San Francisco Creates Another Stupid Crime

A San Francisco judge has ordered a dozen of the city's most prolific recycling scavengers to stop looting bottles, cans and cardboard from curbside bins.

The court's order, which came at the request of the city's garbage company, aims to crack down on a problem that residents say creates litter and noise and Sunset Scavenger says costs it millions of dollars a year.

The preliminary injunction is the latest effort to stop a wave of recycling theft sweeping California amid rising metal prices and falling employment. Violators would face maximum fines of $1,000 and up to 6 months in jail for each violation.

Sunset Scavenger, San Francisco's official waste hauler, went to court after receiving thousands of complaints from consumers who said organized crews of recycling "poachers" were becoming hostile and dangerous.

[ read article ]

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Violent recycling theft? Are you serious?! The only people I see wheeling carts of aluminum cans and bottles around are old Asian people. That's right, Lolo and Lola trying to make an honest buck out of another person's trash. I can just imagine a gang of 60 year old senior citizens attacking the trash man with their walkers and tagging up his garbage truck with spray paint.

Why should NorCal Waste Systems, Inc. have the monopoly on San Francisco recyclables? Is it so wrong that in "a faltering economy" that those who can't work make money by other non-criminal means? Yes, I understand that digging through those black and blue bins can be extremely dangerous considering the amount of bacteria that one would come into contact with... but a health code violation shouldn't warrant 6 months in jail. A monetary fine equal to the amount of loot seems reasonable, don't you agree? It's ridiculous to think that someone who gains income by digging through waste can also afford to pay a $1000 fine. Trust, they do NOT make $2 million a year, not even close.

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there is a gang of recyclable theives who run rampant through the City. From my point of view, it's just another example of how a Sucka Free and Green City resident hustles to make a living and how the government tries to punish him/her for doing so.

True Crime Stories of San Francisco

The following are true stories from San Francisco county inmates that I have encountered while working in the City and County of San Francisco jails. Reading police reports on a daily basis, I am slowly (but not entirely) losing my faith in the way our criminal justice system works. Many of the inmates that I have come into contact with have committed non-violent crimes, pose no threat to public safety and are more community nuisances than they are criminals.

"B. is a 63 year old Black female with arthritis in her left leg and a broken left wrist. B. suffers from early stages of dementia brought on by a long history of alcohol abuse. She was evicted from her residential hotel room and was forced to sleep on the streets. With no address, Social Security was unable to locate B. and distribute her monthly disability income. After 6 months on the streets, B. was arrested in the Tenderloin by police officers for sleeping on the sidewalk."

"K. is a 47 year old Filipino male who was petitioned by his family to live and work in the United States. Upon arrival to San Francisco, K. and his partner opened up a salon in Outer Mission where K. worked as a hairstylist. After a few years K.'s partner passed away and K. sunk into a deep depression. He was forced to close the salon and could no longer afford to pay rent for his apartment. After months of transition between the houses of close friends, K. finally ended up on the street. He developed an infection in his right ankle and was unable to receive medical assistance because he did not have health insurance. Eventually, K. had to undergo an above the knee amputation. Among the long list of other medical conditions with which K. suffers are acute renal disease and diabetes. K. has been able to survive on the streets of San Francisco through petty drug sales and kind donations from the Filipino Community on 6th Street. K. was arrested by an undercover police officer for possession and sales of methamphetamine. K. had less than one gram of methamphetamine in his possession."

"G. is a 57 year old Black male. G. is homeless and currently receives disability benefits of $1000 a month. The owners of the building he sleeps in pay him $10 a day to sweep up the building and its surrounding areas. One day, G. walked by an undercover police officer dressed as a homeless drunk. The officer kept falling down and was trying to hold himself up by leaning up against a parking meter. Clearly visible was a $20 bill hanging out of his front jacket pocket. G. approached the man and said, 'Man, you're money is about to fall out of your pocket.' The officer fell down again, began screaming obscenities at G. and the money fell out of his pocket. G. picked up the $20 and walked away. Shortly after, he was arrested for theft."

