Robert Harold “Crazy Bob” Lee died on the pavement in the wee hours last Tuesday after being stabbed while he walked through an abandoned downtown street.
He was 43, a father, and while the moments after a man’s violent, senseless death are not ideal for gleaning unvarnished opinions, the heartfelt tributes emanating from his many friends and loved ones made it clear that this was a better world with Lee in it. And he deserved far better than this.
While the police insist this was the 13th homicide this year, the medical examiner provided only 12 names. This is an area in which you’d like to have everyone on the same page and police have not answered our questions about this jarring discrepancy; they are apparently very busy working on the present case.
Little wonder: Unlike those prior 11 (or 12) victims, the death of this successful tech executive quickly became international news. The preceding homicides, if they were noted in the press at all, were summarized in brief, rote articles hurriedly penned by young reporters. Most of these victims, in fact, were not judged to warrant print or visual news coverage at all. But they had lives and stories, too. Here are their names:
Gavin Boston, 40; Irving Sanchez-Morales, 28; Carlos Romero Flores, 29; Maxwell Maltzman, 18; Demario Lockett, 44; Maxwell Mason, 29; Humberto Avila, 46; Gregory McFarland, Jr., 36; Kareem Sims, 43; Debra Lynn Hord, 57; and Jermaine Reeves, 52.
These victims’ deaths garnered minimal coverage and little in the way of international outrage, let alone mere acknowledgment on a local level. Justifiably or not, their deaths were not co-opted into a being a bellwether for the state of San Francisco. Clearly, Lee’s was.
And this is unfortunate, in many ways. First of all, the public facts in the case remain vague; at present we simply have no idea what Lee was doing walking alone through a bereft section of downtown at 2:30 in the morning. We have no idea who stabbed him, or why. The fact he still had a phone in his hand to vainly call 911 in his dying moments points toward this being an entirely irrational, random attack — or one that was not random at all.
The decent thing to do is acknowledge a tragedy, express sorrow for those who have lost a treasured individual, and let the police do their work with all due haste — and then we can begin politicizing this poor man’s death to buttress our preexisting worldview.
The dozen homicides recorded in San Francisco so far this year, as of April 7, 2023. Map by Will Jarrett. Basemap from Mapbox. Locations are approximate.
But that hasn’t happened here. Among Lee’s fellow VCs and tech executives, this was presented as the latest and most egregious example of a wave of violent crime inundating San Francisco. Less-than-responsible news coverage quoted these allegations at face value, the way Ari Fleisher used to be quoted at face value talking about weapons of mass destruction. That’s a problem because the mere existence of crime, or even a specific crime deemed extra tragic by outside operators for rhetorical effect, does not create a crimewave.
San Francisco’s street situation seems to bewilder many: The city is awash in visible homelessness, drug-use, misery and chaotic behavior. That’s been the case for decades, but the drugs are now more dangerous and those who are suffering are more visible. Property crime rates are high: There is great wealth in this city and great wealth disparities and people steal things. Violent crime, however, is at near-historic lows. Homicides are low as well.
Does that mean San Francisco is “safe”? This is not an objective question. It depends on your definition of “safe.” San Francisco, or any large American city, will never be as “safe” as the suburbs many of its present residents grew up in — or Mayberry. It is asking a lot of San Francisco to provide the benefits of a big city but none of its drawbacks.
But, at the same time, San Francisco’s crime statistics reveal that it is safer than most other mid-to-large-sized cities, including those cited by the VC class as places to relocate to escape San Francisco’s crime problem. Year-by-year crime statistics also reveal that, however safe San Franciscans may or may not be — they’ve rarely been safer.
Homicides per 100,000 residents
18
16
Over the past few years,
homicides did rise in San
Francisco – but they remain
low compared to
historic trends
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
Year
Homicides per 100,000 residents
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
Over the past few years,
homicides did rise in San
Francisco – but they remain
low compared to historic trends
4
2
0
’85
’90
’95
’00
’05
’10
’15
’20
Year
Chart by Will Jarrett. Data from the California Department of Justice and the Census Bureau.
But they don’t feel safer. The perception of danger and menace — tents, drug-use, chop-shops, ranting people — outweighed any downward-trending crime chart you could show to people. Ousted DA Chesa Boudin found that out the hard way.
And now the problem transcends Boudin and is bedeviling the city writ large. In the wake of the pandemic and the rapid shift to remote work, the perception of lawlessness and danger is one the city can’t just brush aside. The city needs people to visit here, work here, buy overpriced salads here — and the image problem doesn’t help.
So that’s new: In 2010, police were called after a woman’s remains were discovered in a suitcase that had been floating in the bay, just three-tenths of a mile from the spot where Lee would be fatally stabbed in 2023. And no newspaper would speculate if this crime would feed into a “doom loop” and imperil the city’s overall economic viability and expedite our metamorphosis to Detroit-by-the-Bay. No powerful businessmen or thirsty politicians or social media titans felt the need to use this case as an exemplar of ostensibly burgeoning San Francisco chaos (violent crime rates in 2010 were a shade worse than those in the present day).
