Simple Cure for San Francisco’s Auto Burglary Epidemic
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
United States
June 11, 2016 11:43am CST
Stop leaving stuff in cars! Over 26,500 smash and grab thefts have occurred in San Francisco recently. Thieves are smashing windows and taking items left in cars. They range from guns to money. Electronics and other personal items are taken as well.
The police are blaming the courts. The District Attorney’s office is blaming the police. They both blame the judges. I blame the victims. Yes, I know that is an unpopular stance, and in most crimes I would never suggest such a thing. But when you leave easy to steal items in cars, you are “feeding the coyotes” and then blaming them for “grabbing your pets”.
Thieves steal what is easily available to them. Since people have become complacent (lazy) and leave things in cars, theft has increased. The simple solution for people in San Francisco is to leave nothing in cars. Yes, it would be annoying to keep your gun locked up at home. It would stink to have to put your gym bag in your trunk. That handy pile of quarters in the cup holder is too enticing for crooks, so keep a few in your pocket and not your car. As for your electronics, keep them in your pocket, purse or briefcase, and take them with you whenever you leave your car.
This is the easy way to stop thieves from smashing car windows. They will stop if you remove the prize inside. Is this solution just too logical?
16 people like this
14 responses
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
12 Jun 16
If merchandise can be seen from outside the car, then it is a temptation. If it cannot, then thieves move on to another car..
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (169568)
• United States
11 Jun 16
Oh, this would be much too easy. I do not even live in a big city like San Francisco, but I do not leave anything tempting in sight in my car. There is responsibility involved with the victims, I agree.
4 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
11 Jun 16
My comparison with leaving food out for coyotes was taken from a problem we have in Southern California. People attract behavior of undesirables with their own.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
11 Jun 16
Right? This was so obvious to me when I heard about their problem that I had to start a discussion about it. Why doesn't the mayor go on TV and tell people to stop leaving things in their cars?
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98106)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
11 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace you are so right. When we had a car anytime we parked it somewhere we made sure nothing valuable got left behind.
3 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
11 Jun 16
This is why God made pockets and purses. 
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15826)
• Manchester, England
11 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace I think that's part of the problem. I can't speak for the USA but certainly in the UK children are no longer educated in a manner that teaches them how to think for themselves. They're just stuffed full of facts and asked to regurgitate them to pass exams. Very little thought required!
3 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
12 Jun 16
@WorDazza That is exactly what is going on over here. Since when does weighing the pig over and over put on weight? Someone sometime needs to feed (teach) the little piggies (students).
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
11 Jun 16
I agree. Has thinking been dumbed down by what people chose to watch on TV and in the movies?
2 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
11 Jun 16
I guess the people of Northern California are unable to figure this out on their own, so I thought a Southern Californian should help them out. 
2 people like this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
11 Jun 16
I do not leave anything in my vehical as a thief will see it and smash a window to get in and take whatever is in sight. Some people just do not think about that but if it is something you can see then cover it up or don't leave it in your vehicle.
2 people like this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
12 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace
What do you do when you buy things at one store and then go to another? You have to leave something inside your car then.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
12 Jun 16
The only thing I leave in my car is my old dark blue jacket. That's folded in half and left on the floor behind the driver's seat. The windows are tinted, and the jacket is invisible from outside. Otherwise, the car is empty.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
12 Jun 16
@Marcyaz I put them in the trunk, where they are not visible. Thieves in SF are smashing windows, grabbing merchandise and running away. They are not taking the time to break into the car, open the trunk and then steal.
@beaniefanatic13 (5068)
• Grand Junction, Colorado
14 Jun 16
I do agree with not leaving stuff in your car, and here in the town I live now they actually talk about it over the news, at this time of the year in particular. Since it gets pretty hot here people leave the vehicle open with belongings inside. I think that because S.F. is a big tourist vacation spot, they see a lot of this because people are traveling, and that many of these vehicles belong to tourists. We actually had a couple of tourists here a couple summers ago and someone broke into their rental car and stole the luggage. Our town rallied around and took care of them, I can't remember if the luggage was in the trunk or if windows were broken or not, but they were from another country here on vacation to visit America and they get robbed.
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
19 Jun 16
certainly locking valuables out of sight even if left in the car makes sense
@LadyDuck (502729)
• Italy
12 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace In Italy the police was of no help at all. The smashing of cars windows was so common that they even refused to fill a complain.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
12 Jun 16
@LadyDuck They are like American congressmen. They collect their pay, but do not do their duty.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
12 Jun 16
When there is a tradition of crime of a specific type in a community and the people, police and/or government does nothing to combat the crime, then it will continue. Someone wants it to continue, or it would be eradicated.
1 person likes this
@gr8nana6 (6614)
• Conyers, Georgia
15 Jun 16
I have to agree with you @ElizabethWallace they will take it if it is visibly to them.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
16 Jun 16
It's the same reason you don't wear jewelry when going to a crowded location or on a trip.
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
11 Jun 16
The glass repair companies are swamped. Instead of preventing the problem, people want longer jail sentences. So dumb!
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
12 Jun 16
@KristenH I guess people don't want to take responsibility for their part in this crime wave.
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
14 Jun 16
That does seem like a feasible way to discourage thieves unless they are just malicious window smashers.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
14 Jun 16
No, they have found that the person takes something of value, even if it is just a pile of change that had been left in the cupholder.
1 person likes this
I don't leave anything in my car anyone would want to steal. I also don't live in San Francisco. Your advice is good for wherever people live.@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
14 Jun 16
Thanks. Sometimes the obvious is overlooked while people are studying complicated solutions.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
15 Jun 16
@just4him That happens all the time, doesn't it?
1 person likes this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
15 Jun 16
@ElizabethWallace Or they make a complicated situation out of something simple.
1 person likes this
