San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin (Photo: Official SFDA Twitter page)
Retail Groups Pin San Francisco’s Rising Crime Rate on DA Chesa Boudin
Increases of robberies, other crimes directly tied to Boudin’s ‘decarceration’ policies
By Evan Symon, July 9, 2021 6:32 am
This week, several retail organizations, including the California Retailers Association, put the blame on the skyrocketing crime rates in the city on District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
Since being sworn in as District Attorney in 2020, Boudin has made reducing the incarcerated population one of his main goals. However, soon after Boudin enacted policies in which he refused to prosecute many “lighter” crimes, crime rates shot up across the city, with burglaries alone going up by 46% in 2020. News stories quickly sprung up all over San Francisco of criminals being brought in by police, Boudin and his team refusing to prosecute them, with the now released criminal going out to do an even more heinous crime. Some of these releases even brought about murder, with one non-prosecuted release resulting in two people killed.
Criminals have even gotten more daring. With in the last week, criminals even launched a daring daylight robbery of a Neiman Marcus in central San Francisco, making out with many designer purses, and leaving a Boudin-restrained police force from having the resources to get them.
“Boudin has made it clear that he is willing to prosecute us but not the people we bring in for things like robbery,” explained one anonymous San Francisco police officer to the Globe. “We hate this. He never said it, and he probably doesn’t think it, but it seems like he’s more in support of the rights of criminals than the rights of officers.
“So yeah, when you see on the news about these robberies, it shows just how much Boudin has restrained us. We brought in so many people just to see them walk away. So you can see why a lot of us are jaded by this.”
This increase in crime, largely against retail establishments only just fully reopening in the past few months, has sparked many to speak out against DA Boudin. In particular, store owners who have had to resort to closing early to deter crime, including large chains such as Target, have been the most vocal.
“Unfortunately this issue has been around for a while,” said President of the California Retailers Association Rachel Michelin on Wednesday. “Now we’re starting to see real consequences, which is stores closing early, stores locking their doors and really, an environment where it seems as if there are no repercussions for these types of behavior for these criminals doing these types of thefts.”
“The answer really lies, I think partially, with the district attorney and the fact that he’s made it clear he will not prosecute many of these crimes. When people hear that, they look at San Francisco and think they can commit these crimes and there will not be any consequences for their behavior.”
“We need to roll up our sleeves and find a strategy to benefit the residents of San Francisco and businesses that are there. The answer is not what the mayor said last week, which was retailers just need to hire more security guards. That’s not going to solve the problem. Security guards are there to observe and report. They’re not there to stop crime. That’s law enforcement. We have to figure out a way in San Francisco for law enforcement and local officials to work together.”
Boudin gets blame for massive crime rate increases in San Francisco
“It’s either stay open and get robbed, close early and lose business, or shut down for good,” said San Francisco store owner Jenny Kim to the Globe on Thursday. “Boudin and [San Francisco Mayor London] Breed have left us with no good options. We’re all angry and frustrated.”
And the anger over Boudin’s policies only get worse among victims and families of victims.
“Reducing incarceration does have benefits,” explained Joe Rodriguez, a former sheriff’s deputy who now works as a crime victim advocate, to the Globe on Thursday. “Let’s be truthful here. It does reduce a burden on the taxpayer and it does give some people a second chance. But, with Boudin, it was a massive gamble that didn’t pay off. He just stopped prosecutions across the board, and it’s been nothing but trouble since he got in.”
“There is a massive feeling that Boudin cannot make objective decisions and acts like if Saul Goodman was DA rather than, say, an Atticus Finch. A big reason is because both of his parents are big time criminals. He’s the son of David Gilbert and Kathy Boudin, both of whom were members of the Weather Underground terrorist group in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. In particular, his parents were both played direct parts in the 1981 Brink’s robbery. 3 people were killed during that, with Chesa’s mom getting 20 years and his dad getting 75 to life. Kathy Boudin was only a getaway driver, but his dad was jailed for killing police officers trying to stop the robbery. With both in jail, Chesa was then raised by two other Weather Underground members. And remember, the Weather Underground bombed the U.S. Capitol building, bombed the Pentagon, and nearly killed Dustin Hoffman. And he was raised by these people.”
