South City sees a drop in crime

Catalytic converter thefts have also seen sharp declines, a trend which is not unique to South City but reflective of broader regional efforts.

“A lot of them operated out of warehouses, and those warehouses were raided and taken down by law enforcement agencies, so it makes it much more difficult for the individuals that are stealing these catalytic converters to bring them someplace nearby where they can offload them and get their $250, $350 for each one,” South San Francisco Police Chief Scott Campbell said. “The crime doesn’t pay like it used to.”

Regional crime networks, such as organized theft, created a demand for task forces and more collaboration among law enforcement agencies, Campbell added, which is starting to show results. South City’s law enforcement has made about five arrests in the last couple months related to a Romanian jewelry scam, which mostly targets the elderly.

“These individuals are very polite and approachable, so they’ll make contact with our elderly residents, befriend them and tell them how much they like the jewelry they’re wearing,” Campbell said. “They’ll show them some of their own jewelry in exchange, and they do a little switch by putting their fake jewelry on the victim, and while they’re doing that they’re removing the real jewelry from the victim then jumping in a car and taking off.”

But Campbell hopes the overall crime decreases continue throughout 2025, as Proposition 36 went into effect in December 2024, which updates drug possession and retail theft charges to felonies — previously misdemeanors — if the individual has two or more prior convictions. That means law enforcement has to book them in county jail instead of issuing a citation, which was common practice prior to the ballot measure’s passage.

The city has made about six Proposition 36-related arrests, and there have been more than 150 Proposition 36 cases the District Attorney’s Office has received in the county in the roughly two-month period since it went into effect mid-December. The vast majority are related to retail theft.

Police staffing levels remained relatively stable over the past year as well, meaning the reduction in crime can be mostly attributed to better technology and training practices, Campbell added. Last year, the city added 12 automated license plate readers to its original 28, which he said has also been effective in reducing crime.

The downward trend in retail theft between 2023 and 2024 was not the same pattern other cities with large shopping centers, like Redwood City, San Mateo and Daly City experienced — although law enforcement and District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe have previously said they’re hopeful the new law will result in significant declines this year.

Violent crimes were also down in South San Francisco — with no homicides — though the figure does not include domestic violence, which Campbell said has been relatively flat.