Police and Crime in SF
There has been all kinds of news about how the “defund the police” movement and “don’t stop shoplifters” laws is killing downtown San Francisco. Here is a more clear take, illuminated by cold, hard numbers.
San Francisco police apparently started a work slow-down in 2020 and haven’t started again. Here is a chart of traffic citations issued:
(source: SFGov.org)
San Francisco has talked about changing police budgeting (“defund the police”) but is hasn’t happened (1). Similarly, no shoplifting laws have changed in California despite talk about doing so (2).
Why have they done this? There is much speculation, all of it centering around politics and money.