Monday, October 12, 2009

I Told You It's a Crazy Crime Zone: The Mayor of Sacramento Robbed in San Francisco

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said he was robbed on the streets of San Francisco over the weekend as he was helping "an elderly gentleman I met on the BART train."

Johnson wrote on his blog:
I didn't expect to be a crime victim on the streets of San Francisco. ... But it happened, on a beautiful evening this past weekend near Union Square. As crimes go, it could have been much worse. I was helping an elderly man when somebody sneaked up behind me and stole my garment bag. I lost a nice suit, a nice pair of shoes and overnight toiletries. Not the end of the world, but frustrating.

The real crime was the vulnerability of it all, the idea that I could leave my bag on a crowded street, turn my back for 30 seconds and have my stuff stolen.
He wouldn't have been surprised if he read EPJ and my take on San Francisco, They Have Lost Their Minds in San Francisco. BTW, the Starbucks, I refer to in my commentary is only about four or five blocks from where Mayor Johnson had his bag stolen. Tourists be aware, downtown San Francisco is a crime zone, all of it.

13 comments:

  1. SAN FRANCISCO is a crime zone. I stopped going there years ago when I came back from overseas (Korea) and the city looked even worse than some third-world examples I had just experienced. Panhandlers openly approaching you at a stoplight then threatening you if you did not give them anything, a pregnant friend punched in the face on a public sidewalk so as to steal her purse, and sidewalks and doorways smelling of stale urine not to mention trash everywhere.

    Born and raised in San Jose, we used to visit the city (San Fran) frequently back in the seventies and really enjoyed it, but it has really gone downhill since then. I will not even do business with any company that is based in San Francisco.

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  2. There isn't a safe neighborhood in the entire city. Not -- one.

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  3. Oh puhleez...

    First of all, when bad things happen ito mayors and other members of the political establishment, it's a GOOD thing. The mayor of Scramento is a member of the Republicrat/Demopublican party, and that makes him a much bigger criminal than any bag-snatcher.

    Secondly, the biggest criminals in San Francisco are:

    -Diane "bought a new mansion with my war profits" Feinstein
    -Nancy "off the table/banker bailout" Pelosi
    -Willie "warned about 9/11" Brown
    and future democratic superstar
    -Gavin "Davos/have sex with my best friend's wife" Newsom

    Finally, I have lived in San Francisco for 47 years and have never been subjected to theft (other than taxes) nor to violent crime.

    Are there homeless people and drug addicts on the streets of San Francisco? Yes, there are. The homeless weren't there in any significant numbers until Reagan came along. And the drugs are imported by whom? Certainly not by the homeless people...

    As the economy worsens, violent crime is going to explode across the USA. If you think San Francisco is bad, you have some big surprises in store.

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  4. Just the other day a friend was walking (7:15pm) to the corner store when someone ran up and grabbed his iPhone that was in his hand and then jumped into an already running vehicle with a driver and took off. (Indiana and 21st)

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  5. I lived there from 1996-1999 and the criminals basically rule the roost. Why does it take me (an Englishman) to call 911 on a bus when there is a crazed guy on board and all the other evening commuters are too timid to be seen to be calling the cops? The bus drivers will let any scary person on but will readily stop a working decent taxpayer.

    I've seen people defaecate on the curb in broad daylight on Market and Powell.

    San Francisco is it's own worst enemy. I don't think this is a left/right issue. All the crazies end up in CA.

    In the end I fought back by being as violent to them (i.e. lobbing pennies at their face) as they were to me. It's not the the answer but it was a coping mechanism knowing that nothing was being done about the problem.

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  6. I have lived here in SF for 10 years and have not had many issues. I think it comes down to being street smart. I would not avoid coming to SF at all! it is the most beautiful city in the country and you are really missing out if you skip a visit because you are scarred. I would avoid the down town area and Union square hood any way. It is just a tourist trap and that is where the criminals are looking for victims anyway. Just be smart and check out the places that are less traveled.

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  7. i disagree. i live in oakland and go to the city often. SOMA (south of market) and the mission are especially noteworthy in that though they may not look it they are quite safe. the streetpeople are not enemies, in fact, have walked me to my destination if it was especially late.

    the mayor turned his back on his bag for 30 seconds. growing up, it would not have been reasonable for him to have expected it to be there...

    then again, i am from the bronx. perhaps it is all relative.

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  8. When banks rule the country, this is what happens. I quote Thomas Jefferson: "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered...I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies... The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

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  9. I wouldn't not go to San Francisco. It just that, as is happening across the United States, the infusion of cash for vital resources, such as, for instance, rebuilding crumbling buildings, or building up services that help the less fortunate, are being taken away in order to pay for government sponsered wars. This lack of vital services leaves everyone in larger metropolitian areas vunerable to theavery, home invasions, drug dealers and the homeless.
    Many Americans still support the wars we are fighting right now. It will take a real wake up call for them to change their priorities to the fight right here at home. PS: I hope there is still an America left to fight for by the time everyone in America realizes their bank accounts have been emptied by even bigger criminals (on wall street and at the federal reserve-with the cooperation of our own congressmen.)

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  10. This is excellent news,when governors,mayors,judges and other leaders are assaulted it tends to focus their attention to the crime issue.

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  11. Look once you lose your ablitity
    to sprint a couple blocks or the common sense to walk around a group of thugs your chances of becoming a victim increase alot.moral of the story:take care
    of yourself and dont trust losers unless you know them well.Goodluck
    by the way San Francisco is a great place to live if you can afford it.lol...............

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  12. Yes, it is quite revealing that things started going bad in SF with Reagan. His administration expanded government more than any other before. SF now gets worse and worse with every subsequent administration because they all expand government even more than Reagan did.

    Civilized humanity demands a laissez-faire future.

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  13. In case you needed further evidence: Last Saturday a San Francisco girl was gang-raped outside her school homecoming dance, for two and a half hours, while fifteen onlooking students stood by and said nothing.

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/27/california.gang.rape.investigation/index.html

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