“The bigger problem is how do we address this rampant crime problem? Everything from cell phones to water bottles to guns, any item left in a car is subject to being stolen right now. The reality is police officers are no less vulnerable to that than any other segment of the population.” – Alison Berry Wilkinson in Efforts to keep police guns out of dangerous hands fail with SF killing [via sfchronicle.com]
Some circular “reasoning’ there, I think. Funny thing… our peace officers don’t lose their guns at all, far as I know. The guns remain in their holsters, just as with the rest of us who carry. I don’t know anyone who locks their car, and nobody I know has ever had anything stolen out of their car. Of course, we don’t leave guns in the cars either. We carry them.
I didn’t read the article, but are they stealing pistols or long guns, cause that makes a difference on whether they should be left in the car or not. Probably not good for public relations if a cop carries his shotty with him every time he gets out of the car to get a cup of coffee.
Of course this just means bay area politicians are going to have to do something, like making the .223 round and anything that shoots it illegal in Commiefornia, to protect the children.
Of course long guns must be handled differently. I suspect that’s why there are locks, keys, bolted down storage containers and such like available. Cops especially need these things, of course.
I don’t advocate anyone carrying their long guns around with them, especially cops. But from mid October to the end of hunting season, there are loads of long guns left on back window racks of trucks all over the place here. Nobody steals them.
It’s the location and the mind set of the people that counts. There is no rational comparison to San Francisco, of course.
“But from mid October to the end of hunting season, there are loads of long guns left on back window racks of trucks all over the place here. Nobody steals them.”
A big part of that is, where you live, the people who live there know who live there, meaning, you don’t have a lot of transients. You may not know your neighbors personally, but you know the basics. How many live there, how long have they been in the area, etc…
No one including police can bring a gun into a government building in San Francisco. This was discussed on TTAG over two years ago. I’m looking for the story Links.
The LEO who had his or her gun stolen, and was later used to murder Kate Steinly, their name has never been released to the public.
The city government of San Francisco doesn’t want to explain why even police have to disarm, when they enter a city government building.
But you can still walk around San Francisco naked, wearing a well fitted strap on dildo, for public attire, on days the government gives you permission.
“The LEO who had his or her gun stolen, and was later used to murder Kate Steinly, their name has never been released to the public.”
That was Park Ranger (Federal).
Feds from the FBI to Park Rangers have had duty pistols stolen from vehicles parked at courthouses in SanFran, the government plates are like store window advertising to the smash and grab thieves.
Must be a local court rule, since the Penal Code specifically allows on-duty police officers to carry their firearms in all state courthouses, and this even extends to out of state cops. I don’t think the rule is different for the feds either; I have been in the local magistrate’ court here where the bailiff was not armed, but the park ranger was, and the ADA was carrying concealed. In fact, a provision of the Penal Code exempts CCW holders who are not parties to pending litigation as well, but there is not a courthouse in this state that hasn’t (illegally) adopted a local regulation banning all knives and guns from courthouses. (Neither of local judge nor the Judicial Commission have the authority to overrule a state statute–but they do any way, and no one seems willing to pony up to challenge the regulations.)
I would like to know the crime statistics for stolen water bottles. Very serious. And are those stolen water bottles being recycled?
Twice I have had a laptop stolen out of my car. The second time they also stole a watermelon that was on the back seat, the cops that took the report thought that was funny as hell.
Needless to say, I never leave the gun in the car if I don’t have to.
They got your watermelon?
Draw and quarter them…
that would be too good for them…. Stealing a man’s watermelon! He could’ve spiked it, used it in fruit salad, or cut it into cubes and froze it to help cool his summer cocktails. No that beast needs to be found and fed to rats.
If its a specific variety of watermelon, it might be used as evidence. I grow Dixie Queen melons and they are pretty unique with skin pattern.
Write down every little detail.
The water bottles might catch fire if the sun hits them right………lions and tigers and bears, oh my !!!! I weep for humanity !
But wait, doesn’t CA have safe storage laws?
Then shouldn’t the cops be criminally charged for failure to properly secure their weapons whenever they’re stolen?
Lose a firearm in the military and it’s coming out of your paycheck (even if someone else turned it back in).
Hold the police pecuniarily liable for lost or stolen handguns.
Bulldoze SF into the Pacific.
Then throw in a few hundred thousand communist-environmentalists as mediation.
Why does this appear to be a S.F. problem? I don’t see many stories of it happening elsewhere.
This is why
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/SF-s-car-smash-and-grab-reality-even-worse-than-12224131.php
“The killing of Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier in July 2015 shook the law enforcement community when investigators traced the pistol that took her life to a federal ranger. ”
Sorry: the pistol had a lot less to do with her murder than did San Francisco’s sanctuary city laws.
