This is one of those stories so dripping with irony, you need a washcloth to wipe up afterward.

Wasn’t it just last week, after the late night God-awful stabbing murder of tech guru Bob Lee, that the spotlight was once again on San Francisco’s crime rate?

City officials quickly mouthed the proper platitudes and outrage about the Lee murder while pivoting in the very same interviews to a “But actually, this is an aberration because our overall crime rates are down! We’re doing so well, except for the occasional horrifically murdered dead person.” In all seriousness. Many ascribe the complaints concerning crime specifically to whiny – occasionally dead – tech types, who also seem to be predominantly white, ergo bitchy and privileged by nature.

CNN, stop it! This piece of report is called “dancing on other people’s tomb”. Bob Lee’s blood hasn’t been wiped off the street of San Francisco. Who would want to hear you covering up the ugly crime?

— Lei (@Lei79484918) April 9, 2023

There are hundreds of versions of this post.

Hawkish tech critics have labeled San Francisco ❝lawless❞ following the stabbing death of Cash App creator Bob Lee. The city’s crime rate tells a different tale. https://t.co/C9BFNkPmAR via @businessinsider

— 𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐉𝐒𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐚 🇨🇦🇺🇦🌊 (@aJSDecepida) April 9, 2023

Everyone got their hackles up about San Francisco being painted as “violent” and complaining about the crime-ridden state of the city in general.

…Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) also pushed back against the narrative that San Francisco is grappling with high rates of violent crime.

“I do think it’s unfortunate that we’re seeing this narrative that San Francisco is some exceptionally violent place. That’s not true,” he said.

In regards to Lee’s death, Wiener said “one murder is too many.” He also criticized Musk’s comments about the tragedy, calling him “a self-serving opportunist who couldn’t care less about San Francisco.”

Kimberly Richman, a professor of criminal justice and legal studies at the University of San Francisco, noted that since the homicide rate is low in San Francisco, an increase of a few cases each year makes the situation appear more dire than it is.

AH, it’s a “perception” problem, because of the victim.

…Richman said Lee’s death has served as a lightning rod for discourse on the city’s crime rate because of his high-profile status and the neighborhood in which he was killed.

“A high-profile murder like Bob Lee, who was a white, wealthy, upper-class public figure in a neighborhood you don’t associate with crimes rates, it’s going to seem like it’s here too and out of control,” she said. “We know there’s a lot more attention paid to violent crimes and murder in which there was a white victim, and so these cases really grab the public’s attention.”

There we go – damn white people again. They get themselves murdered and make everyone look bad.

Did I get that right?

The Police Officer’s Association begs to differ with all those poo-pooing the general sense of unease at the state of security in the city.

San Francisco Police Officers Association’s vice president, Lt. Tracy McCray, has said the neighborhood where Cash App founder Bob Lee was murdered has already witnessed at least 12 homicides this year alone.

The city’s Southern and Tenderloin Districts which have experienced rising crime rates this year have seen four stabbing incidents in the last week alone, including Lee’s.

…So far this year there have been 39 murders while the San Francisco Police Department buckles under a shortfall of 541 officers.

Police statistics for the Southern District and Rincon Hill area specifically show robberies to have increased by around 14 percent compared to last year, with 12 homicides in the area between January and April 2.

Violent crimes across San Francisco have also risen 7.5 percent over the past three years, with property crime surging 20.7 percent over the same period. Homicides increased 36.6 percent.

So apparently the “perception” of the people in that neighborhood is born out by statistics showing violent crime has increased. Hmmm.

In fact, just about every crime in the city is running ahead of the previous year’s numbers in the first 3 months of 2023.

…The latest SFPD data shows a 6% jump in violent crime in the city for the year to date, the equivalent of 75 more violent crimes compared with the same period last year. There were 12 homicides in San Francisco this year as of April 2, compared with 10 in the same year-to-date period in 2022.

I am well aware these are not the sort of headlines the city wants to deal with, and they feel it’s their duty to put a better spin on the crime situation. The Board of Supervisors will be addressing the public regarding the issue…um…just as soon as they can get their…um…cable services back up.

Seems to be a glitch.

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, which claims that crime is down in the city, had to disband their meeting today because their internet connection was vandalized. Can’t make this stuff up. https://t.co/pd9q8SbcMG

— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) April 12, 2023

Is this one of those things that get reported now or not? So many former “crimes” in SF don’t count anymore. Hard to know what’s illegal, what’s not, and what the cops – if any are around – will even show up for.

Some view property crime as minor. It’s not. Garage break-ins, auto vandalism, etc., have real impacts.

Here, property crime literally shut down the Board of Supervisors, in addition to interrupting internet for some San Franciscans (who may rely on internet for work). https://t.co/BLf8wBUOri

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) April 11, 2023

Is “mangled” considered violent or only if it happens to something belonging to county supervisors?

Of course, I mean the supervisors that aren’t whiny white people.

Anyway – come visit! The weather’s fine.