After so many car break-ins and so many personal items lost to theft, San Francisco has earned the dubious title of “Bip City.”
The term comes from getting “bipped,” meaning to be a victim of a car burglary. It’s a well-known problem and one that the San Francisco Police Department said it’s making progress against Thursday, albeit slowly.
During a city hall hearing about car break-ins, the department reported that its plainclothes auto burglary unit has made 37 arrests this year.
“What we find is that once these suspects are apprehended, they are — as I said before — not responsible for one burglary, but they’re responsible for a whole string of burglaries,” said Lt. Stephan Jonas.
And while every arrest helps, the numbers are barely a drop in the bucket compared to how many car burglaries have happened so far this year. According to SFPD figures, that number currently stands at around 13,900 break-ins since Jan. 1.
At that rate, police estimate San Francisco is on track to match the number of break-ins that happened in 2022.
While the San Francisco District Attorney’s office did not have a representative at Thursday’s meeting, it did submit case data to be presented. Through July 31, the DA's office said it has been presented with 127 felony auto burglary or theft charges and has prosecuted 86 cases. 45 of those cases ended in a conviction.
The police weren’t the only ones talking Thursday, with residents also offering their thoughts on the crime as well as possible solutions.
“I understand there’s a technology called ‘StarChase’ that some other police departments are using to track cars as they leave so as to prevent dangerous high speed chases,” said Alamo Square resident Jennie Feldman.
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Parts of the hearing also focused on a public service program that aims to make sure visitors and residents know they should not leave anything of value in their cars.
During the public comments section, several callers criticized Supervisor Dean Preston for pushing to revamp that program. It’s a move some see as victim blaming.
“I don’t think that efforts to prevent crime are in any way victim blaming,” said Preston. “And you do hear that from some quarters. It is not something I hear from SFPD.”
