New crime prevention techniques appear headed to San Francisco’s Union Square, and some will have a tree growing out of them. The idea is to prevent smash-and-grab burglars from driving right through the front door of those high-end stores.
Tuesday’s announcement took place right in front of the Louis Vuitton store which was rammed early Monday morning. The car never made it into the store, and because police responded so quickly, the perpetrators left empty handed.
“We just want to prevent vehicles from ramming into these businesses in order to rob them,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
The plan involves planters and bollards on the sidewalk. The planters will be so close together, you won’t be able to squeeze a car through them.
The mayor wants a master permit for the Union Square Alliance that would make it much easier for all stores to get permission to encroach on the sidewalk.
This is in addition to 24/7 policing, undercover cops, license plate readers and drones deployed to Union Square.
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“Downtown Union Square in particular is extraordinarily important to the overall health and well-being of our community and our city as a whole,” said Marissa Rodriguez, CEO of the Union Square Alliance. If Union Square’s doing well, the rest of our city is doing well.”
The Handlery Hotel is just a stone’s throw from Union Square. Hotel president John Handlery likes the idea of sidewalk planters and bollards, for more than one reason.
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“If you can do something that protects pedestrians and also maybe sends a deterrent to the wrong people, I think it’s a good idea. I really do,” said Handlery.
Some shoppers we talked to gave us their take on the proposed aesthetically pleasing crime deterrents.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to go to those extremes in San Francisco to be able to shop, but the impact on the crime is destroying the downtown of San Francisco,” said Jennifer Solomon of San Francisco.
“If they are going to stop people from having accidents and possibly hitting people on the sidewalk, yeah, I think it’s a good idea,” said Farrell Pauly of San Francisco.
