Given the frequency of illegal activity in the Golden City it comes as no surprise.
But high-profile crimes continue to occur and continue to paint the city in a negative light.
Now a foreign news crew in San Francisco just found out their pro-crime policies failed first-hand.
Hundreds of foreign journalists have made the trek to San Francisco to cover the APEC summit.
The APEC summit is an annual meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group to talk about how to better spur trade and economic growth across the Pacific region.
This year, the United States is hosting the meeting for the first time since 2011.
Among the political leaders from across the globe in attendance were President Joe Biden and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping.
So much for cleaning the streets to make a good impression
Local officials had gone all out to portray the area in a good light – at least as much they could hastily manage without changing policies to make the city streets safer – by removing the homeless encampments and graffiti and obvious traces of poverty before the heads of state arrived.
But despite these attempts, the true nature of San Francisco presented itself in an obvious way, to frustration by local politicians.
One news crew is the latest victim of the crime epidemic.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a foreign journalist was attempting to capture on video something that would make for good TV — the city’s iconic City Lights bookstore at sunset.
That’s when three masked assailants approached with guns pointed.
Bohumil Vostal of the Czech Republican was caught completely off-guard.
The masked men took production equipment and drove off with cameras and other gear.
Police arrived after a call to 911, but by the time they got there, the thieves had already gotten away.
Vostal told the San Francisco Chronicle, “They were heading at my cameraman, aiming a gun at his stomach, and one at my head.”
In total, the robbers got away with $18,000 worth of equipment and a day’s worth of video footage.
Vostal posted on social media (originally in Czech), “Thank you very much for the support we received in ČT news. We’ll keep shooting. We are here for the US President’s summit with the Chinese leader. And we’ll be there (as always) for CT.”
Děkuji moc za podporu, jaké se nám dostalo ve zpravodajství ČT. Budeme točit dál. Jsme tu kvůli summitu prezidenta USA s čínským vůdcem. A budeme (jako vždy) za ČT u toho. https://t.co/un4wcSCYat
— Bohumil Vostal (@BohumilVostal) November 13, 2023
In a statement, mayor London Breed said, “We don’t want anyone in San Francisco to be a victim of any crime, whether they are a visitor or a resident. SFPD is actively investigating this case, and we know that when an arrest is made, our District Attorney has taken a strong position of aggressively prosecuting crimes like these.”
Robberies are becoming increasingly common
The San Francisco Police Department reports that robberies have increased 13.7% this year compared to the year before.
In a recent survey conducted by the city, only around one third of respondents said they felt safe in the city day and night.