This story would, in fact, receive minimal coverage at best. The victim was a 52-year-old Black woman named Pearla Louis. Make of that what you will.
Perhaps the most disturbing element of the politicization of Lee’s killing is people plainly stating they simply don’t believe the city’s crime statistics. Not that they acknowledge them but still feel the way they feel — “yeah, but still…” — but that they simply don’t believe them. With this in mind, when these same people talk about this killing being a call to action or an inflection point, one wonders where we may be inflecting to.
The only solutions proffered thus far to address residents’ perceptions of a crimewave are more cops, stiffer sentences and a return to the Gov. Reagan-era incarceration of the mentally ill — which, regardless of what the legislature puts forth, will likely face legal challenges on civil rights grounds.
Of note, all of these things were hallmarks of past eras when violent crime rates were significantly higher.
I didn’t know “Crazy Bob,” and sadly only learned of him through his horrifying killing. But I’m not sure he’d want to be used, in death, to push forward punitive measures and a ramping up of mass incarceration.
In 2019, he tweeted “Ignoring color is problematic because it precludes fixing institutional racism. Instead, see color, recognize that your black friends face challenges you don’t, and help move the world toward racial equity.”
In 2020, he tweeted “If people you associate with say or do something racist and you don’t correct them—you are guilty of racism by association, which is just as bad, perhaps worse, since you know better. When it comes to racism, if you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
After his death, he was mocked in the replies by ghouls who chalked up his violent killing as comeuppance for being woke.
Lee’s senseless death left many in agony. But that agony shouldn’t lead to false narratives and failed approaches that invariably lead to unintended consequences. We should know better.
Thank you for the article and the respectful treatment of a sensitive subject. Bob seemed like a good guy and was killed not three blocks from where I live- highly unusual in my neighborhood. As far as crime I do believe the murder statistics but not necessarily other crimes (often not reported).. And thank you for naming this year’s homicide victims in San Francisco. May they rest in peace
Well written article, and I understand your disappointment in those who are pushing agendas for Bob Lee’s death. In fact, my reaction when I heard the news was similar to those you talk about in this article: “this just further shows SF is on a downward trend for the worse. If this can even happen to a successful tech entrepreneur, it can happen to anyone.”
That was before the news came out that he likely knew the suspect, and that this incident wasn’t random.
However, I think that initial reaction (prior to knowing it wasn’t random), was justified: that general area near Main Street has had at least 3 stabbings in the last year! One of them, for example, was a lady who was stabbed by a homeless person because the lady was trying to defend another person from being attacked by the homeless person. Please double check my facts as I’m recalling from memory what I read in the news.
And as for using Bob Lee’s death as ammunition for pushing agendas: while I agree that, now knowing the stabbing was likely not random, linking his death to the state of San Francisco’s crime seems to make less sense.
However, I don’t think we can blame them. I, for example, often feel powerless and disheartened with what’s going on in San Francisco.
My family’s van was broken into. My friend’s car was broken into. Multiple stabbings in the last year or so near Main Street. Stores like Target and Walgreens reducing hours and even closing down due to increase in crime. Now Whole Foods is shutting down! The city feels worn down. Even my parents, who would often visit San Francisco from across the bay, can feel a sense of the city having lost its old charm and prestige.
I tried reaching out to Mayor Breed asking what the city is doing about crime, and what we as citizens can do to help. No reply. I followed up again, no reply. Honestly I would have rather received a a boilerplate/canned response than dead silence.
So I understand that your graph shows that homicide rates have declined over the years. But these days, the perception of San Francisco, at least among my peers and family and family friends, is a dilapidated city with unfettered crime, which has lost its charm.
And we want change, and we don’t necessarily know how. So, I can’t blame people for using any example of crime to continue to push for change in San Francisco.
Great piece Joe.
This insightful article offers vital context to the rising hysteria depicting San Francisco as a dangerous city, largely shared by a privileged minority of emigrants drawn to our beloved City in adulthood by tech industry jobs. More importantly, your provocative comparison of the unnoticed homicide of a black woman, Pearla Louis, and the distorted outcry following this recent tragic killing of Bob Lee, underlines the actual rising crime -a disconnect from compassion, humanity and the fight for social justice.
well reasoned.
This is a well-thought out piece and it addresses what many of us are feeling. Mr. Lee’s tragic death was exploited by the media and yes, those tech luminaries to offer a lame excuse to cover why they really relocated (taxes, it was taxes, but you know the big guys all keep their homes here because they don’t actually want to live in those “low-tax states themselves.).
Regarding your use of the word “incarceration “ for mentally ill. Done right, it’s treatment, it’s hospitalization. How is it more humane to have extremely ill people living in a box, wandering in traffic, and becoming crime victims? How is that less cruel than giving them a safe place and medical care, while helping cities recover their streets for everyone?
Trixie, you’re comment is problematic for a few reasons. The first and most obvious being the violation of human rights. Another is the execution of such an operation. Who will determine the criteria for rounding up the mentally ill? A severe case might be obvious, but what about the quiet old woman who sleeps in the marina not causing trouble but yet an eye sour to the wealthy? Not mentally ill, just poor. History has shown time and time again that the wealthy will use such power and abuse it for their own gain or comfort. Many people who are unhoused might display stress behaviors that can be misdiagnosed as mental illness, and in those cases you will have major human rights violations and lawsuits. Not to mention, we stopped doing that to people because it plain wrong. Mentally ill people have human rights and you don’t get to decide who gets their human rights violated just because they’re living on the sidewalk. Short term thinking never works in these matters.
