Mayor London N. Breed has taken a firm stand on crime by installing 400 high-tech eyes on the streets of San Francisco. On Thursday, the city's chief signed off on new legislation that grants the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) the power to start mounting Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) across the city, a move aimed at tightening the grip on public safety. The announcement came following earlier efforts in December to greenlight the law change necessary to deploy these surveillance tools.
These devices, funded by a $17.3 million state retail theft grant, are part of a broad strategy to combat organized retail theft—problems that have plagued the city's stores and streets. In an operational push to start the deployment expeditiously, Breed has ordered her staff to cut through any potential bureaucratic snarl-ups. Mayor Breed told SF.gov, "We are making progress disrupting crimes and we are sending a message that San Francisco is not tolerating criminal activity of any kind."
The SFPD is receiving a hearty slice of the grant, $15.3 million, to be specific, while the District Attorney's Office snags a cool $2 million to bolster its prosecutorial might. This financial injection doesn't just fund the ALPRs; it also extends to crucial hardware and crime-fighting muscle—aiming at curtailing theft rings and the rampant theft of catalytic converters. "Implementing this technology as quickly as possible will provide a powerful deterrent for criminal activity," District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told SF.gov.
The numbers spell out a clear narrative of effectiveness: from late November to the New Year, the final figures for 2023 reflected a significant downturn in crime. Larceny thefts were slashed by 48%, car theft by 17%, and break-ins by 26%. It seems that the city's investment in what Police Chief Bill Scott calls a "force-multiplier" may to further bolster these falling crime rates. Scott said in a statement obtained by SF.gov, "These cameras will be helping our hard-working officers to identify vehicles used in crimes and to apprehend offenders more quickly and precisely."