“And now the kid raised by terrorists is DA, and it shows. He has no regard for victims or victims families. The cases I’ve had in San Francisco, someone in each case, each recent case, seems to be mad at Boudin. And I can’t blame them. He says this is progress, but I dare him to tell that to a parent whose child was killed by someone released under his decarceration program. I dare him.”
As of Thursday, Boudin has given no indication of any change of policies to help San Francisco stores combat the new crime wave.
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Have very little sympathy for the residents and businesses of San Francisco. THEY elected this guy and are choosing to keep him in office.
Change last words from “in office” to “alive.”
I understand how you feel, John. But, we don’t live in Haiti, YET. Although we ARE heading in that direction.
He was elected using the “ranked voting” method which, as I understand it, is not an accurate reflection — more like a sleight-of-hand trick by whoever runs the election — of who the people want to be their District Attorney. Also there was probably a very low voter turnout from engineered voter apathy over time which comes from a feeling of powerlessness as cities/counties deteriorate no matter what voters do. This is all by design, not an accident. Speculating that probably some cheating was thrown in for good measure, but it’s only a guess.
At any rate, there is an effort afoot to recall this comic book villain. Here’s the link to the Official Recall Chesa Boudin website for interested SF residents:
https://recallchesaboudin.org/
Showandtell, there are apparently 2 groups collecting signatures to recall Boudin. They have until August 11 to collect 51,325 signatures. Neither one of these groups, as far as I can see, is reporting current signature totals. I believe the group that started in April had 5,000 at the time. Change dot org shows 14,988 supporters of the recall petition. It does not look to me like he will be recalled, if the numbers are accurate.
Tune in today, Sunday, July 11, to KABC-AM 790 at 4 p.m., to hear Jim Lacy’s guests bring us up-to-date about the Chesa Boudin and George Gascon recall efforts.
One of the guests on the show will be “…..longtime criminal justice reform advocate Andrea Shorter, who is a columnist for the San Francisco Bay Times newspaper. Andrea is one of the spokespersons for the Chesa Boudin Recall effort and will inform us of how that is going.”
You can listen live on the radio if you live in SoCal, or online at KABC.com. Click the ‘LIVE in Taxifornia’ show at 4 p.m.
Exactly
This is a first hand real time illustration of the result of these policies.
Here is the result of this agenda: People are closing businesses and leaving the state in record numbers.
You can’t rationalize away losing a seat in the House of Representatives.
Maybe California needs to hit bottom – like an addict – so people will finally vote for sanity.
Dox this mo-fo! Address, phone #, email(s), wife’s name and place of employment, kids (if any), car year make model, ALL OF IT!
Great idea!
He did his convict parents proud. He was raised by Obama’s good friend Bill Ayers.
Good marxists dismantle and destroy capitalistic, democratic societies.
I think even San Franciscans didn’t vote for the guy. The voting system was corrupted years ago. We must demand voter integrity or more like him and Gascon will be installed to dismantle all remnants of civil life.
in SF there are so many foxes running the hen house there is no where else to go but 3rd world, yet somehow like insanity rules keep voting the same kind in to expect different result but only get worse
Boudin was elected with Soros money. Long story but the Soros money bough enough “votes” from various groups to get Boudin over the line. The Willie Brown 40,000 plus “votes” that are usually in play (for pay) went elsewhere in that election.
Now the really interesting story is that Boudin is basally refusing to prosecute domestic abuse / domestic violence cases. He has overturned decades of standard procedure in these case. The two big questions is why are nt the women’s rights groups make a huge deal out of this. They have never been quiet in the past. And more importantly what does this say about Boudin as a person. The only people I’ve known who dont seem too put out by domestic violence and abuse have histories of their own. In my experience. And Boudin fits the profile perfectly. In my experience. He ticks all the boxes. Every last one of them.
This guy looks like a corrupt scumbag!
Everyone gets the government some people deserve. Californians brought this on themselves over the years as their emotions over ruled their heads and they supported feel good candidates and feel good policies. One consequence was a change in demographics that led to a change in culture. Probably irreversible.