Trespassing.......disturbing the peace.....resisting arrest.......prostitution.......driving w/o license.
What could go wrong? Let's take trespassing. If that is no longer a crime, will it be a crime if I eject a trespasser by any means necessary? The question may be: Will the police even show up to remove a trespasser, knowing that it makes no sense to arrest them?
This is setting a dangerous precedent. 
You might as well declare a war our police if you are going to decriminalize resisting arrest. This is the same side promoting and supporting BLM right? I wonder how many more african american men are going to go down swinging until they take their last breath via a police bullet to the brain?
Hundreds of government employees in San Francisco told to work from home due to the high levels of crime in the area, report says:
Some government staff in San Francisco have been told to work remotely, a report says.
Department of Health and Human Services staff were asked to work from home due to local crime.
The city has been battling a drug epidemic and a homelessness crisis in recent years.
Hundreds of employees at the Department of Health and Human Services in San Francisco have been told to work from home due to the high level of crime in the area around its office, the reported.
The department recommended that employees worked remotely "for the foreseeable future," the report says, citing an August 4 memo sent to staff, a copy of which the Chronicle said it had obtained.
The advice was given to workers "in light of the conditions at the (Federal Building)," Cheryl R. Campbell, assistant secretary for administration at the department, said, per the report.
The Federal Building is located at 90 7th Street in San Francisco, which is known to be a drug hotspot, with dealers often peddling drugs near or across the street from the building, the Chronicle reported.
@Raiders22
It used to be just on 6th street. Now it's 5th street clear to Mission. Then the Mission clear to Bernal Heights. Then you have the Tenderloin/Civic Center. Plus the Haight is all forked up now. Apparently the Richmond has been popping off. It isn't a very big city. They're running out of not f'd up neighborhoods. I didn't even name any of the actual ghetto spots. The Mission is kinda ghetto but also gentrified, but also a wasteland cesspool. Something has to give. It's still a great city but it has extreme issues and it will get worse before it gets better.
@StumpTownStu
Yessir. 
Before that just a couple of areas, like the Haight-Ashbury area was the hippie and drug scene. But not the crime that is so prevalent all over now. But when it is right in front of the federal buildings, I guess they might decide to do something now that the workers are told to stay home. I also hear that it is not even as much nighttime stuff. Now even in the daytime they are bashing out vehicle windows and going in the stores, etc.
Very sad that it has come to that. It really is a good nostalgic city and a nice area. I always recommend folks to get there sometime and get down to Fisherman's Wharf and try all the shops and restaurants there. I might have to rethink that now. Haha!
It can be a very nice city again if they clean it up a tad. 
That whole Haight-Ashbury hippie thing is kind of a fairytale. The summer of love was '67. By '68, and definitely by '69, the Haight was overrun with speed freaks and heroin addicts and crime was rampant. Eventually over the years it was cleaned up and became a nice neighborhood. I would say one of the safer neighborhoods in SF. It has gone downhill like many of the outer neighborhoods. The problems of downtown just moving south and west.
For context, though I am no fan of San Francisco or California politicians, nor a defender of either, this problem is a lot trickier than simply bad democratic policies. For decades, the dregs of society has flocked to West Coast cities like SF, LA, Portland, and Seattle. They came for climate and counterculture. When you see a city like these falling apart, half of the people on the street came from someone else. These cities become dumping grounds. And what do you do with them once they're here? Throw them all in jail? Prisons are overcrowded as is. Plus then you're still paying to house, feed, administer medical assistance, etc. Most are too far gone for medical treatment. Most are too far gone to be housed. What exactly is one to do?
@StumpTownStu
Maybe SF wouldn't be a literal shit hole if the city didn't offer free services for druggies to get high or allow people to sleep in the streets. It's no wonder why everyone flocks there, free drugs! Now when free shit runs out, crime picks up. SF is in a lose lose situation. Why do you think the Warriors, Raiders and now A's are leaving Oakland? How long before the Giants and Warriors want out? Once tech is completely gone from SF, why would any sports team want to stay? Tech/corporate is the driving factor in ticket sales.
On another note, SF has only been a "nice city" from the mouths of people who live(d) there because they didn't want to talk shit about their own city. SF has always been a shit hole with a few nice spots. The drug and homeless problem has always been there and will always be there. I'm worried SF has already fallen off the deep end and there's no fix in sight. Open up Alcatraz!
To me this isnt an issue of politics because I know of many GOP cities including PHX that is facing similar issues but due to the geographic trap that the city of SF is, the homeless population funnels to certain areas more than say a large unlimited metro like PHX is. Anyone who has visited SF understand the concept of how it is geographically limited and locked up.
You cant just get a steam roller out and crush all the people, they cant in SF or in LA, they cant in PHX and they cant in ultra-conservative Salt Lake City, so the concept of this being a liberal versus conservative deal is pretty stupid. Areas where the climate is more agreeable for someone living outside will obviously be where people want to be. Down here we see a massive inflow once the heat breaks in late October and come June they move to California for better temps.
But hey why not make any possible thing a partisan sandwich, that is accomplishing so so much.
@StumpTownStu
Very true. I was saying before folks that visited for vacation avoided the H-B area simply because they knew its reputation. There were just so many other areas that were very nice to visit.
Now there are more mainstay areas that need to be avoided -- not because you do not want your kids to see hippies or drugs. Now you do not want your family or friends to experience the crimes. Over the years it has changed multiple times.
The problem is more than political.
It is just not in the nature of most folks to up and move. This goes way back in human nature. Very few are just apt to strike out.
So, now the folks that are there know what areas to avoid and know how to get along -- same as most cities.
People of all types -- especially more 'free-spirited' types -- have been flocking to those cities you mentioned forever. I saw a good study many years ago about that type of 'free-spirited and live-and-let live' that leads to more crime. When you have more of a percentage of these folks, they are more apt to be accepting of this 'allowance of crime' we see here now.
But that was from many years ago before what is currently going on, so not even sure how it might apply today.
You are so correct that it is a tricky situation now; so it will be dicey to see how they handle it.
@BigGame90
It has always had the drugs. But not the drug situation that leads to the crimes we see today. These kids that are doing these crimes are not doing it for money for drugs.
There are many other cities in the USA or in the world that are 'easy-going' on drug usage that do not have this crime.
It is more than the drugs. The guy in the alley spaced out of his mind is not one of the young guys smashing car windows and assaulting folks or smashing stores.
I agree the politicians there do not/are not handling this.
I get what you are saying about the city.
But SF is a nice city but for that -- it is a big but, of course. If you are alright with the cool weather it is very cultured and has amazing food. I can argue the best Asian and seafood on the West Coast, if not the whole USA. It has art, museums, festivals and generally mild climate. etc.
Many worse cities in the USA to me. Especially, if they clean up the crime.
As @StumpTownStu said, most folks knew the areas to avoid if you did not want to see the drug usage etc. These mainly were isolated to certain areas that were off the tourist areas. Just now even this has moved out into the open and NOW the crime has exploded.
@wallstreetcappers
While all of that is pretty true and valid. The attitude in SF has been way more hands off than other cities. As I said above it is more than political with that attitude in that city about the drugs and the homeless. But now that has bled over into the smash-and-grabs, etc. So, now you have that coupled with the other problems that SF has always had. This is what has exacerbated the crime there now -- the attitude that overwhelming runs the city from the people and, therefore, the politicians.
I think a very good case could be made that you do see more of this in the more Liberal-run cities very easily. But you can also make the case that you see more of it in the bigger cites which happen to be run by Liberals. It may be tricky to isolate for big city versus smaller city and Liberal-run versus Right-run because of this.
But for sure the fortitude in those cities to 'crush all of these people' is not there as much as other cities. But they should be able to handle this sort of crime by arresting and appropriately punishing them. They simply do not do this there.
It is a far different thing to see someone down on the street strung out, but otherwise not bothering anyone than it is to have to be wary of your windows getting smashed or your store being robbed or you being assaulted, all in broad daylight. That is where things are getting out of hand. Now even the locals are frustrated.
Down here we get a massive increase as I mentioned when the temps break, now the corners and intersections are blank because nobody wants to panhandle in 115 degrees, and cities here know the legalities and what they can and cannot do.
There is a great deal of discussion about tent groups and we have them here, we have the garbage issue and the risk of people having their homes at risk and it is a safety issue for sure.
That said, these cities cannot legally force people into shelters and off the streets, it is not the current law to forcefully make these camps and people to leave a public area even when there is an issue with bothering others and drugs. In fact Ive seen that some cities try to step in and give needles to people for several reasons, one being that there is a sense of trust that can be developed and maybe that person who uses wont see the source of the needle as an enemy trying to put them in jail, it also allows for health observation and attempts to change behavior in a non-confrontational approach, since the only real legal recourse is for cops to go into these areas and find the drugs and I also know THAT happens but it is not as simple as a tv show where 100 cops go in and kick butt and nab the drug users. There are minors, women and peoples possessions there and a high risk to the officers doing the investigating too. And secondly Ive read that the approach in some ways is that clean needles are better than dirty and used needles as to spreading disease and causing more harm to more people.
Legally there is just nothing concrete that ANY city can do, LIB or conservative, it baffles me how some of you make this into a partisan conversation..this is about legalities it is about safety it is about people, not your moronic "my party is better than yours" horse crap.
[Quote: Originally Posted by BigGame90]@StumpTownStu
You don't know what you're talking about, bro. Why even chime in? First of all, the Warriors left Oakland for San Francisco so a lot of sense that point makes. The Raiders left Oakland, and the A's have been trying to leave for literally two decades, because you can't get a sports facility built in Oakland. There's just no public money. Oakland/Alameda County still has a ton of money on the books for the Coliseum renovation, a building that already around three decades old at the time. Bad move. The Warriors chose to move to SF and financed an arena privately. SF didn't give them a dime. They didn't even donate them land nor offer great tax incentives. And I promise you, they aren't going anywhere. Nor the Giants.
San Francisco really is a good city. It has great geography, culture, cuisine, a city park bigger than Central Park, the Ocean. And it has a ton of cool neighborhoods. It has had a drug and homeless problem since before I was born. Since before cities like SF were giving out free drugs and paraphernalia. Up until a decade ago, it was more or less relegated to a few areas. South of Market between, say, 6th and 9th, Civic Center, and the TLs. There was some on the Embarcadero had some as well but those three neighborhoods, which all interconnect, were it. Then it started bleeding into other downtown neighborhoods, like Union Square, parts of which essentially essentially overlay the TLs, and it started to radiate out from 6th Street in SoMa. Then it expanded across the rest of the city. This shit is happening everywhere though. Mental illness. Drug addiction. Wealth disparity. San Francisco still has a ton of tourists. Damn sure more than there is in Boy•See. And while people are moving, residents and businesses, it's not simply because it's a shithole. It's because it's a high price shithole. It's high priced because it's still a great city. I can't stress enough, I don't support and I am not defending San Francisco, nor California politicians. I have hated Newsome for longer than you can even realize. I'm not a fan of London Breed. This shit is just more complicated than you can comprehend. The wealth disparity is more pronounced. The drugs are stronger and more readily available. Stress factors that could trigger lapses in mental health are at an all-time high. When cities hand out drugs and paraphernalia, it's because all they can really do is watch these people die. They're way past treatment. It's more expensive to throw them in jail. What the heck would you even be charging them with? It's a messed up situation. Don't get me wrong, San Francisco liberal politicians have mishandled the situation. Absolutely. Don't even get me started on San Francisco and California politics, it's a lot more complicated than simply failed liberal policies. And this stuff could happen, and is happening everywhere.
@Raiders22
It is more than the drugs. The guy in the alley spaced out of his mind is not one of the young guys smashing car windows and assaulting folks or smashing stores.
Actually that's a huge part of it. It's most of it. The smash and grab crews that get the press have died down substantially. Usually the ones smashing car windows, stealing products from drug and grocery stores and such are street people. And it's moved more out into the neighborhoods.
@wallstreetcappers
Do you see more right leaning cities allowing people to freely walk into stores, take whatever they want and leave and do nothing about it? Just wondering what other cities allow that. Do you have any stats on businesses leaving cities and if so, are they leaving blue or red cities more often? We already know the citizen exodus is leaving blue cities...would you like me to pull up stats? Pretty sure CA (blue state) had more people leave then enter. First thing in how many decades? What about NY, same and NY is blue...want to go over more?
I think we CAN make this issue about politics.
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