Nice piece. Very on point.
Try to spin it whichever way you want. People know how they feel in the street, and they know what the problems are. One of the main problems is people like you, who are more concerned with keeping criminals out of jail than you are concerned with good decent people being able to safely walk the streets. Whiny guilty self-loathing white people are one of the country’s biggest dangers nowadays.
“a return to the Gov. Reagan-era incarceration of the mentally ill — which, regardless of what the legislature puts forth, will likely face legal challenges on civil rights grounds. ”
Not sure what you are directly alluding to; I have thought of the Reagan era as the time of De-institutionalization of the chronically mentally ill–when State Hospital censuses were driven down and long-term residential options disappeared.
Maybe you meant: the shift from institutionalization to criminalization?
Someone should tell Matt Ocko that San Francisco doesn’t have a city council, and that blood can’t be literal.
Maybe if these executives paid more attention in the first place, they would know what they’re talking about, and could make a more positive contribution in a proactive manner.
This essay is a great example of the kind of journalism that keeps me donating to you folks. Thank you!
Hi Joe; I appreciated your article but also the “things aren’t that bad” approach sure isn’t working. I was walking on Market St. one night and a homeless person tried to mug me. I hit him in the face and he fell and then started yelling “police, police he assaulted me”. A couple of people saw what happened and just told me to take off. 2 years ago our car was broken into and we saw those that were trying to steal it. When we called the cops they got mad. We literally were watching this guy bust car windows and stealing anything in the cars or trunks and no one came while they drove off in someone’s Honda Accord. We were told to fill out an online report which went nowhere of course. Approximate rate for car theft arrests? 2%
The ex fire commissioner was almost beaten to death with a pipe from a homeless man on day after Bob Lee’s death, who; along with 2 other friends; were camped near the door of his mom’s house. When he asked them to leave he was attacked and chased down. His mother said she called the police 3 times during the day and morning but no one came. Yesterday the police chief said SF is down hundreds of officers but the good news was that they had a good amount of people enter the police academy.
Also comparing to the murder rate of the 80’s and 90’s when crack was destroying cities doesn’t make the numbers seem better. In 2021 NBC Bay area did a report that showed 75-80 cars are stolen a day in San Francisco and that’s only what is being reported. I’m sure it has gotten worse.
Until San Francisco gets better, we are not spending out money there. It seems to be the only thing the City listens too. Most in America don’t seem to care about crime until it happens to them. We are the most violent first world in history and it’s not close.
Well written, but disagree with the notion that the world was better off with him in it. He pushed the “cryptocurrency” market, and “cryptocurrency” is horrible for numerous reasons. He didn’t contribute anything of value, and in fact, it was more of the opposite, of anything.
First, I just want to say that JE is absolute class and the Bear journo SF has had for almost 20yrs. Ditto for Mission Local – a class organization that is sorely needed (please donate)
That said, and as a Mission Native, I do not always agree with JE and, most especially, Mission Local’s views.
I do not understand how countless articles can be written about how inept and corrupt the SFPD is (e.g lowest arrest rates, lowest solved case rates, lowest response times, countless cases of corruption and violence over the course of DECADES, etc. etc.), and then the very same publication takes their crime data as GOSPEL! To wit: “The SFPD is one of the most corrupt and inept policing organizations in the land, yet we fully trust their crime reporting” :-/
Could it be that there is such a culture and ecosystem of criminality that many San Franciscans do not bother to call the cops anymore, therefore they are not counted in the stats? Could it be that there is such rampant violence that occurs everyday that the SFPD simply watches and does not count in the stats? Could it be that property crime should not be held as completely separate from “violent crime” as they experience can often feel violating in the same way physical violence does? Could it be that the stats have more say that then, “derrrrp, crime is historically low, so stop complaint you wanna-be leftists/actual far-right weirdos”
To not acknowledge that SF finds itself in the midst of a culture and ecosystem of rampant criminality is willfully ignorant, if not guilty of espousing a partisan viewpoint that is out of touch from blue collar San Franciscans. To say that people are wrong for not feeling “safe” is the work of blind partisans that live outside of SF but report on it (i.e Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub [vomit])
This is a massive area of hypocrisy, lack of critical thinking, and reporting that simply does not see the perspective of rank and file San Franciscans from most Bay Area news outlets, but especially, Mission Local. I expect better from JE, one of the most talented journalists in a generation, and a news outlet that I’ve always perceived to be of a blue-collar focused, SF perspective
Keep up the good work, improve where you can, and we’ll all get out of this together
Ya know, there’s a paragraph in the article specially curtailed for your take. It begins with “Perhaps…”
Combining property crime and violent crime, lol. Good one.
