ONLY ON ABC7NEWS.COM: San Francisco residents fed up with property crime post warning signs

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- At the base of San Francisco's famous tiled steps in the Inner Sunset are signs that warn people about car break-ins.

The city didn't post them. They are homemade - the words of residents who are fed up with what they call a lack of leadership. They started their own crime watch group called Stop Crime SF.

"There's a lot of frustration in the city," said Stop Crime SF Board member Joel Engardio. "Some people are banding together to hold the criminal justice system accountable. Every aspect. The police, the prosecutors, and the politicians."

Saturday, the group invited Assemblymember Phil Ting to speak at a community meeting. Ting recently introduced a bill aiming to close loopholes that result in many car break-ins being classified as misdemeanors.

"If we can actually have organized car to car to car or home to home to home or retailer to retailer to retailer. We are going to group all those together so that can count as a felony."

"There needs to be more community activism," said neighbor Rachel Miller-Garcia.

Some residents installed security cameras. They sent police pictures and videos of car burglars smashing windows in broad daylight.

"They're doing everything from breaking into tourists cars in the neighborhood to running up and down our streets and ringing our doorbells to see if someone is home and breaking in," said Miller-Garcia.

Stop Crime SF also follows court cases. Some members say too many criminals are immediately let back out on the street. The group plans to hold more meetings and attend public hearings on this issue.

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