Breaking Point: SF Suffers Highest Rate of Car Break-Ins Compared to Atlanta, DC, Dallas, LA - NBC Bay Area

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Breaking Point: SF Suffers Highest Rate of Car Break-Ins Compared to Atlanta, DC, Dallas, LA

The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit rode along with undercover police officers, interviewed top law enforcement officials, and obtained and analyzed court and police records to find out why car burglaries remain of the most prolific crimes in San Francisco

By Bigad Shaban, Robert Campos, Jeremy Carroll and Mark Villarreal Published 2 hours ago • Updated 2 hours ago

By Bigad Shaban, Robert Campos, Jeremy Carroll and Mark Villarreal Published 2 hours ago • Updated 2 hours ago

In the heart of San Francisco, alongside popular tourist attractions, car break-ins have spiked nearly 200% since last year, turning visitors into victims and creating what some business owners are calling an “economic pandemic.” On average, the city suffers about 74 car break-ins per day, according to police records for the month of October. The District Attorney’s Office lays blame with police, pointing to the fact that officers only make arrests in less than two percent of car break-in cases. The Police Department, however, says whenever arrests are made, the District Attorney releases offenders without substantive penalties, making car break-ins an easy crime for organized gangs.  

Car break-ins are a huge concern in San Francisco for locals, and tourists. They're relentless, expensive and seem unmanageable. But why and who’s to blame? The police and the DA pointing fingers at each other. Senior Investigative Reporter Bigad Shaban takes us for a ride in the city’s hardest hit neighborhoods.

San Francisco Car Break-Ins

Note: Annual data reflects car break-ins recorded between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31. Source: San Francisco Police Department.
Amy O’Kruk/NBC

The northeast part of San Francisco remains the hardest hit in the city by the latest wave of car burglaries. After a dip in break-ins at the start of the pandemic, coinciding with fewer tourists in town, smash and grabs have since skyrocketed 187%, compared to last year, in the city’s Central Police District, which includes Union Square, China Town, and Fisherman’s Wharf.  Unsuspecting tourists, who leave suitcases, laptops, and cameras, inside their vehicles, are often the city’s main targets, losing their valuables in just seconds.

NBC Bay Area spoke to local business owners on Beach Street who have witnessed up to 10 car break-ins per day. 

“I mean it's hard not to see them” said David Berby, owner of several San Francisco businesses including Cioppino’s restaurant and several gift shops. “All you have to do is stay outside for ten minutes, you'll see one.”  

"San Francisco has become completely lawless," said David Berby, who owns 29 businesses, including restaurants and retail shops, in 11 cities across California. "I think it speaks loudly of the leadership of the city officials."

A few months ago, Andrew England, who owns an art gallery in the area, started jotting down vehicle information and license plate numbers of all the getaway vehicles he’s seen speed away after a break-in. “I'm worried that we're getting too accustomed to it and we're almost allowing it to happen,” he said. Once he used up several piles of post-its, England created a digital database on his computer for all the different vehicles he’s witnessed take part in car break-ins. "It certainly seems like it's an organized crew. I see a lot of the same vehicles,” he said, noting that the license plates change frequently, but the cars are often the same. 

“It's also heartbreaking to think that this is a visitor's first or last impression of a great city,” said Samantha Davis, who owns and manages several retail properties on the block.

“We want visitors and locals who come down to the wharf to feel safe here,” she said. “It's unfortunate that it feels like, sometimes, city leaders aren't looking out for the same thing.”

"This isn't a topic that we look forward to talking about, but it comes to a point where we feel we have to do because it's become so prevalent and there aren't a lot of measures being taken to prevent it," said Samantha Davis, who owns and manages several retail properties at Fisherman's Wharf.

Some local business owners fear the problem may be even worse than police data shows, noting that many break-ins go unreported.

“A lot of the folks that unfortunately get … broken into, they have a tight schedule, and they may be leaving that same day or the next day, and they don't have time to go through the process to file a report and go through all of that,” said Jeff Sears, owner of the Blazing Saddles bike rental shop. 

“Those people are going back to wherever they're from, and the story they're going to tell about the city is, is that, ‘hey, we were parked in a very public spot in the middle of the day, we were 20 feet away from our car having lunch, and we watched it get broken into,'” said Brian Huber, who owns a Segway rental shop.

Brian Huber, who runs a Segway touring business in Fisherman's Wharf, says car break-ins are scaring away tourists. "The story they're going to tell about the city is, 'hey, we were parked in a very public spot in the middle of the day, we were 20 feet away from our car having lunch, and we watch our car get broken into.'"

“San Francisco has become completely lawless,” said David Berby, who owns several retail shops and restaurants in 11 cities across California. “It's really breathtaking. I mean, I don't see it anywhere in any of the cities that we conduct business in.”

