“The nature of this job is that we are always looking back and the retrospective is 20-20,” Mr. Boudin. “We know as a matter of fact that some people will be released and commit serious crimes. There will always be cases where if we look back we will make different decisions.”
Unlike other parts of the country, the killings are not fueling the anger and passions of retreat advocates. The annual number of people killed in the city has remained between 41 and 56 for the past seven years.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Thefts, especially in the wealthiest neighborhoods, have increased during the pandemic. The city recorded 7,575 thefts in 2020 and 7,217 last year, a sharp increase of more than 45 percent from 2019. Car thefts, a long-standing problem, were less frequent during the pandemic, but Thieves changed their targets in tourist areas as well. residential neighborhoods, a change that gave more immediacy and urgency to the issue among voters.
Another problem is that Mr. Boudin and the Police Department, the rate of arrests for reported crimes is one of the lowest in the big cities, they have a toxic relationship. In the 2019 campaign, the San Francisco Police Officers Association attacked Mr. Boudin called it “the number one choice for criminals and gang members.” Supporters of Mr. Boudin responded to his victory party with chants of epithets towards the union.
Officers have been heard on camera footage telling residents that the district attorney is unwilling to prosecute the crimes. And, although Mr. Boudin has been criticized for not pursuing drug trafficking more aggressively, saying the police only make, on average, two arrests for drug trafficking a day.
“The perception is correct,” Mr. Boudin. “Low-level drug traffickers can reasonably expect nothing to happen to them in San Francisco. Because they won’t be arrested. By the way, the same thing happens with car thefts, where 1 percent of reported car thefts “So the focus on my office or me or my policies is really out of place.”
Police Chief Bill Scott declined to answer questions about the department’s crime resolution rate. A spokesman said in a statement that “it was not appropriate for him to enter into the kind of political discussion that could influence the will of San Francisco voters.”