Never did I say combine, I said perhaps do not hold them as completely separate items in an inventory. I think we should evaluate the ecosystem of human suffering, the obvious humanitarian crisis taking place on our streets, and the culture of criminality in a more holistic way that the SFPD’s crime stats perhaps don’t fully capture.
I actually decided to write my unfortunately long comment because I felt JE’s, “Perhaps…” paragraph was dismissive of the point that I think a ton of San Franciscans are legitimately trying to make
I’d say it’s a reported column and not meant to placate everyone. The article intelligently tackles a complex issue, both objectively and subjectively, while avoiding a political agenda. For comparison, here is another piece that struggles to do the same:
https://sfstandard.com/politics/bob-lee-killing-public-safety-crime-tipping-point-san-francisco/
Rocky145,
Join me in pushing a San Francisco ‘Million Dollar Trash Lottery’.
Clean for an hour and get a lottery ticket.
Gaudy tickets suitable for framing (they could end up costing more than prize).
I meant to comment on your last post yesterday but you didn’t finish it ?
h.
Yo Joe, if you go up to the Embarcadero on a weekend you’ll see SUV after SUV with every window smashed to smithereens and nothing stolen. It’s one of the saddest pleas for help I have ever seen. But because nothing is technically stolen the cops won’t even make a report – a passport has to be stolen for it to muster that grade. It’s shockingly violent and doesn’t show up in statistics at all. Hence they are total lies.
There’s a war on civility by a deeply depressed element. It’s awful. But yes at the same time jail is definitely not the answer, will just traumatize already lost souls. I hope the city and state use the upcoming CARE act to create an an end of the road city and transport addicts there while giving them the chance to recover as well. Long term schizophrenics need even more gentle institutionalization, a village or a few somewhere green can be nice. People need more chances but they don’t need them in the heart of downtown. The standard should be that a 10 yr old kid is entirely safe wandering around alone. It’s really not hard to have it all. We just need 1 leader who doesn’t suck. Get it going Newsom
So you are saying you want the addicts and mentally ill out of your sight and no where near you.
Kim,
Hello, opposite is true.
I have a Masters in working with the very toughest of them for 40 years.
They should not live on sidewalks and they should not be allowed to live there.
The bus has to be free of course and they can come back everyday all day.
Every day all day anyone can walk our streets in a safe manner.
They just can’t live there and give crap to other legal residents.
I have been told by one person who thought as you do that this is exile.
One person in charge of spending part of that billion on the ground said:
“Maybe they don’t want to live there.”
That made me mad.
Like someone has a natural right to live on the sidewalk in front of your house.
I say the Mayor should start moving the infrastructure there first.
Take the toilets out of storage first and set up an organized campsite.
They can party hardy days in daytime in the best City in the World.
Nights they can sleep under the stars with the sound of the bay all around.
Is that such a harsh suggestion ??
Go Niners !!
h.
Aditya,
Treasure Island’s is a beautiful spot with enuff empty space for every tent and Street Squat in the City.
Would you rather him them on your doorstep establishing dominion and turf ?
That’s what we have now.
Go Niners !!
What are all you crusaders whining about? The board of supervisors has a majority of Harvard and Yale trained socialists. The so called moderates would be considered mentally I’ll in most civilized societies. The city spends well over a billion dollars in combined services to the homeless. What you see is the results of your strategy. This the Socialist state in action. Go back to whatever backwater Midwest town or Eastern city you came from and sell this lunacy to their citizens . You’ve done your job here. You’ve ruined what was once a beautiful city.
Michael,
Your comments are rude and you know better because you write well.
San Francisco has always been a testing ground for new ideas and a refuge.
You don’t like it ?
Perhaps it is you who should move to Fresno.
Where’s your heart ?
Go Niners !!
h.
I knew this type of article would soon follow. Talk about co-opting. It’s sickening how those who are concerned for safety are continually gas lit by those in power in the city and by people like the author of this post. Crime is actually down. You choose to live in a big city. Put up with the failed policies because we’re being mistaken. We have no right to worry and complain, and we should just shut up and deal with it. After all, we choose to live here, so put up with it. And don’t complain about crime and safety on our streets because it’s all in our heads.
I just read this in The Guardian. Great job, Joe. As a supporter of Mission Local, I’m glad to see the recognition.
Regarding the last sentence, “Lee’s senseless death left many in agony. But that agony shouldn’t lead to false narratives and failed approaches that invariably lead to unintended consequences. We should know better,” sadly, we do not know better.
Too many among us allow corrupt politicians and wealthy executives exploit issues with false, often self-serving, narratives that, sadly, influence too many voters. I am so close to giving-up on San Francisco, but some things in life are worth fighting for, so I’m hanging on, hoping to be a part of the effort of saving our city’s soul.
Thanks for the great article and keep up the good work!
“San Francisco’s street situation seems to bewilder many: the city is awash in visible homelessness…The perception of danger and menace – tents (!)…”
Awash in visible homelessness. Hmmmmmmm. This might have something to do with the fact that there are roughly five units of unoccupied housing for each homeless individual in SF. Not one for every homeless family, of which there are many — one for every homeless individual.