"P. is a 19 year old Black male. At the age of 2, P. was given over to the foster care system because his mother was unable to care for him due to her drug abuse. P. grew up alternating between group homes and juvenile hall. At age 18, P. was aged out of the juvenile justice system and was brought to San Francisco. He has no contact with his birth family. P. has no employment and the education of a 5th grader. P. spent the past year sleeping on the streets or on BART trains and manages a small income from petty drug sales and panhandling. Currently, he owes $600 in BART fare evasion tickets. At the age of 19, P. was arrested for conspiracy to sell drugs."

Stop. Think about it.

The amount of money spent on housing people in jail compared to the actual cost of the crime they committed is completely unbalanced. A January article posted on San Francisco Citizen states that "the cost per inmate is $170,000 to $230,000 per year." These stats are for state prison inmates, those who have committed serious crimes like murder and major drug trafficking as well as white collar crimes like embezzlement and insurance fraud. (Though white collar criminals usually end up in kush low-security prisons fitted with flat screens and recliners.) On a county level, the cost to house an inmate in the San Francisco County Jail runs between $100-$250 a day, depending on the inmates health needs.

Did these people deserve to be put in jail for their actions? What would you do if you had no job, no home, no family or friends? How would you survive? When I was first interviewed for the job, my interviewer asked, "What do you think is the leading cause of crime in San Francisco?" The answer? Poverty. Not just here in the City but in every urban environment. I met a client once who was rearrested within 24 hours of being released from county jail. He had no money and had nothing to eat, so what did he do? He walked into a liquor store and lifted a sandwich and a bag of chips. Boom, back in custody.

Meanwhile, drive-by shooters in the Tenderloin are escaping down a ONE WAY BRIDGE to the East Bay and 24 port-a-potties have been set on fire with the suspect still at large.

What exactly is the San Francisco Police Department focusing on here?

My Hood: Lakeview, San Francisco

Former SF Supervisor Brings the City's Progressiveness to the State

California would become the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana for recreational use under a bill introduced Monday by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco.

The proposal would regulate marijuana like alcohol, with people over 21 years old allowed to grow, buy, sell and possess cannabis - all of which is barred by federal law.

Ammiano, a Democrat in his third month as a state lawmaker, said taxes and other fees associated with regulation could put more than a billion dollars a year into state coffers at a time when revenues continue to decline.

He said he thinks the federal government could soften its stance on marijuana under the Obama administration.

"We could in fact have the political will to do something, and certainly in the meantime this is a public policy call and I think it's worth the discussion," Ammiano said. "I think the outcome would be very healthy for California and California's economy."

A spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Agency in Washington, D.C., declined to comment on the proposal. A White House spokesman referred to a statement on a question-and-answer section of an Obama transition team blog that says the president "is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana."

While Californians have shown some tolerance for marijuana, such as use for medical conditions with voters' passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, the proposal will face tough opposition in Sacramento.

A lobbyist for key police associations in the state called it "a bad idea whose time has not come."

"The last thing our society needs is yet more legal intoxicants," said John Lovell, who represents the California Peace Officers' Association, California Police Chiefs Association and California Narcotic Officers' Association. "We've got enough social problems now when people aren't in charge of all five of their senses."

But Ammiano's proposal has the support of San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey, who said the idea "should be the subject of legislative and public debate."

It also has the backing of Betty Yee, who chairs the state Board of Equalization, which collects taxes in California. An analysis by the agency concluded the state would collect $1.3 billion a year from tax revenues and a $50-an-ounce levy on retail sales if marijuana were legal.

The analysis also concluded that legalizing marijuana would drop its street value by 50 percent and increase consumption of the substance by 40 percent.

A spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates for reform in marijuana laws and is backing Ammiano's proposal, said any expected increase in consumption is a "false notion."

"They are making an intuitive assumption that a lot of people make that really does not have that much evidence behind it," said Bruce Mirken, the group's spokesman, who predicted it could take up to two years before the idea wins legislative approval.

"Don't tell me that doing something like (this) proposal is going to introduce another drug into society. That's a load of bull."

-SFGate.com