Police presence... not (San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco: transplants, low crime, felony)

[IceCold]

It is extremely noticeable, coming from NY, how few patrol cars and cops walking the beat there are in San Francisco. I have to say this is my MAJOR concern, when deciding to relocate.

In NYC, cops are literally everywhere, so no, you can't "go" in public even when it's dark out - you will probably get a court appointment.

I am kind of curious, though, why SFPD presence is so scarce. I will venture out and say that the voting contingent is so afraid of being told what to do that any mayor attempting to increase the force will be voted out. Is that close?

[Mach50]

I have always thought SF is pretty close to average as for as a city goes.

NYC has more cops than actual people! There are cops everywhere...except on the subways, which I never understood.

[City Boy]

Guliani turned NYC into a police state, yeah they have lower crime now but at what costs, harassment? Abuse? I see cops walking around SF and riding bikes, even horses occationally, over policing is not necessary in most of SF.

[Sassberto]

Welcome to California, the most under-policed state in the country. LA and San Diego have the same situation. Too few cops, cops in cars not streets. SoCal is even worse than SF and crime is everywhere. Many people in CA hate cops. People in NY have a collective memory of NYC in the 70's and 80's and are thankful for the PD there.

[CSkyhawk72]

They're busy getting triple venti sugar free, non fat, no foam, extra caramel, with whip caramel macchiatos at Starbucks.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Welcome to California, the most under-policed state in the country. LA and San Diego have the same situation. Too few cops, cops in cars not streets. SoCal is even worse than SF and crime is everywhere. Many people in CA hate cops. People in NY have a collective memory of NYC in the 70's and 80's and are thankful for the PD there.

Both LA and San Diego have very low crime rates.

[jman650]

If you want to see a lot of cops, go to San Jose. There's like one cop for every two people down there and parking too long in a loading zone is a felony there. If you enjoy police harassment, then SJ is for you. Otherwise, take your chances in SF where there may not be quite enough to handle all the crime there, but you're extremely unlikely to get harassed for BS like jaywalking when there are no cars and petty crap like that. Cops in SF are usually a block or two of where someone would hope they'd be when something is happening. So if you witness a crime or are victimized you probably wouldn't have to run too far to find some. Unfortunately, all too often they don't happen to be where you need them the exact moment you want them.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by IceCold

In NYC, cops are literally everywhere, so no, you can't "go" in public even when it's dark out - you will probably get a court appointment.

It can be done in NYC, I've seen it myself. A few blocks south of Times Square right near Gray's Papaya around 1AM. But unfortunately here its all over the place since there are so many mentally ill roaming our streets, and so many drunken jackasses that know there are not enough cops to stop them all the time. Cops will nab you for it if they catch you, but they're usually on the lookout for a lot more than public urination. In the TL, catching someone for only doing that is a breath of fresh air to them.

Originally Posted by IceCold

I will venture out and say that the voting contingent is so afraid of being told what to do that any mayor attempting to increase the force will be voted out. Is that close?

This is a very odd theory. That's like me venturing to say that in NYC the voting contingent must enjoy being dominated so they've voted for more police to whip them into shape. Is that close?

Its not that people are AFRAID of anything; that's actually the problem. The voting contingent here isn't taking the crime in the City seriously enough to make it a top priority. And its not like the crime is all that rampant to begin with. Its an issue, and I feel it should be a higher priority, but its not like we have an LA gang war-like issue here. Half the city is almost completely free of violent crime, so for many of the voters its out of sight, out of mind.

And there are so, so many transplants from wherever else, that the voting contingent is skewed by people who might not really care about things like crime. If you're a transplant from suburban Orange County or Maine, and you move to Pac Heights or the Marina District and rarely venture downtown or to any of the hoods, you're not too likely to even be aware of crime issues in the City. So its apathy, not fear of authority that is keeping the voters from demanding more of a police presence.

I'd rather see a few hundred of San Jose's 2,200+ cops be sent over to SF and Oakland to help alleviate the collective Bay Area dearth of cops in areas that we need them, but I don't expect to see that happen anytime soon.

[City Boy]

Originally Posted by jman650

If you want to see a lot of cops, go to San Jose. There's like one cop for every two people down there and parking too long in a loading zone is a felony there. If you enjoy police harassment, then SJ is for you. Otherwise, take your chances in SF where there may not be quite enough to handle all the crime there, but you're extremely unlikely to get harassed for BS like jaywalking when there are no cars and petty crap like that. Cops in SF are usually a block or two of where someone would hope they'd be when something is happening. So if you witness a crime or are victimized you probably wouldn't have to run too far to find some. Unfortunately, all too often they don't happen to be where you need them the exact moment you want them.

Terrible in San Jose, the Police have harassed me on so many occasions down there that I do not go if I don't have to. Once they call in my license plate after following me a few blocks and see that I'm from Oakland I get pulled over. Being black doesn't help either.

[rah]

Yeah my friend got a ticket for Jaywalking in San Jose. They have some bored cops down there.

As far as SF not having that many cops around...it is an understaffed force, which may have a lot to do with it. But also they do what they've always done, which is concentrate in the worst neighborhoods as well as Downtown, and leave the rest of the city pretty much alone comparatively. So, hang out downtown or in a high-crime neighborhood and you'll see lots of cops.