Willow Glen attempted car theft

[Climber]

It is sad that the culture here has the opinion it’s the victim’s fault. Blaming the victim is despicable. Why won’t we blame the criminals anymore? I’m shocked by how much it’s popular to people here to make excuses for them.

I think you're over-reacting.

However, if you're going to do stupid things, don't cry too loud if the stupid thing comes back on you.

Leaving your car running and the door ajar in a vehicle, while you go inside your house, fits in the realm of stupid things. Sorry if you find that offensive.

A little bit of common sense can go a long way to avoid becoming a victim. It's like riding a motorcycle, a little bit of prevention can significantly reduce your chance of being in a bad accident.

This nation has way too many careless people who do stupid shit then cry when the odds catches up with them.

 

[Butch]

But I see more and more people feel it’s ok to commit those crimes. And I also see more and more people defending them and blaming the victims. I hope this trend stops spreading.

You are just seeing more and more crap on the internet.
I think real crime statistics might be down.

The truth is a tough prey.

 

[NorCalAthlete]

I think you're over-reacting.

However, if you're going to do stupid things, don't cry too loud if the stupid thing comes back on you.

Leaving your car running and the door ajar in a vehicle, while you go inside your house, fits in the realm of stupid things. Sorry if you find that offensive.

A little bit of common sense can go a long way to avoid becoming a victim. It's like riding a motorcycle, a little bit of prevention can significantly reduce your chance of being in a bad accident.

This nation has way too many careless people who do stupid shit then cry when the odds catches up with them.

When I kept my motorcycle chained up (disc lock + chain through the wheel + steering locked + tucked away behind some shit in the parking garage) people still stole my mirrors + battery.

When I left it unlocked (steering unlocked, no disc lock, no chain lock) in the middle of the parking garage right by the front gate where you can see it from outside, nobody touched it.

Sometimes it's counter-intuitive.

 

[Climber]

When I kept my motorcycle chained up (disc lock + chain through the wheel + steering locked + tucked away behind some shit in the parking garage) people still stole my mirrors + battery.

When I left it unlocked (steering unlocked, no disc lock, no chain lock) in the middle of the parking garage right by the front gate where you can see it from outside, nobody touched it.

Sometimes it's counter-intuitive.

Not really. Plainly visible is also plainly visible to witnesses.

Thieves mostly like to work out of sight of others.

I remember when it was a common thing for thieves to break into cars in locked garages, then drive the car out by opening the door with the door opener kept in the car.

 

[Joshman]

You are just seeing more and more crap on the internet.
I think real crime statistics might be down.

The truth is a tough prey.

National average, this is true but I'm not a fan of large scale averages as metric since they're not terribly useful in proper data analysis.

City specific, many cities have seen increasing crime. Though probably not as bad as the 90's, non-violent crime has been increasing at least in SF. I believe the same is true for Oakland (though shootings in Oak are up something like 63% this year).

This was an interesting dashboard for SF showing that violent crime is somewhat stable, but property crime has been increasing somewhat for the past 10 years:
https://sfgov.org/scorecards/public-safety/violent-crime-rate-and-property-crime-rate

 

[Joshman]

I think you're over-reacting.

However, if you're going to do stupid things, don't cry too loud if the stupid thing comes back on you.

Leaving your car running and the door ajar in a vehicle, while you go inside your house, fits in the realm of stupid things. Sorry if you find that offensive.

A little bit of common sense can go a long way to avoid becoming a victim. It's like riding a motorcycle, a little bit of prevention can significantly reduce your chance of being in a bad accident.

This nation has way too many careless people who do stupid shit then cry when the odds catches up with them.

I'm not sure I agree here since it creates a moving target. By pacing the onus on the victim, we then expect victims to commit to ever increasing precautions as crime increases or gets more creative.

When I moved in to my current home, the smart thing was not to leave your car unlocked. Only a few years later the new "smart" thing is to ensure your keys are in an RF shielded container inside your home. If you don't know to do that, you're basically asking for your car to be stolen (is what people are being told).

 

[Climber]

I'm not sure I agree here since it creates a moving target. By pacing the onus on the victim, we then expect victims to commit to ever increasing precautions as crime increases or gets more creative.

When I moved in to my current home, the smart thing was not to leave your car unlocked. Only a few years later the new "smart" thing is to ensure your keys are in an RF shielded container inside your home. If you don't know to do that, you're basically asking for your car to be stolen (is what people are being told).

It's not putting the onus on the victim.

It's a recognition that the odds of having a bad thing happen to you are increased by doing stupid things. Kind of like leaving an iPad sitting on the seat of your car in plain site for anybody walking past rather than tucking it under the seat or putting it some other place where a potential thief can't see it.

For the most part, it's just common sense, which seems to be in shorter supply these days.

 

[ScorpioVI]

I see the media has moved on from evil assault rifles to evil ghost guns. :teeth

 

[nutellaBM]

When I moved in to my current home, the smart thing was not to leave your car unlocked. Only a few years later the new "smart" thing is to ensure your keys are in an RF shielded container inside your home. If you don't know to do that, you're basically asking for your car to be stolen (is what people are being told).

RF code vehicle thefts are definitely a much more nuanced (and I would imagine less common) occurrence. It's also a large leap to compare a thief who uses advanced technology, and an opportunist thief.

I think we can sympathize with the victim while still recognizing that some circumstances that probably should have been different made the possibility of larceny that much greater.

 

[Joshman]

Not so much any more. My neighbor had their car stolen this way, and we're seeing an uptick in high end vehicle theft in my area using this method. So much so that the cops are recommending shielding keys.

RF code vehicle thefts are definitely a much more nuanced (and I would imagine less common) occurrence. It's also a large leap to compare a thief who uses advanced technology, and an opportunist thief.

I think we can sympathize with the victim while still recognizing that some circumstances that probably should have been different made the possibility of larceny that much greater.

 

[Joshman]

It's not putting the onus on the victim.

It kinda does. You're blaming people for being "stupid" but the bar of what's considered common sense is ever rising.

tbh no one should expect to have their shit stolen, much less any other crimes committed against them. Mindsets that steer blame on victims will not help as it lessens the pressure on the criminal by implying the victim had it coming.

 

[RRR70]

I see the media has moved on from evil assault rifles to evil ghost guns. :teeth

That’s why I tell people not to buy AR15. Buy AR 10. They are 5 ARs safer.

 

[bojangle]

What is Willow Glen? Is that the safe-safe part of SanJo?

Yes.

Leaving your car running in the driveway is an open invitation for something to happen IMO.

Especially from a retired cop. We see this stuff quite a bit in the early morning hours especially. He should know better.