“The city of chaos”. When hip brand Cotopaxi used these terms to justify the closure of its San Francisco store, which was regularly looted by criminals, it became a perfect example of one of the major midterm election themes: insecurity.
“Our store is the victim of thief networks several times a week,” company boss Davis Smith complained in late October in a publication that went viral on social networks. “They walk into the store without any embarrassment and leave with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. Our team is terrified.”
The abandonment of the brand had symbolic value before the ballot on November 8, for which Republicans denounce the increase in delinquency and file a negligent lawsuit against President Joe Biden and the Democrats.
Because with its trendy cafes, vintage furniture brands and luxury jewelers, the Hayes Valley neighborhood, where the store was located, was quite famous as a place to meet wealthy tech entrepreneurs or stars like Michelle Obama, not really. like a den of crime.
In San Francisco, the announcement of the Cotopaxi boss made headlines. It was “a message, (…) a wake-up call,” according to Lloyd Silverstein, president of the Hayes Valley Merchants Association. “We have been trying for a long time to get the attention of the police and we have been told ‘we have a problem here'”
– Lack of character –
From his designer eyewear shop, he explains that he has seen shoplifting increase in the neighborhood. After setting up an alert group so that traders could report criminals, “I was getting messages every ten minutes,” she says.
But it took Cotopaxi’s ingenuity to set up a patrol of two policemen in Hayes Valley. Since then, the neighborhood has been much quieter.
Insecurity is far from a unique problem in San Francisco, where residents fired Democratic Attorney General Chesa Boudin this year, accused of laxity.
Crime is the second largest American voter concern behind the economy, according to a Gallup poll. According to the survey, 71% of respondents assure that this will affect their vote.
In Hayes Valley, Robert Barnwell believes the problem is mainly caused by the lack of police officers, whose work is no longer attractive.
“It’s a problem in California and across the country,” the public safety committee member said, greeting the two patrol officers.
– Feeling of abandonment –
As a result, Republicans have made insecurity a spearhead of their campaign.
“We are a nation where (…) crime is exploding and out of control,” former President Donald Trump said at a rally in Iowa Thursday.
The numbers, however, suggest a more nuanced reality.
According to the Council on Criminal Justice group of experts, in the first half of the year, 29 major cities, including Democratic strongholds such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, experienced an increase in crimes against property. But killings and armed robberies are decreasing.
For their part, the Democrats denounce a sleeve effect on the part of the “Grand Old Party”.
“They don’t want to solve the problem. (…) They’re just trying to create fear and anxiety,” Hillary Clinton told CNN this week, accusing Republican states of publishing the highest crime rates.
In San Francisco, voters feel abandoned in the face of this series of attitudes.
“How can we live like this?” angers Anthony Jackson in the Tenderloin district, pointing to a sidewalk occupied by a dozen homeless people.
“It’s not just the police or the prosecutor, it’s us, all of us who have to work together,” said the 58-year-old teacher. “But instead, we only have policies that point fingers at each other.”