Mass homelessness, as well as the ever-more berserk housing situation faced by the not-technically-homeless-just-yet wage-earning class in capitalist America, are measures among many of the historically bankruptcy of commodity relations. The capitalist mode of production has created the material preconditions for every human being to have decent food, shelter, an education and health care — but under the dictatorship of the market we can’t have it if we can’t pay. This set-up isn’t working. We can do better than this.
The problem is an extremely visible one. And the solution is transparently clear. Organized groups of people who need housing — people who are inadequately housed as well as those who are “sleeping rough” — must seize and permanently occupy those many currently unoccupied units of housing. This is the solution. This is the way forward.
Cold dark empty abandoned streets are a good description of San Francisco’s problem. Those streets that Bob stumbled down were bereft of traffic because of city policies that cleared them. The only eyes that captured the distress and calls for help were the heartless digital ones our society has decided to trust. What is missing from this scene is a human heart and helping hand. We are losing our humanity as we quibble over priorities and process.
To your point: if you’re not paywalled, there’s a great article in today’s Chron titled “What Vietnam’s alleyways can teach SF.” I lived in Vietnam for a year & it’s so true: when community extends from people’s homes out onto the street, you feel safer. I felt a million times safer in Hanoi late at night, 1992-3 & again in 1994, than I ever have in SF where I’ve lived since the 80s. I didn’t even realize until I went to Hanoi the cloak of vigilance I wear here in SF everywhere I go. https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/vietnam-san-francisco-public-space-bureacracy-17829941.php?cmpid=gsa-sfgate-result
So techies and big tech are responsible for homelessness, violence and unlivable conditions? Wait till the money they bring to the city’s coffers drys up as soon as they leave for greener pastures. The disaster will grow exponentially. The problems of this city stem from the fact that there is a welfare gold rush going on. Every drug addict and bum is making there way here for massive benefits. Free housing, akin to living in a hotel, that doesn’t require getting sober plus enough cash to support sitting on your ass doing dope. The mentally I’ll are shipped here to wander the streets in every manner of distress. Very few of these people are from here. That’s a fact but the transplant carpetbaggers that run the city continue to sell the lie that these are problems created by the cost of living etc. Wake up
Right. No double standards. We’re going to buy into that line now where “now is not the time” to talk about gun control after another school shooting.
Denial.The stats are fools gold. It is the sheer audacity of an open fent/meth market, the obviously stolen goods spread out on blankets on a side walk. All for us to see if we chose to. The in-broad-daylight car break-ins in Golden Gate Park. I recommend everybody go out to MLK by the Tea Garden this busy weekend and see for yourselves.
Everytime a conservative doesn’t like facts, they run to the excuse that the data is fake. Don’t like the obvious evidence that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen? All the data is fake. Don’t like data that said ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work? Fake. Don’t like evidence from studies that COVID causes way more myocarditis than vaccines? Fake. Don’t like data showing employment is way up, when a Democrat’s in office? It’s fake. Don’t like data showing violent crime is down, it’s all fake.
That’s the excuse you always have. Your “feelings” and anecdotes are the real data.
You can use any stat to your liking. The unemployment rate you’re trotting out is fools gold. It is a subordinate indicator to the labor participation rate, which is way down. https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-labor-force-participation-rate.htm
Labor participation shows the economic health of minority groups, the state of affairs in economically depressed “flyover country” where people mid working age escape into disability and so forth. Low labor participation drives disenfranchisement. Guess where much of the extremism and culture warring is coming from.
Also contributing to people “not feeling safe” are big mouths like Musk, amplified by the Chron and Standard, that repeat endlessly that “people dont feel safe”. And whereas filthy streets and filthy reporting hold back SF’s slow rebound, downtown streets are not filling up primarily due to big mouths like Musk, who laid off their workers, moved their operations to tax havens and keep their SF workers working remote.
There was a great article in the Guardian:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/08/bob-lee-death-san-francisco-killing
Another great article Joe. Thanks for the compassion, the research, the critical thinking, and the ability to actually look up crime stats.
Thank you Mission Local and Joe Eskenazi for this grounded and thoughtful piece. If authorities/law enforcement can puzzle through video footage of the January 6th insurrection in order to identify, find and hold accountable the people involved, you’d think that would be done in this instance as well. Not holding my breath. Hope springs eternal.
Joe,
A Fire Commissioner got a fractured skull KTVU says.
You know why ?
Bottom line ?
Because people living in tents alone or in groups start to get territorial.
They think they’re defending their own turf.
Way to solve that is move every friggin’ tent and encampment to Treasure Island.
My voice is too small.
Please take on the cause, Joe.
The island is supposed to give first priority to be used to help the poor.
That’s why Job Corps is over there.
Plenty of room.
Imagine the streets cleared in a week !!
Breed could do it with the stroke of a pen.
Go Niners !!
h.
