By Paige Laver
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said his office has joined Data for Progress to help communities, just days after the DA filed 128 charges against a woman accused of stealing more than $40,000 from Target.
“It is highly unusual to see a case with this many charges and this many instances. We hope and expect in most cases when someone is committing repeated acts of crime, whether they be property crime or otherwise, that they will be arrested before it gets to this point,” said Boudin.
The incidents took place between October 2020 and November 2021 at the Stonestown Mall Target. The charges include eight felony counts of grand theft and 120 misdemeanor counts of petty theft.
“This was an operation that’s been in the works for more than a few weeks. It’s been on my radar for more than a few weeks,” Boudin continued.
This is just one high profile case, and city business owners, like Martha Asten of Cliff’s Variety in the Castro District, report that theft is something they have to work with on a daily basis.
“Yesterday we stopped one person. We caught him on camera. ‘I was like, hey watch this guy.’ We watched him go through the store. He stuck it 
under his coat,” Asten said. The alleged thief’s response to him getting caught was “it’s just human nature.”
Asten says while she and her team are familiar with encountering crime in their store, it still remains taxing and even dangerous in some situations.
She, like many other businesses throughout the city, believes that law enforcement should be prosecuting some offenders more often, and should be serious when handling theft crimes.
“Some of these people are chronic offenders. The police know who they are. Burglaries are one thing. The theft inside the store is another thing. When they’re going into Walgreens and just brazen filling bags, yes, they should be prosecuted,” Asten said.
Boudin says his office is working to bring more repeat offenders to justice and offers this message to concerned businesses.
“We have your back, and if you’re in fear, our work is not done. Whatever we can do, we will do. We want you to reach out. Step up to help us help you,” Boudin said.
On Thursday, Boudin went to twitter to share the news.
“I’m proud to be part of a national movement of prosecutors implementing smart, fair policies addressing the root causes of crime. Check out the news report from Data for Progress and learn how we can keep communities safer AND reduce unnecessary incarceration,” he tweeted.
Data for Progress have made strides in local communities to help within the criminal justice system across the country.
In summer of 2021, Data for Progress surveyed 19 of these reform-minded prosecutors to identify their approaches to the safety in their communities, policy changes, future goals, and obstacles impeding their efforts to achieve transformational change.
While doing this, found out that 95 percent of respondent prosecutors said that policies to reduce reliance on incarceration have decreased their local jail or prison population.
Boudin is in support of Data for Progress which applies the strategies for people who are in power in the city.
“The growing number of prosecutors have begun to reimagine public safety in numerous ways that reduce the use of prosecution and incarceration, create more effective and less destructive accountability strategies, end racial disparities, and address the drivers of criminal behavior as well as the needs of those most impacted by crime,” the report found.
Seems to me that the voters of San Francisco are imagining a new DA who prosecutes crime, and perhaps is a little-less obsessed about ensuring “racial equity” in results – given that those participating in crime are not likely ensuring that they represent “racial equity/diversity”, themselves.
Perhaps those participating in crimes should make sure that they represent a cross-section of society, before setting out to go to work. As other workplaces increasingly do.
If only there was a place where society can place those intent on committing crimes. Hmm, where can that be, where they won’t harm others?