In a double whammy, the headquarters of District 3 supervisor candidate Aaron Peskin's campaign in Polk Gulch and the offices of the Fisherman's Wharf Community Benefit District (CBD) were both the target of break-ins in the past three days.
The Fisherman's Wharf CBD, at 2801 Leavenworth St., was burgled sometime between last Thursday night and Saturday morning, August 20th–21st, said Troy Campbell, the group's executive director. Peskin's headquarters at 1238 Sutter St. was robbed the next night or morning, August 21st or 22nd. Peskin said the neighboring Regency Ballroom (1300 Van Ness Ave.) had told him their space was broken into about a week prior.
Entrance to Fisherman's Wharf CBD offices. (Image: Google Street View)
Peskin's campaign offices had 10 laptops stolen. He's checking into insurance, but that the computers "weren’t extremely valuable" and he doesn't think they contained any sensitive campaign information. The Fisherman's Wharf CBD, which promotes and preserves the Wharf and enhances the community, had two laptop computers and a Segway taken. Insurance will cover those losses.
"I’m not surprised at all, because the thieves are getting so brazen," Campbell said of both break-ins. "We will be buying a safe and locking our computers in a safe every night and not leaving anything of value out in our office. For everyone else, I’d recommend not leaving anything in plain sight."
Peskin said his campaign manager left the office at about 9pm on Friday, August 21st, and people arrived the next morning at 10am to find that someone had climbed over the metal security gates and broken in. He added that when he was handing out flyers this morning near Pacific Avenue and Mason Street, he saw four cars with broken windows.
"It’s remarkable that the amount of crime is going up and arrests are going down," Peskin said. "I’m not sure why that is. There are questions that need to be asked there. Also, we just expanded the police districts and I’m interested in knowing—but I don’t have the answers—whether or not the expanded stations have adequate staffing. It’s not a secret to anybody that property crimes are increasing by huge margins." He added, "I’m not endorsed by the police union because I have a history of asking them tough and probing questions."
