October 25, 2021
-Washington Examiner
Residents in San Francisco have begun hiring private security to protect their homes, citing concerns over the continued rise in crime.
Roughly 150 families from the Marina District have hired Patrol Special Officer Alan Byard to provide security to their homes, according to San Francisco CBS. The families said they’ve seen an increase in auto and home thefts occurring both during the day and the evening.
“We don’t feel safe in our neighborhood,” resident Katie Lyons said. “And we have an alarm, we have security cameras on our property, but we want the extra security of having someone have eyes on our place.”
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Byard said he has seen his client base increase from 70 to 150, just in the Marina District. Byard said the fear stems from an increase in car burglaries in the neighborhood.
In February, the San Francisco Police Department released information showing a 340% increase in burglaries compared to last year, Fox News reported . This followed an announcement from Mayor London Breed in June 2020 issuing new policies in which she outlined addressing police bias and trying to “demilitarize” the police.
Breed announced at a press conference in July that she would be taking $120 million from the police department’s funding over the course of two years and would use it to benefit the black community.
Democratic mayors in nearly two dozen cities have supported efforts to defund the police while spending money on their own private security detail.
Walgreens announced on Oct. 12 that it will be closing five branches in San Francisco due to a rise in theft and organized retail crime.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the San Francisco Police Department for a comment but did not receive a response.
