Don’t be surprised to see even more establishments board up their front windows and doors. Burglaries and acts of vandalism at closed restaurants and stores have risen in San Francisco as much of the city stays at home or waits in line at grocery stores.
Other opportunistic crimes have also taken place.
In late March, the San Francisco Police Department warned that some people were going door-to-door “claiming to be employees of the Centers for Disease Control or the San Francisco Department of Public Health [SFDPH].” They were reportedly asking to enter the residences to conduct inspections or searches.
Though the health department has been conducting inspections of the city’s SROs, the building owners and managers were given advance notice, and the inspectors’ identities can be validated. But “neither the CDC nor SFDPH have personnel going door-to-door conducting inspections of private residences,” the police department reports, and it tells people not to let in anyone claiming to be performing such inspections.
Meanwhile, from the beginning of the year through April 19, there were 1,257 auto burglaries in the area served by Northern Police Station; that’s down from 1,489 for the same period last year. Meanwhile, year-to-date burglaries were at 259, compared to 279 in 2019; and robberies were at 110, up from 96.
Send feedback to [email protected]. News tips? Email: [email protected]
