Bay Area Car Break-Ins Set Record:  CBS Bay Area reports that the number of car break-ins in San Francisco topped a record-setting 31,000 last year.  San Jose had over 6,400, the most in its history.  Oakland topped 10,000, a 32% increase compared to 2016.  Police speculate that these increases are due to the increased value of things left in cars, such as laptops and smart phones, and suggest that these numbers represent only reported break-ins.  Actual numbers are likely much higher.  The story fails to note that break-ins might be increasing since the 2014 adoption of Proposition 47, which converted thefts valued at $950 or less from felonies to misdemeanors.  This has made the break-ins low-priority crimes for police and only a small percentage get solved or even reported.  Quite a few items left in cars, including firearms, are worth less than $950.  San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon was a proponent of Proposition 47, "The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act."  The two largest contributors to the campaign, which raised over $10 million, were the ACLU and George Soros' Open Society Foundation.  The opposition, mostly law enforcement groups, raised just over $550 thousand.