Greetings All,
This has proven to be a busy week and I wanted to take the time to share some information with you, say “Thank You” and to acknowledge a great investigation completed by our Taraval SIT.
As a captain of a district station, I am called upon every two months to present at COMPSTAT. For those who are unaware of what COMPSTAT is, it’s a time when I meet with the Command Staff to review the crime trends in the Taraval district. We discuss both increases and decreases of crime trends within the Taraval district and compare that data to city wide trends. As captain, it’s my job to present more in-depth information as to details of the crimes we are seeing and most importantly, convey what my plan is within the Taraval district to address crime. An example of this, the citywide trend for burglaries is showing an increase of 2% since the last reporting period but unfortunately, the Taraval district has seen a 49% increase. This type of increase is shocking and lets me know that the criminals have found their way into the Taraval district, which has proven to be a target rich environment. As I have discussed with many of you, the best way to deter criminals from the Taraval district is to work in partnership between the SFPD and our community, with other department resources and city agencies as well.
Because of the increase in home and auto burglaries, and robberies, I have decided to evolve the Taraval Neighborhood Team into a plainclothes unit. High visibility is one of the best ways to deter crime, but TNT is able to conduct surveillance, identify and apprehend the suspects. Under the leadership of Lt Ed DelCarlo and Sgt Ryan Crosby, they can make the difference we need. Sgt Crosby and TNT have been working closely with other plainclothes units from neighboring districts as we share resources to have a greater impact. TNT also works very closely with Taraval SIT as they assist in following up on investigative leads. Recently, TNT while working in a plainclothes capacity, were confronted by proactive neighbors. Please if you see someone that you feel is suspicious, call 911! One, it’s a matter of safety for you as the resident but two, when officers are working in plainclothes, the dispatcher will be able to determine quickly if they are in the area and if they are who you have identified as suspicious.
So how can you as a resident, make your home less appealing to criminals?
- First, never leave a door unlocked. My experience has shown me, there are burglars who will enter you home while you are present. Most won’t, but some will. They will take advantage of an unlocked door even when you are home.
- Please ensure when you are not home, your windows are closed and locked. I know with warmer days on the way, many of us enjoy opening our windows for the cool breeze and fresh air. Please, when you leave your residence or you go to sleep at night, remember to close and lock the windows. Burglary is a crime of opportunity, so take the opportunity away and make your home the least attractive as possible as a target.
- For those of you who have front gates, please check your locking mechanism on your gates. When a gate’s locking mechanism has a lot of play in it, a burglar will use a simple tool and wedge it in the lock to open it and have an easy entry through your gate. If you have a mesh material lining your gate that is not sturdy, replace it with a more durable material. Burglars will cut through the mesh to reach in and unlock your gate.
- Security alarms, motion-sensor flood lighting and cameras are good tools as well when attempting to harden your home as a target. I cannot express enough how valuable SFSAFE can be to you when trying to answer the question, “What can I do to make my home more secure?” Please reach out to them, they will come out to your home and give you an evaluation and recommendations on what you can do.
On Wednesday, the 27th, we held a meeting at Taraval Station and focused on the growing trend of Theft from Vehicle cases. Upon review of data analysis, we identified the top ten areas in the Taraval that are getting hit the hardest by criminals breaking into cars. We invited numerous stakeholders to have a discussion of where we are at with auto breaks ins and what we can all do in partnership to make these areas less attractive to criminals. Lt Ed DelCarlo presented to the group how quickly a criminal can break into a vehicle (it’s 5 seconds, by the way) and what he is seeing as far as investigations and prosecutions in these types of cases. It was a great kick off to a conversation that I hope we will continue as we approach the summer months. I urge the residents of the Taraval district; PLEASE do not leave items in your car. Even if you think, “Oh no one will want that!” They may, and then you are left to deal with not only the theft but a damaged window as well. Theft from Vehicle cases are incidents of opportunity. Take away the opportunity and I know we will see less cases of Theft from Vehicle. Our hope in meeting with many of you was to let you know that we need your help. We cannot combat this epidemic by ourselves. The more we work in partnership, the greater success we will achieve. I encourage all of you to organize your neighborhoods. Get to know your neighbors so you can all watch out for each other. It’s true, the police officers of Taraval Station cannot be everywhere, but you can. You can be the eyes and ears of your neighborhood to assist us in fighting crime but also in addressing any quality of life issues.
I would like to give special Thanks to the following people who took the time out of their day and were so willing to be part of the conversation.
Supervisor Katy Tang’s office District 4, Aide Dyanna Quizon
Supervisor Norman Yee’s office District 7, Aide Jen Low
SF Zoo VP of Guest Experience, Bob Cooney
SF Zoo Security and Visitor Services Manager, Lamar Harris
US Park Police, Lt. Timothy Hodge
US National Park Service’s Law Enforcement Specialist
Harding Park PGA, Tom Smith
Stonestown Mall Director of Security, Gary Gravelyn
Stonestown Mall General Manager, Jon Jorgensen
Stonestown Assistant Director, Samy Abdoun
Stonestown Operations Manager, Thomas Barry
Lakewood Apartments Community Manager and Property Manager, Haley Gonzaba
Outer Sunset/Taraval Residents Association, Susan Pfeifer
La Playa Park Neighborhood Watchers, Brian Veit
Outer Sunset Merchants and Professionals Associations, Bill Barnickel
West Portal Merchants Assn President retired, Maryo Magannom
Safeway Stores Head Clerk, Salvador Ibarra
Sausalito PD, Detective Nick White
Crime & Intelligence Analyst with LexisNexis, Jillian Goshin
California Highway Patrol, Pat Smalley
Finally, Congratulations to our Taraval SIT for their arrest of two subjects who are suspected of possessing stolen property and utilizing EBay to profit from those items. The case began with an auto break in where an expensive piece of medical equipment was stolen. Sgt Scott Hom was assigned the investigation and thanks to the assistance of the victim, who found her item on EBay, two subjects were arrested and numerous items of stolen property were recovered, including the medical equipment and a $6,000 dollar bicycle which belonged to a music teacher in Berkeley. Channel 7 News Reporter, Vic Lee, did a great story highlighting this case which we hope will assist us in identifying more victims of the stolen property. Please check out the story at abc7news.com as well as our website for photos of the recovered stolen property.