Capt. Paul Chignell: Police Beat

Most police work is responding to calls for service, whether 911 emergency or non-emergency calls when folks call 553-0123. Each and every week officers at Taraval Station respond to hundreds of calls for service, from barking dogs and medical assistance to violent crimes in progress and everything in between.

But police work is much more than responding to calls for service, traffic enforcement and the like. At the SF Police Department, and particularly at the Taraval Station, we endeavor to both solve longstanding problems and find creative ways to assist folks in need.

What do I mean by longstanding problems? Well, continuing to respond to calls at a specific address is our obligation but coming back every day to the same issue is a waste of resources and does not serve the neighborhood or the protagonists at all. Whether it is repeat domestic strife, a drug house, graffiti problem, nuisance abatement or any of a myriad of issues, we try to find a way through service providers, other city agencies or an enforcement plan to solve the problem once and for all.

Often it can be a referral, a strict law enforcement process or an abatement action by the city attorney. Sometimes it's constant police visibility. But it is an important part of our job to solve the problem if we can.

What do I mean by creative assistance? Two instances come to mind - our scofflaw program and our ambassador outreach.

In the scofflaw example we know that unregistered vehicles are a blight on city streets. Folks are constantly calling about abandoned or semi-abandoned vehicles but we all know that the law allows vehicle owners to keep the vehicles parked for 72 hours before they have to move them one block. So many owners move the vehicles like musical chairs but they almost always come back. The law allows the police or parking control officers from the SF Department of Parking and Traffic to tow these vehicles immediately if the registration is expired by six months or more. This is chiefly the Department of Parking and Traffic's responsibility but its scofflaw unit is understaffed and it may take weeks for them to respond and tow the vehicle. Well, we have issued a directive to the officers at Taraval Station to respond to residents who see these unregistered vehicles and we will tow them, thus removing these clunkers from public streets. It is one way to cut through the bureaucracy and assist with the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

The ambassador outreach program is unique in the City and is managed by Sgt. Robert Bohanan of the Taraval Station. Many victims of crime, even violent crime, make a police report and never hear from anyone again. Most crimes have no identifiable suspect, no leads to investigate at the outset and therefore no follow up is warranted.

We track all of these cases and do outreach to victims a day or two after the report is filed. Our emphasis is on folks living alone, the elderly, and information in the report that would lead us to believe the victim may need services. There are an array of public and private services that are available but many people do not know where to go to get them.

Whether it is counseling, crime prevention, nutrition or any type of assistance, we make those referrals for victims of crime. So, send us your longstanding crime problems and don't hesitate to suggest some creative ideas that are related to police work that we may consider.

Happy New Year.

Capt. Paul Chignell is the commanding officer at the Taraval Police Station.