Welcome to California, State of burglary and homeless.
My car has been broken into 3 times in recent couple years, at different locations.
It's a real story.

What is interesting is that this article is telling us how not to be a victim rather than what the police are doing to stop these thefts.

I personally don't like the idea of being a victim of crime and yes I have had my car broken into when there was nothing visible and it doesn't prevent a broken window and a sense of being violated. The inconvenience of getting a window repaired as well as the financial cost in more ways than one is more than just a passing concern.

We do need to know what the police are doing to prevent this, and to catch the perpetrators of such crimes. Who are they and why are they doing it? Are they just thugs wanting to be initiated into some gang or are they hardened criminals looking for something they can sell? Are they opportunists or just those who want to live off others expense? I am not happy with this state of affairs. Accepting that crime will happen to those who are careless about where they leave their stuff is not the way life should be.

The last auto burglar the police caught brought her two toddler‘s along for the ride and shoved her stolen Glock handgun towards them once police had them stopped, thinking cops might miss it. These aren’t casual crooks, they are armed thugs with long records, lots and lots of probation and very little jail time thanks to California’s lax criminal prosecution and liberal guilt over penalizing certain groups.

"My car has been broken into 3 times in recent couple years,"

Man, I remember the 90's, between my wife and I, our cars were hit 4 times. I hated that.

Good luck.

The increase in auto break-ins and thefts is due to the progressive liberals in Sacramento making most crimes like this misdemeanors. That is the plain and simple truth and is backed with facts.

I have never met anyone who has served on a jury in a trial of a car burglary suspect.

Definitely a problem, but true in most places in the US around the holidays when people have many more valuables in their cars than usual. This is NOT due to “liberals” in Sacramento, lax prosecution or liberal guilt over penalizing “certain groups,” whatever that means. (I’m a lifelong Republican by the way.) Not everything needs to be a polarizing, political issue. Palo Alto remains without question one of the safest cities anywhere. To suggest otherwise to make a political point is disingenuous and an utter falsehood. Try to have some realistic perspective please. Be safe. Thank the police for their service, especially over the holidays when the rest of us aren’t at work. Just calm down.

It’s not a good idea to aspire to be like S.F. With respect to crime (including rashes of snatch and grab robberies, car break-ins), homeless transients invited in, street filth. Criminals are increasingly emboldened.

Yes, it is due to the liberals. The criminals view our city as a candy store. The police cannot do anything about car burglaries because of the laws, they can't even put them in jail overnight, they must release them after completing paperwork and the criminals know this. Our legislators need to revise the laws! But no, they are too sympathetic to those who have been raised in poor families so they allow them to commit crimes. TIME FOR A RED WAVE. Recall our idiot governor.

Breaking into a car looks like a political statement to me.