I appreciate this exploration of the reflexive reaction to Bob’s death, especially the anger of the tech community. But I’m finding it hard to be sympathetic to their umbrage over the state of society. Bob worked on technologies that disrupt society. Recent reporting finds Cash App, which he helped develop, is widely used to facilitate criminal behavior. I’m not saying this was Bob’s aim or vision. But at some point the collateral damage of social disruption must be factored as technologies are introduced. Tech titans can’t have it both ways. Do they want a safe society? Or do they want to win in the casino of capitalism. It seems to be the latter. It’s reflexively easy to blame violence and social disorder on a city and it’s leaders. If anyone is paying attention, we see that technology shares some responsibility for removing people from the shared spaces and streets of society, for increasing the myopia of individual and consumer choice over cooperation and altruism, and for contributing to a wealth gap (and by this I mean access to the basic level of services and resources that enable a sense of security and well-being) that drives desperation. … Also, we still don’t have any idea whether this killing was random violence of social breakdown or something else. Wait and see.
Echo of Chris,
Great summary of the situation.
h.
Well said.
Statistics don’t mean shit. This city has become an insane asylum. Yes there might be less crime than in a city such as Chicago, where I’ve always felt safe until a trip there last summer. It’s the same story there. Criminals running wild. I walk downtown with pepper spray and my head on a swivel. I feel for all these victims but it’s not the cops fault. Are you aware that every night in San Francisco there are around 40 uniformed officers on duty? Best of luck everyone.
Michael I agree with all of your statements. Especially your stating that “its not the cops fault”& ” this city has become an insane asylum”. I was never afraid to go out to shop at a mall in the evening, I was never afraid to go out and get gas after work when it was dark, I was never afraid to go out and get groceries in the evening. I was never afraid to leave my car out overnight I was never afraid to walk my dog later at night, I never would worry that someone would try to steal my little dog, I was never afraid or worried that my garage door would be broken into while I was asleep upstairs. I was never afraid to take a bus before. And this is not just my thinking and frame of mind now but friends and family and neighbors feel the same way as I do. Something has changed in this city I grew up in.
With the oft touted talking points and fear mongering about a shortage of cops, why does SFPD still insist on assigning 100 cops at SFO? And don’t get me started on the Mayor declaring not 1 but 2 emergencies around Union Square so the focus was to protect Hermes and Louis Vuitton chain stores. In December 2021 when we had meth dealers from Oregon burglarizing and squatting in a house in the neighborhood, a cop actually told me “The next time you call in about these sketchers, be prepared for a maximum wait. We are all down at Union Square.” Priorities. Also under a state of emergency, overtime is even more expensive.
Greeny,
Cops pay their Mortgages with Overtime.
Starting to get why they’re always few hundred short ?
People don’t seem to realize that they are required by Charter to fill every space every day and the do this with Ovetime.
Go Niners !!
h.
Greeny,
Cops pay their mortgages with Overtime.
Go Niners !!
h.
SFO is mandated by the Feds to have a certain response time to active calls. The Airport pays the salary out of their own budget for public safety. The Airport is a 24 hour operation and a multi billion dollar industry.
The article states that after being stabbed, Bob Lee would “vainly call 911 in his dying moments” what the actual f***? It is vain to call for help when attacked and dying in SF?
No Jason. It means they couldn’t save him.
The word “vain” has more than one meaning. It also means something that doesn’t work, like the term “love in vain.”
Thanks for reading,
JE
Thanks a ton, Joe, for the vocabulary lesson. I was an English major. If you were stabbed and panicked, would you consider it in vain to call for help hoping it might work? And that waving down cars and night guards for help might not be in vain because you’re not dead yet? This is the most shocking of a litany of items in this article to cast supposed doubt on the murder of a guy it knows nothing about – an absolute disgusting, disrespectful and a blatant politicization. Bob Lee’s mobile app which allows people to send money to each other is disruptive? Disrupting what, cash? And this suggests the founder, and father of two, is deserving of this fate? You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves!
Jason —
The term “vainly called 911” means he couldn’t be saved — that’s all. With all due respect, this is resplendently clear. You don’t need to be an English major to know this.
Among other things, I never mentioned Lee’s app or anything about “disruption” or “disruptive.” So I’m not sure what you’re going on about here.
It would really help if you responded to the actual words on the page. I’m sorry if you lost someone you knew. But your comment is nonsensical.
JE
Joe,
I agree with the poster here and want to trust the cops and dispatcher.
What did Ronnie amend that with ?
“Trust but Verify”
Guy still had his cell phone.
Just check and see if he indeed called at 2:34 AM and only once.
Difference in firefighting and copping is that in firefighting, the longer you take to get to the fire ground the more dangerous when you arrive.
In copping, the longer you take to get there the safer the ground.
Let’s see his cell phone data …
Too harsh ?
Go Niners !!
h.
Comprehension skills are at an all time low these days. Absolutely incredible 🤣
150,000 people die everyday on earth. We cannot make big deal out of everyone of them. But some stand out and there is nothing wrong about that. You have your narrative and others have theirs.
Ive been waiting for journalism that calls out the shameless class and race biased reporting of this killing. Ive been waiting to see acknowledgment of the other homicides and know their names. I want to know these victims, see their pictures, know their familys’ sorrows, their friends, their daily lives. What were the circumstances of their deaths. So, thank you for challenging the narrative and forcing us to think about this tragedy differently. I think this may be the most important piece Ive read by JE.
Gloria,
Take action !!
