San Francisco Chronicle Slammed Online For Asking If Locals Should ‘Tolerate’ Crime Surge

California, and San Francisco in particular, has long been in the spotlight for an unprecedented crime surge that has been recorded amid declining living standards statewide, the global pandemic and skyrocketing rates of people dying from armed violence across the US.

San Francisco residents have expressed their outrage after the San Francisco Chronicle asked in Twitter last week whether locals “should tolerate burglaries as a part of city living, and focus on barricading homes.”

In the article attached to the post, the Chronicle cited data from Mission District Police Station showing that the district has recorded a 13 percent increase in burglaries and attempted burglaries over the last month, compared to the same period in 2020.

“At the same time, residents and city leaders are searching for answers: Should they tolerate a high level of burglaries as a downside of city living, and focus on barricading their homes? Should people who are repeatedly accused of stealing be targeted with rehabilitation services, or incarcerated so they can’t commit more crimes?” the newspaper wrote.

Bewildered Twitter users wondered how this level of crime could be tolerated, noting that "nobody is searching for answers," as "stealing from and hurting other people is just wrong."

Should the residents of SF tolerate burglaries and barricade their homes are you joking ? For the privilege of living in one of the most expensive cities in the country the residents should spend more money on reinforcing their homes and praying some less protected home gets it?

— techAdjacentLurker (@lurker_tech) November 5, 2021

Nobody is searching for answers. stealing from and hurting other people is just wrong and it’s wrong in every society in human history. If you can’t stop, the rest of us can and should remove u from society. Why is this difficult for progressives to understand?

— JC (@Inspector7ty3) November 6, 2021

When we've gotten to the point where people are seriously asking whether we should tolerate burglaries then maybe it's time to pack it in.

— Demilich Lovato (@DemilichLovato) November 6, 2021

“Tolerate burglaries” https://t.co/1TtQcarxrS

— Erielle Davidson (@politicalelle) November 6, 2021

"Tolerate burglaries as a part of city living"

Actual words printed in an actual major newspaper https://t.co/KUPWhVE2cs

— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) November 6, 2021

What the hell is going on in San Francisco?

And how is the @sfchronicle seriously asking if residents should tolerate being burgled as part of everyday living? https://t.co/sbSnz5whhF

— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) November 6, 2021

Think about how far gone the city of San Francisco must be for its major newspaper to write the first sentence below as if it's a reasonable civic question. https://t.co/7Mrc20gjHs

— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) November 6, 2021

According to a poll conducted in June, more than 40 percent of San Francisco residents said they plan to move out of the city within the next few years. Eight out of 10 San Francisco respondents believed that crime in the city has skyrocketed in recent years, and 76 percent of the city's residents said that increasing the number of police officers in areas with high crime rates should be a priority.

According to data from the police, the number of car thefts in San Francisco in May increased by 753 percent compared to the same period last year.

Apart from that, organized retail crime is said to have forced many stores to close. Walgreens, the second-largest US pharmacy store chain, has recently closed five stores in San Francisco, citing rampant shoplifting that resulted in losses of over $1,000 a day. Walgreens said 10 stores in total have been closed in San Francisco since 2019.

“Organized retail crime continues to be a challenge facing retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to that,” Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso said last month. “Retail theft across our San Francisco stores has continued to increase in the past few months to five times our chain average.”

California, along with New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Illinois, has seen a massive exodus of around 4 million residents between 2010 and 2019, according to Forbes. The Golden State, which has the largest delegation in the US House of Representatives, is set to lose a congressional seat for the first time in its history due to the dramatic decline in population.