The Burlingame Voice

Crime: "We have no tolerance...." or do we?

I search out the Daily Post to keep an eye on points south of us since events in the larger cities like Palo Alto, Mountain View and RWC not only affect us now, but could be a forerunner of what will happen in the future here.  Yesterday's issue was disturbing.  The two top of front page headlines were "Panhandler arrested after violent spree" and "Woman charged in hijab attack".  The first article noted that a downtown Palo Alto "panhandler" was arrested after threatening or spitting on four people, including a man in his 80's who refused to give her money.  10 minutes later a similar incident and couple minutes later she grabbed a bottle off a table at a nearby cafe and threatened another person.  Then one more after that.  She was previously arrested on Jan. 22, 2021 but that was dismissed on July 1, 2021.  She was arrested this year on June 23 and August 5.

The second article describes a female transient attacking a teenager wearing a hijab in downtown Mountain View.  Two women came to her rescue and the attacker fled on a bicycle but was apprehended.  The attacker already faces a charge of brandishing a dangerous weapon on June 24, 2022.  The Santa Clara DA, Jeff Rosen, declared in the article "We have no tolerance for those whose intolerance crosses the line into criminality and violence".  Excuse me?  It doesn't seem like the actions match the words.

I had a similar sense of impending trouble on Broadway on Monday.  Someone who appeared on the edge of being out of control had taken up residence on the bench in front of Wells Fargo.  And then there is this from yesterday's DJ:

Will we learn that this guy has a history that predates August?  I hope not, but "hope is not a strategy".

PSA: Elder abuse in the County

As a favor to a long-time reader who requested such a post in order to gather ideas on what to do, I'll drift into a new area-- elder abuse, especially financial abuse.  I am also aware of a case years ago that was never pursued by law enforcement even though there was ample evidence, in my opinion.  The long-time reader writes (edited down a bit):

My parents have and are still experiencing Elder Abuse by their Caretakers. As of today, $300,000 and "counting." I have been in contact with APS, DA, Police, and much more. Jackie Speier's office at least inquired.  My Father will (probably die) of skin cancer within two weeks.  My mother is on 24/7 oxygen and has severe mental as well as other "end of life" medical problems.  Did I mention one of their caretakers made a Full Confession to the San Bruno Police- Case # SNB 2201541.  No arrests. This started 6 months ago.

Again, this is coming from a long-time reader and I have not verified any of it, but if anyone has any ideas, I am sure they would be welcome.  The last census showed 17.5% of the population in San Mateo County is over 65 and the median age has been rising just like the rest of the country.

Not all graffiti is all bad

Most of the graffiti around town is ugly and indecipherable.  Here was an example from last month that was both before it was painted over.  While it's all illegal, every once in a while, a real artist drops a bit in a less objectionable location.  This example is on the side of the raised roadbed over by the entrance to Coyote Point as you turn towards the Humane Society.  You can only see it if you are headed out of the park and look down.  It gave me a laugh.

Busy Tuesday night for burglars

When we did the annual crime round-up here the vehicle burglaries (from locked vehicles) were running 25 per month.  It looks like June might be the month that sets a new record if this sort of thing keeps up.

Graffiti Rosetta Stone?

It's been a while since we had a notable (i.e. notably bad) graffiti sighting, but a burst has reappeared on the walkway next to the Walgreens on Burlingame Ave.  Is this a back-and-forth between opposing taggers?  Anyone got a Rosetta Stone on this?  Is it a tribute to Jackson Pollack?  I assume Walgreens itself has been keeping that wall clear and has been doing a great job of it recently.

 

B'game Big Bang Arrest

I had to go look up what an M-1000 firecracker looks and sounds like.  It's on YouTube here assuming the link works.  One has to wonder how long someone thinks they could make fireworks in a hotel room without someone noticing something.  A year of probation seems like a pretty light sentence for possibly blowing up a building with illegal fireworks and PVC pipe bombs--three weeks after the Fourth of July.  What was the plan for these?

It's time for a new Attorney General

I was wrong again.  I thought when the last Attorney General, Becerra, got bumped up to HHS Secretary things would improve.  Similarly, I thought the same when the one before that got bumped up.  But I was wrong.  The Newsom-appointed Rob Bonta is as bad or worse than the last two AGs.  Just this week he decided to sue the US Postal Service for the crime of planning to buy, get this, 165,000 gas-powered vehicles.  I guess he is unaware that even with all of the credits, EVs are an expensive 4% of the market and a high-profile EV truck manufacturer (Rivian) just slipped its delivery schedule so much that its stock is down 70%.  Ford cut the value of its stake in Rivian by $5.4B.  Let's not forget the lithium and cobalt for batteries are expected to be in short (i.e. expensive) supply and mostly come from unfriendly parts of the world.  Is any EV company even planning a design that would work for the USPS?  Wanna bet the new GVs would be way better for the environment than the old ones on the road today?  Does Bonta even care? 

Also this week Bonta decided to investigate Exxon Mobil for misleading the public about the recyclability of plastic.  Wait, I thought the government was the source of the CRV fees that have apparently misled us all.  As soon as China stopped taking our used plastic, the whole model just broke down.  This isn't news as we saw last year here.  And the oil companies are responding by building recycling plants in the U.S.   Don't we want this?  Does Bonta have a clue about what it takes to rebuild the plastic recycling supply chain?  I doubt it.

And it's not like the things an AG is supposed to be doing in the state are going so well.  Harris left the office without putting a dent in the number of known criminals who still have guns but are not being searched out.  Becerra, same thing.  Did I miss the press release that Bonta is on the case and succeeding?  I doubt it.  Is he doing anything to prevent more known criminals from serving short sentences and shooting up Sacramento?  I missed that press conference, too.   It's time for a new Attorney General.  The primary election is on June 7.

