Amid the ongoing downfall of San Francisco and California as a whole, the CEO and founder of Salesforce is demanding that officials “refund the police” in the wake of yet another move to further cut down on policing.
San Francisco’s consolidated city-county police commission reportedly decided to order police to cease “pretext stops,” which are when an officer legally pulls a vehicle over for a minor infraction while suspecting involvement in other criminal activity — for example, pulling a car over for a taillight being out when the officer suspects that the occupant of the vehicle may be dealing drugs. As usual, Democrats have claimed that these actions are racist, noting that minorities are more likely to be pulled over for a pretext stop.
“This policy will help prevent police from needlessly stopping people under the guise of traffic enforcement,” Yoel Haile, director of the Criminal Justice Program at the ACLU of Northern California, said in a statement. “This is not only a discriminatory tactic that has disproportionately targeted People of Color, it’s dangerous.”
San Francisco Police Commission Vice President Max Carter-Oberstone claimed that the decision to end pretext stops was part of an effort to redirect police resources to improve safety, but many believe it will have the opposite effect.
“This policy will allow us to reinvest our resources into strategies that actually keep us safe,” Carter-Oberstone claimed in a statement.
Meanwhile, critics like Salesforce CEO and founder Marc Benioff, are outraged that skyrocketing crime in San Francisco has not effected city leaders’ view on the police — as they continue to make it more and more difficult for law enforcement to actually get criminals off of the streets and protect the citizens.
Benioff, whose company has a $240 billion market value, slammed San Francisco in a lengthy post on X.
“San Francisco must refund the police not continue to defund the police. Our police need to be empowered now — not this new terrible decision to end pretext stops,” he wrote.
“All laws must be fully enforced. Police must be fully funded. The [District Attorney’s] office must prosecute to the fullest level of the law,” Benioff added.
Violent crime in San Francisco increased overall from 5,323 incidents in 2022 to 5,559 incidents in 2023.
San Francisco.
"We’re seeing a rise in violent juvenile crime. At the same time, robberies in SF are up more than 17%, and the severity of the attacks is increasing too. All this while SFPD braces for potentially losing up to 120 officers in June." pic.twitter.com/Z47e3Za6WU— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) June 4, 2023
According to crime data shared by Just The News, “all violent crimes decreased except for robbery, which rose from 2,371 in 2022 to 2,738 in 2023. Every category of property theft except for theft of motor vehicles declined, with vehicle theft rising from 6,282 in 2022 to 6,704 in 2022.” However, many have speculated that the supposed “decrease” in these crimes in San Francisco has more to do with people giving up on reporting these crimes because it is obvious they won’t receive any assistance — especially businesses, who see their insurance rates skyrocket if they report too many thefts, or even lose their coverage entirely.
Benioff concluded his X post by demanding that San Francisco adopt a community policing model, which has been determined to be highly effective in federal research studies and is even endorsed by the California Democrat Party.
“Police officers need to be enabled to protect assigned districts and rewarded & measured for their effectiveness. Metrics for effectiveness need to be clearly defined and transparent,” said Benioff. “Let’s institute a Neighborhood Policing model in San Francisco, safety District by District.”
San Francisco must REFUND the Police not continue to DEFUND the Police. Our Police need to be empowered now — not this new terrible decision to end pretext stops. Our SFPD and Sheriffs are the absolute key to a safe and clean San Francisco every day. SFPD must be returned to…
— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) July 18, 2024
Meanwhile, numerous businesses have left San Francisco in response to the losses they faced amid the crime wave. It is clear to these business owners that the far-left city and state governments have no intention of dealing with rising crime, and thus the only response is to flee to safer areas.
After 46 years, a San Francisco business owner says he's closing up shop amid rampant crime:
"Liberal ideas and progressive ideas that exist in San Francisco — it creates a 'sanctuary city' for homeless people and crime…" pic.twitter.com/VDWjPZTA86
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 7, 2024