The cops do a lousy job because they’re pulled two ways like a chicken’s wish bone.
The Mayor reacts to the rich and sends them to Union Square.
The POA tells them to do as little as possible.
Professional they are not.
Like the Union Army before McClellan shaped them up.
We need a strong and independent Chief.
That means one answerable to the people and not bullied by Room 200 and the POA.
That means bringing back election of Chief.
First elected Police Chief we had was James F. Curtis in 1856.
He’d been a leader of the Vigilantes who patrolled the streets when the cops wouldn’t.
Even went to jailhouse and hung couple of folks.
No courthouse atween.
This will take a Charter Amendment and either the Mayor alone or 6 Board Members are needed to take it to the Ballot w/out a referendum.
They won’t act.
This is me suggesting we elect a ‘Peoples’ Chief’.
Go Niners !!
h.
Thank you for this response to the outrage over Lee’s death.
I did not know Lee, but his statement about racism which you quoted is one of the most succinct statements on this issue I have ever seen.
Thank you, also, for cleverly suggesting how the violent death might have been covered had the victim been a middle-aged black woman.
I am an 85 year old white woman who has lived in SF for more than 30 years, and I agree with your comments about public safety here compared to other large American cities where I have previously lived.
Thank you.
I’ve seen “statistics” being thrown around lately. If some want to talk statistics… let’s go there.
What are the statistics for theft and larceny?
What are the statistics for Asian hate crimes?
How many people die of overdosing per year?
How many violent crimes go unreported in San Francisco?
Or is it that these statistics don’t matter?
Let’s talk statistics as a whole from what affects residents of this city on a daily basis… and not just nitpick to paint a particular narrative. That helps nobody and it seems borderline gaslighting.
Alex,
As I’ve mentioned before, Joe O’Donoghue said:’
“Figures don’t lie but liars can firgure.”
Cops lie.
We need an elected Reformer Police Chief with a Progressive Program
They’ll have to be tougher than nails.
Of course, the POA Knuckle-Dragger might win.
It couldn’t get worse.
Go Niners !!
h.
Looking at the homicide stats you could say that SF is safer than many American cities. Looking at the streets themselves, tells another story. The city is a dangerous place with a variety of violent, mentally ill folks and others who are just plain dangerous crooks. Catalytic convertor thieves and auto burglary suspects appear to be frequently armed – a trend that did not exist ten years ago. Too many of the homeless and the drug addicted demand the use of the public sidewalks as a place to use and engage in other nuisance behavior, as a right. The stage is set for more dark encounters between them and other citizens. Or, your ordinary, non-dysfunctional person has to scurry away as they walk the down the street. We essentially ceed large parts of the city to the criminals and the homeless. The city has been taking a down-hill slide for decades but the last few year have been a very steep slide. Bottom line: the city could be much safer but is hampered by the ideology of many city policy makers and other influencers. Has the the murder of Mr. Lee been politicized? It certainly has, by some, like other cases in the past, like many incidents where police officers shot and killed someone – these were certainly politicized.. Well, it’s a good idea to wait for more facts regarding Mr. Lee and at the same time it is there is nothing wrong with re-thinking the Chesa Boudin school of thought.
J Miller,
The Mayor could clear the streets starting Immediately if she so chose.
Move all tents to Treasure Island just inside the 1930’s giant boulder/sea wall.
Move all of the toilets Breed has in storage (2/3 of the big units) to the 504 acre island.
Open a Cop Shop there.
Easy to Patrol.
No exile.
They can come back to the mainland anytime but can’t camp or Sit or Lie here.
The island will never be developed.
It is sinking at exactly the same rate as the sea is rising.
It’s still good for 20 years.
It’s a start.
Go Niners !!
Do love the idea. It would work and also generate endless lawsuits from the COH who propose solutions financially prohibitive and distant from reality. That said, it would work. All the dealers from Hayward and Oakland may still find it quicker jumping on BART to transit center then the Bus back over to TI but they’re not paying the fares either way and work hours are flexible.
Rocky415,
I ask Jenny Friedenbach if she’d support moving the tents to Treasure Island and her supporters in the audience at Manny’s booed me out of the room.
I say give them no choice.
TI would be like camping on a piece of history.
I don’t think the boulders would complain.
Go Niners !!
h.
H. Brown,
Gut tells me if backroom
deal with Friedenbach and the city to match their current contracts moving forward even with move to TI, she would get on the bus.
Thank you for this piece. It’s right on the nose!
How accurate are the crime statistics tho? Many people don’t report crimes because they know SF police wont respond to calls and wont do anything to solve crimes. This leads to flawed statistics that make it seem as if crime were lower that it actually is. Please investigate this issue and report on it.
Thanks
Are you honestly suggesting that people are not reporting VIOLENT CRIMES? I mean things like assault, murder, rape etc?
Just because you feel something is true doesn’t make it so. And your car being broken into is not violent crime, even if it sucks.
It’s only thing to claim property crime reports might not be accurate, but do you realize how absurd it is to suggest that MURDER STATISTICS aren’t correct? You really think police and hospitals aren’t reporting murders and violent assaults? It strains credibility.
