Yes, SF property crime is down — but not in some of the...

There couldn’t have been a more perfect San Francisco holiday scene than the one of Natalie West laughing as she skated around the Union Square ice rink, the towering Christmas tree shimmering above and nearby stores glittering with red and green decorations. Her boyfriend stood at the edge of the rink, cradling their sleeping baby in one arm and snapping photos on his phone with the other.

But this being San Francisco, the joy came to an abrupt end when West’s Apple Watch beeped, notifying her of a suspicious charge on her credit card.

Worried, she rushed off the rink and discovered that her wallet, which had been tucked inside her purse in the bottom of their baby stroller, had vanished. Along with it? Her driver’s license, her baby’s medical card, credit cards, debit cards, gift cards and $300 in cash.

Gone — even though her boyfriend had been standing next to the stroller, keeping an eye on it. Even though it was Monday morning, and there were very few people at the rink. Even though nobody — including me, there to interview another ice skater, who dresses in drag — noticed anybody suspicious.

It was one more blink-and-you’ll-miss-it property crime in San Francisco. Just one more to add to this year’s tally, which through October totaled 43,768, including 21,809 car break-ins. Other property crimes include stealing cars, breaking into homes or commercial buildings, shoplifting, snatching wallets and, apparently, even stealing from babies.

The good news? Property crimes are down 8 percent from the same time period last year, and car break-ins are down 16 percent. The bad news? Property crimes are still at epidemic proportions, occurring an average of 144 times every day. There’s rarely an arrest.

“I just can’t believe how quickly it happened,” said Eryn Snodgrass, West’s boyfriend. The day before, they had flown back from St. Louis, where they spent Thanksgiving with West’s family, then a night in the city before planning to drive home to Humboldt County.

“I’m so mad,” Snodgrass continued. “It’s like 10:30 in the morning! We’re at an ice skating rink!”

But that’s the point. San Francisco residents know by now to clutch their purses, wallets and phones tightly and not to leave a single thing in their car. (I had a colleague tell me he even removed a bottle of Tums from the front seat the other day because, in this city, you just never know.) But tourists are often unsuspecting, and the city’s efforts to educate them remain half-hearted.

Politicians and police have bragged repeatedly that property crimes and car break-ins are down from last year’s epic high. But what they don’t mention is that they’ve actually gone up in the area patrolled by the Central Station, which includes most of San Francisco’s major tourist destinations: Union Square, Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard Street, North Beach, Nob Hill and much of the Embarcadero.

Through October, Central Station had seen 9,106 property crimes, a 13 percent increase from the same time period last year. Car break-ins are up 4 percent, and burglaries, which include home break-ins and shoplifting, are up a whopping 48 percent.

You’d think City Hall would be laser-focused on protecting tourists, who bring $9 billion into the city every year. But the efforts have been uneven.

As a supervisor, Mayor London Breed pushed legislation requiring rental car companies to inform customers of the city’s car break-in epidemic. But those companies just include easy-to-miss written warnings in their piles of paperwork, and the city hasn’t moved on requiring an oral warning instead.

The San Francisco Police Department’s “Park Smart” campaign has included leafleting parked cars, but by the time tourists have parked their cars and left to explore the city, it’s often too late. Incredibly, some of the city’s biggest tourist hot spots still have no signs warning tourists of the crime wave.

Loyal readers may recall my columns on the car break-in epidemic on the flat block above the twisty part of Lombard Street. A Chronicle photographer and I even witnessed a break-in as we were there reporting. At the time, then-Mayor Mark Farrell, who as supervisor represented that neighborhood at City Hall, said he would “absolutely” direct city staff to install warning signs there.

Are there any 10 months later? Nope.

And so the break-ins keep happening. Tina Bartlett Hinckley, a real estate agent who lives on the block, was the reader who tipped me off to what she called “anarchy” in the area. All these months later, organized crews continue to target the block, she said, often teaming up in two cars — one with scouts and the other with the thieves.

“I am standing outside with an English family that just had everything stolen from their car,” Bartlett Hinckley emailed me from her phone a few weeks ago. “Daughter’s 18th birthday present stolen. Great publicity and good will for S.F.”

We chatted later, and I heard more of the story. The English family was in San Francisco celebrating the success of the father’s recent surgery and the daughter’s birthday.

They had just checked out of their hotel and had parked to take in the view of curvy Lombard for a few minutes before driving to Napa. They returned to the car to find their passports, airplane tickets, money, medical supplies and the daughter’s birthday necklace gone.

“When I told them I was so terribly sorry, I started to cry,” Bartlett Hinckley said.

Sure, it’s easy to dismiss a stolen necklace or a swiped wallet as no big deal. Nobody got hurt. Nobody died. But the crimes can be not only logistical nightmares, but soul-crushing, too. And we shouldn’t accept that anybody who takes their eye off their belongings for a moment deserves what they get.

The Police Department does seem to be trying to combat these sometimes devastating crimes. David Stevenson, a police spokesman, said police are making progress on car break-ins and other property crime by increasing the number of plainclothes teams and foot patrols, adding investigators to the district stations, creating a special unit to address serial car burglars, focusing on burglary hot spots and stepping up fingerprint training.

“Still, we recognize that too many San Francisco residents, workers and visitors continue to be impacted, and we will continue to work hard to combat these crimes,” he said, adding that the “Park Smart” campaign will be in full force during the holidays.

Back at the Union Square ice rink, Natalie West and Eryn Snodgrass, who own a bar and grill near Eureka, were angry and perplexed. Rink management pulled the footage from a security camera and saw a man wearing a dark baseball cap and striped ski jacket appear on screen and just as quickly disappear with the wallet.

West talked to her bank and credit card companies and learned the thief was already racking up charges at BART Clipper machines and at Target and Walgreens.

“You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to solve this crime,” Snodgrass said.

It would help, though. There are rarely any consequences for property crime perpetrators in San Francisco. Last year, just 1.6 percent of car break-ins led to an arrest. Ice rink management flagged nearby officers, who took a report from West and Snodgrass and emailed a picture of the suspect obtained from the security camera footage to other officers in the area.

Officer Jason Castro said property crimes would probably occur even more frequently during the busy holiday shopping season and that everybody should be mindful of their valuables at all times.

“There are a lot of opportunists out here,” he said. “If it’s important to you, don’t leave it behind. It will be taken.”

Now those are the words that should be posted on signs at tourist hot spots all over the city. In multiple languages.

Officer Gordon Wong said considering that West’s wallet had just been stolen and they had a picture of the suspect, an arrest was “doable.”

But it wasn’t. West, back at home now, said she has heard nothing more from police, and she’s increasingly upset every time she instinctively reaches for a credit card or her driver’s license and remembers they’re gone.

“I feel like when you pay $18 to enter an enclosed area, you wouldn’t expect vagrants or criminals to be hanging around,” she texted. “I learned a tough lesson.”

It’s a tough lesson learned every day in San Francisco — 144 times.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf