San Francisco sees an increase in shootings and assaults

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San Francisco saw an increase in shootings and assaults in the first six months of this year compared to the same time frame in 2020 as the police department grapples with a shortage of 400 police officers, officials said Monday.

Police Chief Bill Scott said the city reported 119 shootings — both fatal and non-fatal — compared to 58 in the first half of last year. The data follows a national trend seen in many cities. Shootings are common in Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, OR, Baltimore, and Houston, to name a few.

“We’re almost double what we’ve been in the last two years and that’s a major concern,” Scott told reporters during his mid-year report on crime trends in the city.

He also said burglaries are down despite the proliferation of videos showing rude daytime thefts in retail stores. In a robbery filmed in a video last week at Neiman Marcus in Union Square, 10 people got in, snatched designer bags and ran into waiting cars.

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This video was followed by another video of a man filling a trash bag with things inside San Francisco Walgreens while people recorded it with their cell phones.

Scott said the San Francisco Police Department currently has 400 officers. Several police agencies have seen detainee numbers fall as more officers decide to retire early amid a surge in violent crime and calls to defund police departments in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

Scott used the press conference to lobby for more officers.

“This is not a one-year thing,” according to the SF Portal. “The mayor did everything in her power to prevent us from getting smaller… Employment is very difficult at the moment.”

At the beginning of the briefing, the Mayor said the London Post that the 1,000 car crashes reported each month are likely to be by 10 groups of people. She also admitted assaults on elderly people and Asian residents and retail theft, many of which were videotaped.

In May, two elderly Asian women were stabbed while waiting for a bus in downtown San Francisco and the attack was videotaped. It was the latest in a string of attacks against Asian Americans in the city and nationwide since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

“These videos are going viral not only in San Francisco, but all over the world,” Breid told reporters. “But what doesn’t spread quickly… is the fact that in almost every case, our police have arrested several people for these specific crimes.”

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott speaks to reporters in San Francisco. San Francisco saw an increase in shootings in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, and a slight increase in aggravated assaults like those seen in viral videos. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

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On Monday, law enforcement officials and city leaders met with President Biden to discuss ways to tackle the surge in crime across the country.

To help address the escalation of gun violence in San Francisco, the Police Department is building relationships with community members and partnering with California Partners for Safe Communities, a coalition of organizations that identifies people at risk of becoming a crime victim or perpetrator. and those who work with families to prevent crime, Scott said.

“When you come to San Francisco and commit a crime, you will be arrested,” Breid said.

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