Do we have enough "military" equipment?

Headlines can be deceiving.  They can be especially deceiving is there is no subsequent context given.  And they can be more deceiving when some are playing politics with the headline.  So it was for me on Wednesday when the top-of-fold front page of the Daily Journal blared "Sheriff's Office details $2M in military equipment".  The usual suspects in the defund, defang the police movement jumped all over it, but I was left to ask, "Is that a lot or not enough?"  Hard to say.  The DJ notes

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office released its first annual Military Equipment Use Policy, detailing the more than $2 million worth of equipment in its ownership as part of a state mandate process aimed at expanding transparency around the stock of military-grade weapons held by any given jurisdiction.   During the required update from the Sheriff’s Office on the policy, Allen noted the Sheriff’s Office does not currently own any equipment directly handed down by the military or that is from companies who supply the military with equipment.

But the department does own equipment that falls under what the state defines as military equipment, based on interpretations of Assembly Bill 481, which took effect this January. In total, acquiring and maintaining the equipment has cost the department more than $2 million.

So it would have been nice to see the headline use "military" in quotes like I did above. If you click through to the article I'm not the only one questioning the terminology, but the piece is helpful in that it details the gear

According to the report, the county currently owns:

• a Lanco Bearcat armed vehicle
• a mobile command vehicle
• two bean bag launchers and bean bag munition
• three bomb squad robots
• four .50 caliber semi-automatic rifles and ammunition
• four 37 millimeter tear gas launchers and tear gas grenades
• 10 pepperball launchers
• 11 drones
• 41 stingball grenades, 42 flashbang devices and 114 less-lethal launchers used to fire rounds of soft rubber bullets.

“This equipment is necessary because there are no reasonable alternatives that can achieve the same objective of officer and civilian safety,” Sheriff Carlos Bolanos said.

In search of some context, I reminded myself that the County is about 450 square miles and has about three-quarters of a million residents.  It's home to a decent chunk of Silicon Valley tech offices and data centers.  Bio tech, including labs, is booming in the County so much that San Carlos just put a moratorium on new bio building applications.  We've got a lot of potential targets.  And as I look at the list, you would be hard-pressed to make a decent Schwarzenegger movie with what we have.  One Bearcat for the whole County?  One mobile command vehicle?  It seems to me AB 481 that required releasing this info "for transparency" may be causing too much transparency to all the wrong people.  Let's hope not.

You and your Cat: Treasured friends

There's been quite a bit of talk around town about catalytic converter thefts. After a local friend had his stolen from his truck in January, I asked the B'game police about how common it is in town. Here are the stats:

Statistics on catalytic converter thefts:

• 2020 monthly average: 6
• 2021 monthly average: 9
• Jan 2022: 12
• Feb 2022: 4

Some aspects of this are worth sharing like: Toyota Prius and trucks are the most common targets. Prius because the converters in hybrid vehicles tend to be more valuable and trucks because they sit higher off the ground making it easier to access the converter (i.e. no jack needed). My Landcruiser actually has two--a twofer.

The replacement my friend had to get was $2,800 (mostly covered by insurance) and he decided to add a cable and lock to the new one.

I hope anyone who gets hit reports it to BPD. One might think "it's gone, so what's the point?" but we need to keep track of this sort of thing if it is to get the attention it deserves.

On the bright side, BPD actually caught a couple of catalytic converter thieves on January 11th (early morning hours) in the 1400 block of Benito Ave. An alert resident called it in. Hopefully there will be more arrests to come as people become more aware.

Update:  I just heard about two more Cat thefts in the Lyon-Hoag neighborhood over the last month or so.  And here is a photo of the well-secured Cat--10" stainless steel zip ties, 3/16" steel cable and some clamps.  It would probably take you a couple of hours.

Smile, your license plate maybe on camera

A comment on the Year in Crime: 2021 post reminded me to double back to the question of whether or not we put in license plate reading cameras in B'game.  According to the DJ article, in a rare split decision, councilors Ortiz, O'Brian and Colson went for the idea while Brownrigg and Beach were opposed.

Burlingame is one of just four cities in the county that has yet to approve the cameras (Ed: that means 16 already have them), according to Police Chief Mike Matteucci, who added he believed they would be beneficial in the city. Others on the Peninsula have turned to the cameras in hopes of stopping auto burglaries near hotels or retail crime. 

Matteucci said implementation in Burlingame would likely consist of two-dozen or more cameras installed at entry and exit points to the city and major intersections. They could also be affixed to police vehicles. 

You will recall from the Year in Crime: 2021 post that vehicle burglaries were up 25% year over year to 25 per month--basically everyday someone gets burgled.  And that number may or may not include the catalytic converter thefts--I've asked BPD for some numbers on that really expensive crime (~$2,800 to replace, keep your insurance current).  At least one reluctant councilmember wants to "see the data".  I would suggest that all council members should be reviewing the data regularly.  Heck, I would make it a regular council agenda item, but that's just me.

Brownrigg, however, said he was unconvinced Burlingame had a need for the cameras and expressed reluctance to increase surveillance or traffic stop frequency in the city.

“Any time we permit greater surveillance, especially using technology, we need to have a use case that justifies it, so I would like to see that data,” he said. “I’m not saying our decision will change the big forces of technology, but this is just one step along the path to facial recognition, it’s one step along the path to cameras everywhere.”

 

I'm not going to give much airtime to the concern about racial profiling--everyone license plate colors are the same.  We shall see if this goes anywhere or if higher political ambitions derail it.