More Smash & Grabs in San Francisco
More Smash & Grabs in San Francisco
Remember: leave nothing in the car!
I was in San Francisco this week to make an appearance on KRON4 TV, plugging PhotowalksTV (thank you Ken Maccarone!) and in-between, naturally, cruised all over the city photographing the magic.
I didn’t get robbed of camera gear this time, but it did happen near me, in real time, to two people, as I stood in Alamo Square, photographing the “Painted Ladies,” the row of victorian homes made famous in the opening credits to the old “Full House” TV show.
Two lucky tourists had nabbed rare parking spots for their rental cars right in front of the “ladies.” They stepped out and away to take pictures, and you know what happened next. The “smash and grab” crew swung by, hit the windows, reached inside for the backpacks and drove away.
One stunned victim, who lives in Florida, told me it all happened within seconds, in broad daylight, to two cars at the same time. He was lucky to have the cops come out and investigate, which apparently is rare. But good luck catching the thieves.
As I’ve told you, photographers have been followed home by crooks watching them use their expensive gear in locales like Marin Headlands, across the Bay, and Treasure Island, where I photographed the lead photo atop this post. Those instances are rare. More common are the smash and grabs, at the usual top tourist spots.
Cops told me that the crooks thrive on rental cars, as tourists tend to leave things in their vehicles and thus, are the chief target. And while the city hasn’t done seemingly much to crack down on the smash and grab mob, they have responded by putting clearly marked signs all over town, especially in tourist spots. Sadly, most people don’t pay attention to them.
The moral here is pretty clear: don’t leave stuff in the car when visiting San Francisco! Anything.
I carried my backpack everywhere, albeit a light one with just a GoPro, tripod and an extra iPhone, with the other iPhone in the my hand. Everything was removed from the front and back seats of my non-rental car, and placed in the trunk, even the bag of apples from Trader Joe’s.
Also, if you have a rental car in San Francisco:
a: don’t park in front of a prominent tourist spot &
b: please leave the car at the hotel and use public transportation instead. It’s safer and way more economical in the long run. (Reviews site Yelp even has a top 10 list of the best places to have car windows replaced in San Francisco.)
I still contend that San Francisco is the most photogenic city in the United States and begs to be photographed. It sucks that we have to be more careful and walk with everything on us, but it sure beats the alternative, right?
PhotowalksTV on KRON4 TV
Speaking of photographing the City by the Bay, I encourage you to watch my interview on the “Live in the Bay!” show on KRON 4, the station my late dad worked for back in the 1980s and 90s. I talk the joy of photographing San Francisco, and tease my “very special Mendocino episode” of Photowalks TV, which debuts Saturday.
I’ll be back at you tomorrow to tell you all about Mendocino, and my dad Jerry. So stay tuned!
Thanks for reading, watching and listening!
Jeff
I would like to hear what you define as "flaunting." It seems in your book that merely using a camera is flaunting it, which smacks of victim blaming. It's one thing to leave your camera bag in an unattended rental car, but being targeted just because you use a camera is not the photographer's fault. Would you say that someone who had their car stolen was "flaunting" it? If a child is kidnapped, was the parent "flaunting" their child? Do you put yourself in the "flaunting" category since you had your own gear stolen?
Living just south of San Francisco, we have similar issues with folks leaving their rental cars in unattended parking lots by the beaches. If you go to the beach on Monday mornings, you can often find little piles of broken car window glass that tell the sad tale. On the bright side, I just discovered that many UPS Stores have a luggage storage program called Bounce. It runs about $6/bag/day. There are 20 locations in San Francisco, but I don’t know how well it is being promoted. Our local UPS Store manager told me that they didn’t even know about the program until a couple came in last week to drop off their suitcases while they explored the area for the day. Could be really handy for travelers.