San Francisco’s war on mothers

Last week, San Francisco police reported a series of crimes against pregnant women, nannies, and mothers. The perpetrators? A group of teenage boys.

The crime rate continues to rise in San Francisco, with businesses suffering most visibly from thefts and laying off hundreds of employees.

MARRIAGE IS THE TRUE CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE OF OUR TIME

According to the San Francisco Police Department’s crime data, robberies have increased by 11.9% this year and motor vehicle thefts by 7.1%.

In the latest violent crime trend, teenagers are assaulting mothers and stealing their phones in broad daylight. Last week, these incidents took place in San Francisco’s “stroller valley,” a neighborhood nicknamed for its popularity among children and families.

Why are young men attacking such a vulnerable demographic? Why do they feel comfortable doing it out in the open, in the middle of the day? And why are police “reluctant to help”? The nature of these crimes suggests that something has gone seriously wrong in San Francisco.

This group of teenagers might feel encouraged to act out in part because of the city’s budgetary neglect of children and law enforcement.

Instead of using funds to get a handle on crime or improve its drastic homelessness problem, San Francisco’s 2023 budget plan will extend tax credits for Hollywood and cut spending on housing and child care. The Department of Child Services will take the biggest budgeting hit out of any other department. San Francisco will also cut funding for juvenile probation by 6%. These allocations show how much the city cares about taking care of its children and correcting its youth.

San Francisco isn’t giving law enforcement much help, either. The city showed its appreciation for the police, or lack thereof, in its budgeting decisions during the age of the dangerous Black Lives Matter protests. In 2021, San Francisco encouraged anti-police sentiment and the BLM cause by redirecting $3.75 million from its law enforcement budget to programs supporting black-owned businesses.

No wonder children are growing up without respect for the law, when they have been taught that they will be rewarded for criminal behavior. And no wonder police have been “reluctant” to stop crime, when they are underfunded by California officials and despised by residents.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Now, San Francisco is funding a huge initiative for implementing reparations and, shocker, more law enforcement. Its plan for reparations will throw millions of dollars to people separated from slavery by 150 years.

San Francisco’s recent decisions fuel entitlement and self-victimization. Its irresponsible policies have left authorities a weak mess. Teenagers suffer the most from weak authority. The narrative that they are systematically oppressed and that the authorities are their oppressors perfectly incentivizes them to rebel. With no consequences for their actions and no governing principles, the decorum of San Francisco teenagers will plunge to that of the boys in the Lord of the Flies.

Briana Oser is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.