San Francisco to stop ticketing stolen cars after 2,000 vehicle thefts were reported in less than 5 months

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has ordered city agencies to stop ticketing cars if they are determined to have been stolen or broken into.

After of a string of 2,000 reported stolen vehicles between May 1 and September 17, 2023, it was determined that more than 400 of those stolen cars received parking citations.

Many victims of vehicle theft have even resorted to checking online ticketing databases as a way to locate their stolen cars.

As reported by KTVU, the city will have to come up with a solution for police and transportation officials to be able to identify a stolen vehicle before a ticket is issued.

On-the-spot observance is difficult to implement, as typically the use of license plate surveillance technology has required multiple reviews by city officials, committees, and a vote from the Board of Supervisors in order to pass laws to use the technology.

“A victim of theft should not have to worry about unpaid citations,” said Mayor Breed.

“It is our responsibility to do better to serve our residents," she added, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

As part of her executive order, the mayor said that the city should be "doing everything it can” to help victims but had fallen short.

“When someone’s car is stolen, our priority should be to help reunite that car with its owner,” the order said. “Today, when someone’s car is stolen, an owner often has limited recourse to identify where that car is. What’s worse, once the car is returned to its rightful owner, the victim may be faced with the burden of parking citations the car received when it was stolen and parked illegally or abandoned.”

The city has become synonymous with homelessness and crime, specifically car break-ins. A sandwich shop owner complained about the rampant homelessness problem when he was assaulted by a man who was urinating on the street in July 2023.

That same month, a roving gang of baseball-bat-wielding kids was reportedly targeting mothers and nannies trying to pick up children from school. The ski-mask-wearing suspects allegedly beat and robbed their victims in broad daylight before they used a stolen car as a getaway vehicle.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that a group of adolescents was likely responsible for the attacks on at least 11 women in the city's Noe Valley, also called "stroller valley" due the number of young families living there.

The mayor gave city officials 45 days to respond to her directive with an automated system to solve the problem.

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