The Streets of San Francisco are a lot LESS SAFE; no more impounds for those 1st caught w/o license

[alp227]

From today's Matier & Ross column

Call it sanctuary on wheels: San Francisco is about to give a big break to people, many of them illegal immigrants, who are caught driving without a license.

Beginning Sunday, cops will no longer impound cars the first time drivers are pulled over without a license.

The reason: Many such drivers are in the United States illegally - and thus unable to get a license - and the officials pushing the change think that impounding their cars is an unfair hardship.

Instead, unlicensed drivers will be given 20 minutes to phone a relative or other acquaintance with a valid license and insurance to pick up the car. If the driver doesn't have a cell phone, police will help him contact someone.

If no one shows up, then the cop is to call a supervisor to approve the tow.

A second offense within six months means an automatic tow. But, for those who stay clean for half a year, the clock starts over.

--snip--

Recently installed Police Chief George Gascón said San Francisco is "trying to be sensitive to all of the communities we serve."

"We recognize that this is a problem within the Hispanic community, where people working here can't get a driver's license because of their immigration status," Gascón said.

The 30-day car impounds have long been a sore point with the city's Latino politicos and activists, who feel the practice is unfair.

Some police officers we spoke with, however, said people without licenses are often lousy drivers - and that the change means more dangerous streets for everyone else.

"These are the same people who are sailing through stop signs and injuring people," said one traffic cop who asked not to be named for fear of retribution.

Gascón emphasized that unlicensed drivers "will still be cited. If they don't learn their lesson and repeat offend, the car will be impounded."

Anyways, state law (vehicle code 14602.6(a)(1)) states:

Whenever a peace officer determines that a person was driving a vehicle...without ever having been issued a driver’s license, the peace officer may either immediately arrest that person and cause the removal and seizure of that vehicle or, if the vehicle is involved in a traffic collision, cause the removal and seizure of the vehicle without the necessity of arresting the person in accordance with Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 22650) of Division 11. A vehicle so impounded shall be impounded for 30 days.

So I guess this is a sign of San Francisco political correctness/sanctuary policy gone wacky, ehh?

[EFerrari]

1. That's empathy. Try it sometime.

[alp227]

2. "Empathy?" What about the law, and public safety?

The bottom line is: If you have no license, you shouldn't drive. Get training and practice and work so you can get insurance. Better yet, if you're not a citizen, learn English and apply for citizenship! I don't see what's so hard about this.

What is there to empathize for noncitizens, if the law prohibits them from getting driver licenses, anyway? The law is the law, and cities must follow it.

[EFerrari]

3. The bottom line is, some people have a hard on for undocumented workers.

Do you?

The most brilliant mechanic I know is undocumented in San Jose. He'll never get his papers although his wife and children have. I bet he could even get a wingnut's brain started.

The law is the law, my granny. The law is what a community decides it is.

[alp227]

4. I respect any hardworking person, whether or not a citizen

But I do have a problem with people who jump on in to the US and think they're entitled to whatever they want without moving a finger.

And about San Francisco's move, this doesn't reflect well on the city. I do appreciate SF and its culture, but all the crime that goes down there and its government's mishandled progressive policies (ie Sanctuary City) tarnish its good name. Shouldn't the police hold everyone to the same standard: no license in hand, impound for 30 days? Why does Chief Gascon think that noncitizens are entitled to a "warning" that other SF citizens don't get?

[EFerrari]

5. What you say about entitlement is projection not fact.

And in fact, many people love San Francisco because it is a sanctuary city.

There is nothing in this article that indicates that the good citizen drivers in San Francisco are going to be excluded:

"Call it sanctuary on wheels: San Francisco is about to give a big break to people, many of them illegal immigrants, who are caught driving without a license."

This measure is going to help poor people. Do you object to them, too? Or just the brown ones?

[mulsh]

6. On TV Mattier laid this plan firmly in Gavin's craven political lap.

Last night on KPIX 5's 6:00 news Phill Mattier interviewed Gavin Newsome about the above plan and its realtion to his run for Governor and his courting of the Hispanic voters of our fair state. Gavin positively clutched his pearls and swooned.

Since I'm from Oakland I don't really give a rat's ass what the folk in SF do as long as they don't "take their guns to Oakland and sell them over there" as Di Fi once urged. But since I've know Gav since he was a nipper I'm constantly amused by his political antics.

[KamaAina]

7. It says the peace officer "may" cause the removal and seizure of the vehicle.

It doesn't say "shall". A small but crucial distinction.

[alp227]

8. Oh well. Plenty of citizens are already bad drivers anyway.

Let's see. Teenage drivers, who often are reckless and end up doing damage ranging from tiny yet annoying dents to major crashes. And then drivers of all ages who drink too much and foolishly choose to go behind the wheel. Earlier this year, a woman named Yvonne Campbell from Concord, CA drove her car into a swimming pool while drunk. I doubt that it'd make a huge difference if SF still did impounds for first-timers who failed to present a license.

But look at the comments section of the SF Chronicle article I linked to, or of any article out there pretty much about related topics like the I-5 big rig fire in LA today. One comment writer (whose comment was among "most recommended") mentioned Chief Gascon's revised policy about noncitizens and impounds. And then on any article about crime, immigration, or SF politics, you'll find the "most recommended" article apparently are from those who bash Mayor Gavin Newsom or District Atty. Kamala Harris over their alleged "soft on crime" political positions.

I dunno, are Free Republic and Fox Nation driving readers to comment and recommend on the SFGate web site? Because using crime as an excuse to be racist/anti-immigrant is the stuff of those who've been brain-damaged by disgruntled San Francisco Conservative, Michael Savage, self-hating child of immigrants Michelle Malkin, or just about any right-wing hate speaker.

I live in San Jose, and in my hometown there's been a case of an illegal immigrant from Honduras, Marvin Rogelio Martinez Jr., who hit-and-run an 8-year-old boy (who also happens to be Hispanic). The boy, Alex Casillas Jr., is now brain damaged. Martinez was sentenced to 16 months in jail and possible deportation.

[Auggie]

9. I'd like some kind of incentive to help establish citizenship

and obtain a license tied into this. I see nothing in here that attempts to rectify the problem -- only sustain it.

"...for those who stay clean for half a year, the clock starts over." Give me a break.