So far this year, more than 17,000 car break-ins have been reported in San Francisco. That’s about 20 for every 1,000 people in the city, which is well above rates in Atlanta (13), Washington, DC. (10), Houston (7), and Los Angeles (6), according to data obtained and analyzed by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit.

“We're stuck here because of a lot of finger pointing,” said Davis. “Whether it's between the SFPD, the DA's office, back and forth -- and it gets frustrating to hear officials say they can't do anything about it.”

Business owners at Fisherman's Wharf say many local shops are being pushed to the breaking point as their customers are targeted by car break-ins. "There are several landmark businesses that have been here almost a hundred years that won't be coming back," said Jeff Sears, owner of Blazing Saddles Bike Rentals and Tours, which boasts three locations in San Francisco.

“We look at the numbers, but the numbers don't tell the whole story either, said Michael Redmond, San Francisco’s Assistant Police Chief.  Redmond oversees the department’s Investigations Bureau and all 10 of the city’s police districts.

“We're starting to see some strides and make some strides around car break ins,” said Redmond. “But … it's not a place where we want to be as a department.” 

Redmond says while SFPD has increased patrols in the Central District, he still agrees with the findings of an outside consultant, hired by SFPD, which found the department of 1,703 officers still needs an additional 473 cops to adequately patrol the city.

“Right now, we don't have enough officers on the street,” he said. “I believe the police department is putting the resources we have in the areas where we see continuous problems.”

Police also tell NBC Bay Area one of the reasons car break-ins appear to be spiking so much this year is that they hit record lows during the pandemic last year. There were fewer tourists in town, who are often the main targets. Even so, car break-ins remain one of the most frequent crimes in the city.

"We have a certain amount of prolific offenders that are out there committing the crimes on a day-to-day basis," said Michael Redmond, Assistant Chief of the San Francisco Police Department. "If they're held accountable and there's a consequence, we'll see even more of a drop."

Over the last two years at least 14 people have been arrested three or more times for committing car break-ins in San Francisco, according to police records. Of those, one person alone has been arrested 18 times and is currently on “supervised custody” with an ankle monitor.

“As we move some of these cases on some of the prolific burglars, it will be interesting to see how those cases end up in court, because one of the challenges is we have a backlog in our court system right now because of COVID,” said Redmond, adding, “Right now, we don't see a lot of consequences for doing it.” 

In addition to clearing the backlog, Redmond believes courts need to hand out tougher penalties in order to reduce the prevalence of car break-ins.

“There has to be a stiffer consequence,” said Redmond, who noted those tougher penalties should be coming from the District Attorney’s Office.

There’s an average of 74 car break-ins a day in San Francisco, according to crime data crunched by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit. Senior Investigative Reporter Bigad Shaban breaks it down.

District Attorney Chesa Boudin ran for office on a campaign promising to end mass incarceration in San Francisco. Since June, the Investigative Unit has been asking Boudin to for an interview to explain how he decides to either prosecute, drop or reduce criminal charges against suspects. Boudin has repeatedly declined to be interviewed, and instead, his office provided statement, pointing the finger back at police, saying SFPD only makes an arrest in 1.6% of all car break-in cases.

According to the statement, the DA’s office files charges in 77% of all cases it receives. 

Boudin’s office, however, did provide exact figures of how many cases that represents, nor did it provide information on the specific types of charges initially filed against defendants, and how often prosecutors struck plea deals with defendants, allowing them to plead to lesser charges.

The District Attorney’s Office statement also noted that “81% of auto burglary prosecutions resolved in 2021 have resulted in a conviction and of those, 100% resulted in a sentence that involved incarceration.”

Sources, however, including current and former prosecutors at the District Attorney’s Office told NBC Bay Area that while charges may be filed for 77% of the cases, many of those charges are eventually dropped or dismissed. As for convictions resulting in jail time, those same sources told the Investigative Unit the “100% incarceration rate” reference is misleading because for nearly all those defendants, sentences only include time already served, which often is just the couple of hours it took to book the suspect after the arrest. Those types of sentences reflect a much more lenient practice that what state allows, which is up to three years in jail for committing a car burglary.

Upon receiving the statement from the District Attorney’s Office, the Investigative Unit requested more details on the specific charges and sentences that have been handed down for car break-ins, however, a spokesperson said they are unable to provide that.

“Their responsibility is to the citizens of the city and people visiting the city,” said Chief Redmond, referring to the District Attorney’s Office. “We're going to keep pushing forward and trying to hold them accountable to hold the prolific burglars accountable for the crimes that they're committing.”

While San Francisco continues to grapple with the global health crisis, some say rampant crime is creating an economic crisis.

“There are many businesses on the brink right now and if things don't change fast, they're going to fail and not come back,” said Jeff Sears, who has been running his San Francisco bike rental business for more than three decades. “There are several landmark businesses that have been here almost a hundred years that won't be coming back.”

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