The latest boo-hoo story from the San Francisco chronicle

By A Longtime Reader

The latest boo-hoo story from the San Francisco chronicle

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/bipping-car-break-in-glass-repair-20275993.php

bay area//San Francisco

“as San Francisco car break-ins plunge, these businesses are suffering

“all over the city, auto glass merchants say they are hobbled by what’s otherwise a staggering sign of progress.

By Rachel Swan, reporter april 17, 2025

“in & out auto glass employee Hong Wu, left, and a co-worker remove a broken windshield in San Francisco on wednesday. car break-ins are plummeting in San Francisco, which has had a devastating effect on glass repair shops.

“at the height of San Francisco’s car break-in epidemic, phones were ringing nonstop at glass repair shops, and business was booming.

“'we used to get 60 to 80 calls a day,' said Hank Wee, manager of in & out auto glass, a large garage on bayshore boulevard. he remembered how the shop was abuzz in 2017, a year when thousands of people returned to their cars to findwindshields splintered and glass lodged in their door frames.

but now that the city’s most aggravating property crime has hit a 22-year-low, calls to in & out and other repair shops have dropped. and dropped.

“'now we’re lucky to get 25,' Wee said, noting that the average number of customer inquiries per day hovers between 15 and 20. his bosses have contemplated layoffs and other austerity measures. these days the garage closes an hour earlier, at 6 p.m. instead of 7. at the height of San Francisco’s car break-in epidemic [sic], phones were ringing nonstop at glass repair shops, and business was booming.

“a pile of broken car windshields at in & out auto glass.

“all over the city, auto glass merchants say they are hobbled by what’s otherwise a staggering sign of progress. police aggressively cracked down on smash-and-grabs over the past year, deploying new technology and other intertwined strategies, including a 'hot spot' overtime unit and stings aimed at prolific offenders. these efforts have largely paid off: incident reports fell from 28,500 in 2017 to 8,500 last year.

“leaders and law enforcement call it a course-correction, and many residents are relieved they can finally cross a parking lot without having to step over a shattered car window.

“yet the city’s car break-in decline has produced at least one warping after-effect. a small sector of garages and auto glass technicians have seen their income dry up.

“employees work on windshields at in & out auto glass

“'today it was all (cracked) windshields, and no break-ins,' Wee said as he strolled the shop floor. on a quiet day, the building seemed cavernous. window panels lined the walls, neatly stacked on wooden pallets. workers’ shoes crunched tiny shards of glass and ground them into the concrete driveway.

“'shortly before noon, the first break-in customer rolled in: John Collins of Hayes valley, who said thieves had busted a side window of his jeep wrangler — marking the sixth car burglary he’s suffered in the bay area. Collins has paid up to $200 for each window replacement, filed numerous insurance claims and even confronted a perpetrator who fell asleep in his back seat.

“'it’s definitely an expense,' Collins said, flashing a wan smile as he parked the wrangler.

“'such misfortunes [outrages] were so common a few years ago that customers used to line up outside in & out before it opened, Wee said, sometimes shoving each other out of the way.

“'it was black friday every day — ‘I’m first, I’m first, I’m first,' Wee recalled, adding that his crew used to turn down the less-urgent jobs, like windshields chipped by rocks on the freeway. rock damage has since become a mainstay.

“like many glass repair specialists, Wee was reluctant to blame a reduction in crime for the slump. instead, he and other shop owners pointed to literally anything else: increased competition, economic uncertainty, consumers’ hesitancy to spend money.

“Morena Mendez, manager of express service auto glass, a family-owned garage just off highway 101, acknowledged that, indeed, crime has decreased. still, she cited other possible factors to explain the auto glass slowdown. chief among them is the high cost of materials — including glass imported from china or mexico — which has forced businesses to raise prices, Mendez said, and may be inhibiting customers. at the same time, she asserted, the market has grown more cutthroat.

“'five years ago, there were 100 (repair) companies,' Mendez said. 'and now there are 300 companies.'”

Gosh! Could any of these auto glass repair shops be secretly allied with the thieves who create customers for their business?

Also, by the same logic, a general downturn in violent crime would mean fewer employment opportunities for police, prison wardens, parole officers, social workers, court officials, etc. Wouldn’t that be just awful?

N.S.: Half of the "thing" consisted of duplicate paragraphs, while none of it consisted of analysis of who was committing the crimes, and the real reason they cut their activities by 70%. After all, there was no mention of perps being sent to prison. Could it be that the perps were mostly illegals who were being arrested and deported?