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In a surprising twist, San Francisco is emerging as a leader in reducing crime rates, despite its reputation as a progressive stronghold.
Last month, officials proudly announced that the city is experiencing its lowest crime levels in two decades. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins attributes this remarkable decline to the departure from her predecessors’ lenient approaches to crime.
Between 2024 and 2025, significant reductions were observed across all major crime categories: burglaries decreased by 26%, robberies by 23%, larceny theft by 22%, homicides by 15%, assaults by 13%, and motor vehicle thefts saw a significant drop of 44%, as reported by the San Francisco Police Department.
When compared to the same period in 2025, this year’s figures show a 35% decrease in car thefts, along with a 33% decline in both robbery and burglary incidents, and a 29% reduction in larceny theft, according to the data.
Jenkins’ achievements are particularly noteworthy when contrasted with 2022, during which Chesa Boudin served as the city’s district attorney. Under Jenkins’ leadership, larceny theft has plummeted by 68%, car thefts have fallen by 51%, homicides have decreased by 38%, and robberies have been reduced by 31%, as the data indicates.
“We know what happens when prosecutors refuse to do their jobs — we have seen those results and I will not let us go backwards,” said Jenkins, who was elected in 2023 after Boudin, who was backed by leftist Democratic kingmaker, billionaire George Soros.
In his two and a half years in office, Boudin deprioritized prosecutions for drug crimes, increased alternatives to jail such as drug treatment and restorative justice programs, and ended cash bail.
Boudin’s parents, Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, were members of the leftist terrorist group the Weather Underground and were convicted of murder and robbery for their roles as getaway drivers in the 1981 Brink’s robber.
“Since taking office three years ago, my office has worked closely with San Francisco Police to drive crime down, by ensuring that those who break our laws and commit crimes are not only identified and arrested, but also prosecuted,” Jenkins told The Post
The San Francisco Police Department credits the turnaround to use of new technology like license plate readers, drones, and even “bait cars” — which are trap vehicles equipped with tracking devices, cameras, and occasionally remote locking or engine-disabling systems used to trick and capture car thieves.
It helps that Jenkins is actually going after the criminals, too.
In her first full year in office in 2023, Jenkins raised the city’s conviction rate from 37% in 2022 to nearly 43% in 2023 — the first such uptick in San Francisco in eight years, Mission Local reported.
She redoubled efforts from 2023 to 2024 when prosecutions for petty theft increased 156%, narcotics skyrocketed 709%, trespassing shot up 238% and other theft prosecutions rose 138%, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tourists said the city now feels safer.
“We visited San Fran a week ago. It was a huge improvement over the last time I was there around 5 years ago,” X poster Mark Fraas commented. “We saw few homeless and the streets were relatively clean. We never felt unsafe. The Tenderloin was the only area that we visited that looked rough.”
“Who would’ve thought? Enforcing laws + prosecuting repeat offenders actually reduces crime,”@unwiredtourist wrote on X.
Local Frank Noto, who has lived in the city since 1976 and co-founded the group Stop Crime SF in 2017, says San Francisco has got its groove back.
“The difference is very, very clear. Crime has gone down exponentially. One of the changes is we’ve got a new DA in town,” Noto said, adding, “The perception of public safety has improved a lot.”
“The other big difference in the very dramatic reduction of crime is the passage by the voters of Measure Eight…which allowed for use of technology like speed cameras and license plate readers and especially the drones,” added the longtime local.
Even New Yorkers are impressed — and a bit jealous.
“Well, done, San Francisco. Asked your district attorney was possible because you have a recall mechanism, something we do not have here in New York. This is another reform. We desperately need here,” Maria Danzilo, who ran and lost against soft-on-crime Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in 2021, wrote on X.
Jenkins, who is up for reelection in 2029, isn’t resting on her laurels.
“There is still much more work to be done,” Jenkins said.