“Lopez Sanchez had been on track for a sixth deportation after serving 46 months in prison for felony re-entry into the country, but was released from the San Francisco jail before the shooting, rather than being turned over to immigration agents, under the city’s sanctuary policies.” From another article.
I have no problem with the idea of sanctuary cities if they’re for decent, law-abiding people who want to be Americans, but felons? What is wrong with people???
From what I have read and heard in California “News” resources, the statement quoted above, “Everything from cell phones to water bottles to guns, any item left in a car is subject to being stolen right now.”, is accurate if you park a car on the street in San Francisco these days. Police vehicles being no exception, apparently. This situation is due to the massive number of Homeless persons living there who view the contents of cars as an income source.
This problem has been created by the ultra-liberal City Government in SF whose policies have made that city a “destination” for the homeless. [At some time in the recent past the SF City Council was seriously proposing to give $300.00 a month to any Homeless Person who applied for the payment. I do not know if that ever came to pass.]
The problem this person is lamenting is entirely self-created by the city. To say the Police are “losing their guns” is nothing more than a contrived meme intended to cover-up the truth behind this self-created “issue”. LibSpeak.
” This situation is due to the massive number of Homeless persons living there who view the contents of cars as an income source.”
I’d buy that if other cities didn’t have homeless people.
Their solution? More gun control of course! With carve outs for police officers.
It’s because not all cops are good and most are drug addicts. You think some of these city cops aren’t working for the gangbangers? Who elects the politicians in places like Oakland? The criminal scum of society and they set the rules.
If you live in California, you’re just accepting being the next group of people killed by Marxists in history.
“It’s because not all cops are good and most are drug addicts.”
Is there some sort of basis for that statement? I’ve never seen it proposed in a serious fashion.
“Most cops are drug addicts” couldn’t be true even if you included alcohol and steroids.
“Most cops are drug users” could easily be true if you included alcohol and steroids.
“Most of the ‘not good’ cops use illegal drugs” might possibly be true, I have no idea what the marijuana and steroid abuse rate is among badge toting felons, but I’m sure it’s much higher than it is for all cops.
Because the average cop is a mouth breathing snowflake who should not even be trusted with a spork, much less any thing more dangerous.
Blame California’s Proposition 47. Same for theft. If it’s under $950 they walk right back out.
From SF CBS: “Anything below $950 keeps the crime a misdemeanor — and likely means the thieves face no pursuit and no punishment, say retailers and law enforcement officials. Large retailers including Safeway, Target, Rite Aid and CVS pharmacies say shoplifting increased at least 15 percent, and in some cases, doubled since voters approved Proposition 47 and ended the possibility of charging shoplifting as a felony with the potential for a prison sentence.”
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/05/14/shoplifting-california-prop-47-reduced-penalties/
https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_63,_Background_Checks_for_Ammunition_Purchases_and_Large-Capacity_Ammunition_Magazine_Ban_(2016) says:
> Proposition 47 of 2014 made stealing an item that is valued at
> less than $950 a misdemeanor. Therefore, stealing a gun valued
> at less than $950 was a misdemeanor.
>
> Proposition 63 of 2016 made stealing a gun, including one valued
> at less than $950, a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.
I have now provided a complete list of the good points contained in Proposition 63.
Any second offense of shoplifting can be upgraded to a felony. I believe that stealing a firearm in Ca is always a felony.
It would be better to hold those that compel the cop to disarm legally liable for the consequences resulting from failing to provide secure storage to the police and the CCW licensees. For example if a cop complies with a judge’s command to lock the gun in the car due to fearing being held in contempt for failure to comply then the judge should be held legally liable for any harm that results as well as any other costs from such a command. Also if a cop is commanded to leave the gun in the car when going into the state Congress then all members of the Congress should be held jointly liable for any harm as well as any other costs associated with complying with the command. If these anti-gun extremists insist on disarming the police then they should be held responsible for any consequences of it especially if they refuse to provide safe storage at the very least.
I can see how cops get their guns stolens. In my town, cops regularly park their cars at wawas, go in to go get coffee and hang out and shoot the shit. Meanwhile theres 3-5 cop cars in the parking lot, engines running, windows down, no one paying attention to the AR-15 or shotgun propped up between the two front seats. Its ridiculous. I see this all the time. Im surprised no ones ever just driven off in one of their cruisers. I dont live in what you would call a high crime area, but it’s definitely not a place youd leave your car running or unlocked at the gas station because of all the heroin.
If a jurisdiction has ruled that cops must leave their firearms in their cars and can’t take them into a courthouse, it is incumbent for that jurisdiction to equip their vehicles with a secure means of storage in their cars. I have a gun safe in my POV to secure my pistol any time I have to go into one of those “firearms prohibited” establishments – like the post office.
I bet a group of college engineering students could come up with a half dozen ways to fight this in half an hour. Trouble is, we’re stuck with politicians making the decisions.