Amid the city’s interconnected and rapidlly escalating crime and homelessness crises, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has determined that one of the ways it can help inspire the city’s expanding criminal population to good behavior is to simply play some games with language.
In a non-binding resolution passed last month and which has gained the support of the district attorney, the city presents the grim statistic that now one-fifth, one out of every five, residents of the city has a criminal record. In response to this alarming criminal reality, the board has introduced its new “person first” terminology, in which old terms the city fears might encourage “negative predispositions” and “unfounded assumptions” have been swapped out for more positive and “stigma”-free language.
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