SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed promised that the 2023 holiday season would be the safest ever, and the numbers are in from her office.
“This holiday season, seeing the numbers begin to decline," she said.
San Francisco recorded a decrease in retail thefts, car break-ins and burglaries.
The numbers are down but not at zero. However, one jewelry store owner fell victim to a crime over the weekend.
Crime was down in San Francisco during Thanksgiving and, according to the mayor’s office, the trend continued through the new year. Even with that, there are still store owners who say crime has forced them to close up shop.
Mayor London Breed was all smiles Wednesday as she announced decreases in crime through the holiday season. Retail thefts and auto break-ins decreased 48% from Nov. 20 to Jan. 1.
That includes an 11 percent increase in daily visitors to Union Square.
“I think that it had a lot to do with the additional resources that we have to do undercover operations to make arrests, to make sure people are charged and held accountable," Breed said.
Besides an increase in police presence, the mayor also credits holiday pop-ups, including her vacant to vibrant initiative and safe parking sites for the improved numbers.
Breed promises to continue the momentum into the new year with new investments.
“The packed stores and the packed restaurants and the families and the people coming together, my hope is that momentum would carry us through for the rest of 2024 and continue,” Breed said.
Crime is down, but still happening. This is what business owner Edwin Ayala found Monday morning when he walked into his Mission District jewelry store.
“It was a mess, total mess. Everything breaking,” Ayala said.
He says someone broke into Shine Little Diamond sometime during New Year's Eve.
Stealing around $50,000 worth of Jewelry and a security camera box with all the footage.
Ayala says the break-in is the last straw for him. He’s seen others fall victim, but he’ll be closing up shop for good now that it’s happened here.
“I’m in shock. I’m scared honestly. I don’t feel safe. I don’t feel happy working in this business anymore," Ayala said.
This past holiday season, there were around 2,100 reports of retail and auto break-ins in San Francisco. While still a lot, that’s fewer than in any of the previous six years.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/Nj0VoXG
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