In fall 2023, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott, standing at the landmark Palace of Fine Arts, announced that his agency would be cracking down on smash-and-grab car break-ins — a problem so seemingly perpetual in the city that it has its own name .
How perpetual? Minutes before the news conference began, a rental car was “bipped” just around the corner from where the city officials were set to speak.
The crackdown would involve a number of interconnected strategies and tools: an overtime unit focused on car break-in hot spots; targeted stings aimed at prolific offenders; bait cars, license plate readers and even drones …