[sf-lug] OT: Car broken into on 7th and Howard, GPS and other items stolen -- is this common?

[Romel Jacinto]

On Sun, 21 Oct 2007, Kristian Erik Hermansen wrote:

> Does anyone have suggestions?  Should I just sell my car?  The police
> told me that this will happen again and there is no way to prevent it.
> He said "we can't be everywhere, so how could we stop it?"

Not that it will make you feel any better, but California's Attorney 
General has his car broken into right outside the State Building, which is 
across from City Hall. If the police can't cover this area well, then 
other areas are sure to lack coverage as well.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/13/BAE6RGM7G.DTL


> However, coming from a security background, why doesn't San Francisco
> have a policy of honey-potting?  I mean, would it be that difficult to
> take some cars and put them where the most crimes are reported with
> GPS units visible?  Maybe place some cameras to monitor the car and a
> broken glass sensor?  Then you nab the guy in real-time.

There's an article from the San Francisco Chronicle that notes that 
cameras are ineffective at even making an arrest for a homicide, so I very 
much doubt that they would be effective at making an arrest for a stolen 
GPS unit.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/14/MNIPRHRPE.DTL

--
Romel