Officer O’Keefe Sets Record: Arrests Same Burglar Twice Within 47 Hours
And why it should have never happened
FACTS:
Kiel Thurman (36) is a prolific burglar. Thurman was convicted of various felonies in 2016, and then he went on a streak:
2017 Felony burglary conviction
2018 Felony burglary conviction
2019 Felony burglary conviction
Thurman was arrested more times than the convictions (above). Frequently multiple arrests are bundled into a single conviction.
March 13, 2022, 7am
Thurman was caught in the act drilling a hole in the lock of a vacant apartment at 1909 Sacramento Street. Thurman told SFPD, “I am here for the purpose of squatting. It’s survival. I’m homeless.” During his arrest, Thurman was found with methamphetamine and stolen paperwork from other victims. Three days later, Thurman was released with an ankle monitor.
March 26, 2022, 11:07 pm
Just before midnight, Northern Station Officer Jesse O’Keefe responded to a burglary alarm at the Staples store on Van Ness Avenue. Video surveillance confirmed Thurman broke into the building. A cash register and the coin box for a photocopy machine had been tampered with. O’Keefe arrested Thurman for the burglary and found stolen mail, stolen packages, stolen credit cards, and methamphetamine in his possession.
March 28, 2022, 9:07pm
Only two days later, O’Keefe responded to a 9-1-1- call of a burglary in progress at the Korean Center on Post Street. O’Keefe again arrested Thurman inside the building. Thurman protested that he shouldn’t be arrested for burglary, but instead for “attempted burglary” -- as technically, O’Keefe had interrupted his completion of the burglary. And somehow, within the 47 hours since his prior arrest by O’Keefe, Thurman had already amassed a toolbox of burglary gear and entry devices. But what Thurman didn’t have in his possession was the ankle monitor he was supposed to be wearing.
Analysis:
There is no doubt that O’Keefe is ten-eight (the SFPD radio code used to describe a diligent officer). However, consider:
· Would O’Keefe have been able to set the two-in-less-than-47-hour record without DA Chesa Boudin’s contribution of an absence of felony convictions?
· Is arresting Thurman twice the best use of O’Keefe’s time?
Boudin loves to demonize SFPD for the burglars they don’t catch. In December 2020, Boudin said his office can only take action on the fraction of burglary cases presented (to him) by police (SFPD). “Fraction?” Ouch, that is some pretty harsh scapegoating from a person who has achieved a nonexistent fraction of felony convictions on the cases presented to him by SFPD.
SFPD Chief Scott responded, “Holding those serial burglars ‘accountable’ could have a positive impact on the rising burglary rate.” As both a CPA and having spent two decades with SFPD, I have no idea what Scott’s or Boudin’s use of the word “accountable” mean here. Obviously, Thurman is a serial burglar, and is this how they define “held accountable?”
Boudin continued, “If my office is able to work with the courts and probation and other agencies downstream to do a more effective job with some of the more prolific folks, then you are going to see your clearance rates go up and we are going to see crime trends go down.” Unfortunately, Boudin didn’t do a very effective “downstream” job with Thurman’s ankle monitor and crime trends under Boudin are trending higher.
When Boudin rendered this advice to Scott, burglaries had increased 49% over the prior year. Burglaries increased in 2020 because during the Covid lockdowns professional criminals had fewer victims on the streets to rob and fewer open stores to pillage. Burglaries have fallen since Boudin’s statement as the professional thieves have rotated back to larcenies. Overall crime was up 13% in 2021,[i] and larcenies are up 27.4% year-to-date.
San Franciscans should question:
· Had Thurman been held in custody after his March 13th burglary, wouldn’t O’Keefe have been freed up to concentrate on reducing crime elsewhere? And thus, by inference, didn’t Thurman’s pretrial freedom actually increase the crime rate?
· Judging by the stolen property Thurman possessed, how many burglaries did he commit where he was not caught?
· How many additional crimes were committed because SPFD officers were taken off the streets to download bodycam video, book the stolen evidence, and for each officer to write an independent statement on the Thurman case?
· And finally, how many more times does Boudin have to pull the conviction football away before ten-eight officers like O’Keefe stop trying?
Comic strip from Sonoma Peanuts genius and creator Charles M. Shultz.
[i] SFPD Compstat’s 11% reported total crime for 2020 that involves an arithmetical mistake that understates crime and will be the subject of my next article.