Nom, exactly!!🎯
Nom,
Yes, they cook the stats.
Latest case I can remember that got into the Press was the French guy who was murdered at his doorway and got inside and locked the door and bleed out all over the walls and floor.
Cops concluded he committed suicide and washed off the knife and put it back in the drawer.
As one commenter at the time evaluated the case …
“A neat freak to the end.”
Cops called it suicide and new Chief George Gascon backed them.
French brought over detectives and they thought murder.
To this day it is on the record as a ‘suicide’.
BS
Go Niners !!
h.
The murder stats are probably somewhat accurate, but the assault stats are not. I’m directly aware of three assaults in SF, and none of them are included in the stats. For one of the assaults, the survivor called the cops, who didn’t care and didn’t follow up. The other two were not even reported.
Diggi,
Joe has reported on cops failure to arrest a criminal who beat a bus driver.
I think he covered other examples of SFPD criminal neglect by neglecting criminals.
I agree with you that things are worse than I’ve seen in 42 years here of which I’ve spent most of my time in the Tenderloin and Mission for past 9 years.
Cleaning the place up should begin by Changing the Charter to elect our police chief.
Someone who is independent of the Mayor and SFPOA.
It will be a test for the voters.
Do we vote for a Chief who can fire you if you ignore the rights of a beaten bus driver.
Or, do we vote for a candidate favored by the Mayor and/or POA ??
I pickup up trash around and frequent 16th and Mission every day.
It needs a Police Kiosk as does 24th and Mission.
Used to have em.
Feinstein brought them from Europe and the Far east.
Cops lobbied to have them removed.
Too dangerous.
And, they had guns.
So did the Gang Bangers who chased them away.
Well, wadda you gonna do ?
Wadda yuh gonna do ??
Go Niners !!
h.
“San Francisco, or any large American city, will never be as “safe” as the suburbs many of its present residents grew up in — or Mayberry.”
I think that’s wrong. More people die from car crashes and traffic violence in the suburbs, making them more dangerous overall. Even if it seems less personal than a stabbing when someone sneezes, loses control of their car, and pins a pedestrian against a tree, the pedestrian still winds up seriously injured or dead.
Also thanks for providing a bit more info about the incident than I was able to find in other media sources.
Wow !
Another ‘Jumping Frog’ story from our local Master.
h.
I love your writing style. Yes, it’s important to remember that there are victims of crime in San Francisco we never hear about.
My impression of this murder is that it may be proven that it’s not what everyone thinks — knee-jerk reactions to a possibly vagrant or chemically dependent individual using his kitchen knife to someone’s heart (twice) to take his belongings. I believe it’s more personal than that. I could be wrong.
Yeah, it’s way too soon to start making any judgments about this incident, even to say that he didn’t deserve it or that it was “senseless.” Am I the only one who thinks it would be prudent to wait until we know more before spouting off random platitudes that may not turn out to be true?
San Francisco is a VERY small City. All of these areas, with open drug markets, are going to get hit VERY hard with crime & murders. If you do not start to realize that, all these trolls who are going after this Techie are going to come after you as well. The stats lie. If you talk to the Police, they have way different stats, why is that? You think everybody reports crime when none of it is solved?
Wait. You’re telling us not “everybody reports crime” (to the police), but for some reason you also know that police have better, more accurate and more complete statistics on (violent) crime. How does SFPD get all this information if no one reports it?
SF is also not “a VERY small City.”
Crime statistics tend to measure crime per capita, as in the number of people total versus the number of crimes. In terms of population, San Francisco is a large city and when measured per capita, our crime rates are low or moderate in almost every category. But in terms of size, square miles, San Francisco is a small city, at about 50 square miles. In comparison, Sacramento is about 100 square miles and Los Angeles is about 500 square miles. What this means is that the density of crime is greater in San Francisco. The odds that a serious crime has happened very close in distance to where you live is much greater. You see the flashing lights, you see the bloodstains, you hear the sirens, you hear the screams. So yes, we can and do Have a greater perception of crime here than other places.
No, it is just as likely that the crimes could be concentrated in a few areas. By that token a small Mayberry-like town would be even worse because a single murder would mean EVERYONE in town would be affected.
You’re all reaching hard trying to deal with the obvious fact that SF isn’t as dangerous from a violent crime perspective as you make out. Honestly, you people have no clue what a truly dangerous city is like. Try Baltimore or Detroit. SF is safer than most of the suburbs in Maryland.
Saint Louis has the worst murder rates IIRC. But do you hear stories about murders there? I sure don’t. I suppose the lack of rich folks living there has something to do with the lack of national reporting on their murders.
Redseca2,
Cops stats are like the string line on the map in Catch-22.
When Yosarian saw they had to go back over a city with great defenses he waited til everyone was gone and moved the string to other side of city to make it look like ground troops captured it.
Brass didn’t even question it; just scratched that mission.
Cops do same thing.
They get a list from an audit telling them how to do it right and get the local crime rate down.
Cops just move the bomb line.
Go Niners !!
h.
Thank you for writing this, and for sharing the names of those homicide victims not rich enough to receive special media coverage
Keep rollin’ brother Joe!
Hear, hear!