Some relatively good news came out of the City by the Bay in the recent election. Acting Mayor London Breed was elected mayor outright in the city's ranked-choice voting system. Dan Morain of CalMatters notes, "She invariably is described as moderate." But Frisco politics is skewed two sigma to the left of the country as a whole, so that doesn't mean what "moderate" means elsewhere. Still, the result is encouraging, and seeing the criminal-friendly Mark Leno defeated in the bottom circle of "progressivism" warrants hoisting a brewski.
During the campaign, Ms. Breed published this statement on public safety issues.
San Francisco confronts two related problems: rising property crime, particularly car break-ins, and the impression that there are no consequences for the crimes committed here.
Property crimes in the City spiked by 24% from 2016 to 2017. We can change this.
Sounds like she gets it. How about specifics?
She is in favor of more police. Can't argue with that. Here is the second point:
Consequences for Breaking the LawThere must be real consequences for those who commit crimes in our neighborhoods. I will add more neighborhood prosecutors in our district stations to work with residents, crime victims, and police, to prioritize and prosecute these crimes. I will reform the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) system so that the worst re-offenders are not mistakenly released just to victimize residents again. If someone is charged with a felony home or auto burglary, for example, they should AT LEAST have to go before a judge before being released. I will also introduce legislation empowering the City Attorney to pursue repeat offenders in Civil Court, so that if the criminal justice system doesn't stop them, a lawsuit will. I did this already with graffiti offenses and it is working. And with adequate staffing, if you call to report a break-in, or any crime, officers should come quickly and take your concerns seriously.
"Real consequences" is absolutely right in principle. The criminal justice changes proposed appear to be steps in the right direction, but modest ones. Civil liability? Success with graffiti does not necessarily generalize to other offenses. A great many criminals are "judgment proof" from civil liability, i.e., there is no way to enforce a civil judgment.
Does she understand why the criminal justice system is so often ineffective in California today? The statement ticks off the usual Politically Correct positions, including the de rigueur denunciation of "mass incarceration" with the factually erroneous implication that the incarceration rate is all about drugs. Does she understand that realignment and Propositions 47 and 57 went too far and need to be fixed? Maybe. She couldn't say that and get elected in San Francisco. Now the election is behind her, and, in President Obama's famous words, she has more flexibility. An endorsement of the clean-up initiative, if it qualifies, would be a good sign. I would not say I am optimistic about criminal justice leadership in San Francisco, but there is a spark of hope.
In other results, the campaign to remove four superior court judges simply because they were appointed by Republican governors, noted in this post, completely flopped.
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