Forget the real problems plaguing San Francisco, like rampant feces, urine, and drug needles inundating its streets, and the fact that the city is reputedly the nation’s leader in property crime; the city’s Board of Supervisors is proposing softening the language referring to criminals. The Board of Supervisors is championing new “person first” language guidelines; convicted felon or offender released from jail will be called a “formerly incarcerated person,” or a “justice-involved” person or a “returning resident,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Chronicle added:
Parolees and people on criminal probation will be referred to as a “person on parole,” or “person under supervision.” A juvenile “delinquent” will become a “young person with justice system involvement,” or a “young person impacted by the juvenile justice system.” And drug addicts or substance abusers will become “a person with a history of substance use.”
Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer proposed the guidelines. Supervisor Matt Haney told the Chronicle, “We don’t want people to be forever labeled for the worst things that they have done.” He added, “We want them ultimately to become contributing citizens, and referring to them as felons is like a scarlet letter that they can never get away from.”
The guidelines state that the previous words used to describe criminals “only serve to obstruct and separate people from society and make the institutionalization of racism and supremacy appear normal … Inaccurate information, unfounded assumptions, generalizations and other negative predispositions associated with justice-involved individuals create societal stigmas, attitudinal barriers and continued negative stereotypes.”
Police spokesman David Stevenson said the department has apprised its members of the resolution; he asserted that they “are researching possible impacts on operations and communications.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reported in October 2018:
FBI data released last week show the city had the highest per-capita rate of property crimes among the 20 most populous U.S. cities in 2017, tallying 6,168 crimes per 100,000 people. That’s about 148 burglaries, larcenies, car thefts and arsons per day. San Francisco’s property crimes spiked from the previous year, shooting up from about 47,000 in 2016 to 54,000 in 2017.
The City-Journal echoed in May 2019:
San Francisco is the nation’s leader in property crime. Burglary, larceny, shoplifting, and vandalism are included under this ugly umbrella. The rate of car break-ins is particularly striking: in 2017 over 30,000 reports were filed, and the current average is 51 per day. Other low-level offenses, including drug dealing, street harassment, encampments, indecent exposure, public intoxication, simple assault, and disorderly conduct are also rampant.
Susan Dyer Reynolds, editor-in-chief of the Marina Times, told the City-Journal, “A lot of people are ready to leave because the crimes are causing depression.” She added that so-called “Navigation centers” for the homeless “are not sober facilities, and people steal and break into cars to feed their habits. Crime will go up. We know this.”