspect will not be prosecuted? The police are not prosecutors - if they are failing to stop crimes, the fault lies squarely with them. Can you provide some examples of when this has happened?
  - mint2 4y ago
    Yes, that exactly is what many cops are doing. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/SF-police-crime-16931399.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article... Some overlap with the prior one: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/She-says-officers-let-suspect-go-after-her-S-F-16911968.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article... https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/san-francisco-stolen-luggage-17137941.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article... There was also a video of cops pulling up and watching a dispensary get robbed There was another account on next door of a neighbor pursuing a robber after a home invasion and had to pleas with the police to even approach the guy, and they basically just got him his stuff back and tainted all the evidence so no DA would be able to actually prosecute. Not even sure if they actually arrested that guy. And then there is the fairly recent examples of extreme racism of some of the officers that tainted criminal cases leading them to be dismissed. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sfpd-racist-text-messages-20160426-story.html https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sfpd-racist-tex...
mint2 4y ago
That $950 limit is a widespread but, to be blunt, nonesense talking point that is a great example of how the police absolve their hands of their inaction and how a lack of nationwide context creates myopic assessments. For example, In the great progressive bastion of Texas the felony theft limit is $2,500, and also the current DA didn’t make the law. The police have been caught many times simple spectating crimes in action. That’s not the da, that’s cops on strike.
alphabettsy 4y ago
The police choosing to do nothing because the outcome may not be as they desire is ridiculous. Imagine trying that excuse at your work. Not to mention the progressive solutions are all half-measures. Where are the solutions to the homelessness and poverty? Just reducing criminal punishment and enforcement does nothing.

by acoard 4y ago

adastra22 4y ago

Example: the DA won’t prosecute theft under $950, as you say. So the police will literally stand across the street and watch a street vendor get robbed and do nothing. Just because the DA will refuse to press charges doesn’t mean they couldn’t have still arrested the guy for the night and returned the property, not to mention intervening in a potentially dangerous situation for the shop owner and customers.

trs8080 4y ago
> So the police will literally stand across the street and watch a street vendor get robbed and do nothing. Are you saying that SFPD is not stopping crimes that are occurring in front of them because they believe that the suspect will not be prosecuted? The police are not prosecutors - if they are failing to stop crimes, the fault lies squarely with them. Can you provide some examples of when this has happened?
- mint2 4y ago
  Yes, that exactly is what many cops are doing. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/SF-police-crime-16931399.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article... Some overlap with the prior one: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/She-says-officers-let-suspect-go-after-her-S-F-16911968.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article... https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/san-francisco-stolen-luggage-17137941.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article... There was also a video of cops pulling up and watching a dispensary get robbed There was another account on next door of a neighbor pursuing a robber after a home invasion and had to pleas with the police to even approach the guy, and they basically just got him his stuff back and tainted all the evidence so no DA would be able to actually prosecute. Not even sure if they actually arrested that guy. And then there is the fairly recent examples of extreme racism of some of the officers that tainted criminal cases leading them to be dismissed. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sfpd-racist-text-messages-20160426-story.html https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sfpd-racist-tex...

mint2 4y ago

That $950 limit is a widespread but, to be blunt, nonesense talking point that is a great example of how the police absolve their hands of their inaction and how a lack of nationwide context creates myopic assessments. For example, In the great progressive bastion of Texas the felony theft limit is $2,500, and also the current DA didn’t make the law. The police have been caught many times simple spectating crimes in action. That’s not the da, that’s cops on strike.

alphabettsy 4y ago

The police choosing to do nothing because the outcome may not be as they desire is ridiculous. Imagine trying that excuse at your work. Not to mention the progressive solutions are all half-measures. Where are the solutions to the homelessness and poverty? Just reducing criminal punishment and enforcement does nothing.