Shooting of San Francisco 49ers rookie renews attention on crime in city as mayor seeks reelection
The broad daylight shooting of San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall during an attempted robbery in an upscale shopping district has once again put San Francisco’s safety in the national spotlight weeks before voters choose a new mayor
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The daylight shooting of San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall in an upscale shopping district has once again put the city's safety in the national spotlight weeks before voters choose a new mayor.
Mayor London Breed, who is running for reelection, has taken a more aggressive approach against open-air drug dealing and clearing homeless encampments from city streets as she attempts to convince voters that things have improved under her administration. But she acknowledged that the “terrible and rare” attack during an attempted robbery against Pearsall could set back her achievements.
“We are glad that the victim will be OK. But this incident does set us back from all the hard work that we’ve done in order to make significant changes in public safety in San Francisco,” Breed said at a news conference over the holiday weekend.
Crime is down in San Francisco, where property crimes are more common than violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery and assault. Breed highlighted that but said, “The data goes out the window sometimes when something happens like this.”
