New Captain Takes Helm at Richmond Police Station

By Carol Dimmick

Capt. Marsha Ashe spent her first days on the job as the Richmond District's top cop reading through old police reports - something only another successful 20-year veteran might appreciate.

It's not that her dance card is empty. She just wants know what crimes occur most frequently in the district and how effectively Richmond District police officers are handling their assignments.

"This is one way I find out what is going on - by reading police reports and calling people to see what kind of a reception they got (from the police)," she explained.

Reading old reports is a tool Ashe used to gain insight during a previous stint at the Ingleside Station where she served as captain for three years before her transfer to the Richmond.

It was during her Ingleside assignment that Ashe learned what she called "my most important lesson."

"From my experience as captain in the Ingleside I learned established groups do not necessarily represent the community. I spent time knocking on doors to increase community participation," she said.

Drawing in new community members is a theme the new captain intends to repeat in the Richmond. She points out that the Richmond has a large number of Russian and Chinese speaking people that do not participate in police/community forums because of the language barrier. To encourage a broader segment of the Richmond community to attend meetings, she intends to make translators available. She also plans to attend a variety of local meetings.

"I'm going to take my show on the road and show up at senior and S.A.F.E. meetings. I intend to use them as a resource to fight crime," she said.

Ashe is a strong advocate for community policing. At Ingleside she dedicated two officers to walk the district's commercial corridors, which brought the crime rate down and forged a fruitful relationship with local merchants.

"This was exciting for the officers. They set the tone and it affected the crime rate. Robberies went down and we got good information when a robbery occurred," she explained. While the new captain seemed eager to discuss her work, she declined to discuss her personal life.

"I think as people get to know me they will find out who I am," she said.

Ashe is one of only two women today to hold the rank of captain on the San Francisco police force, which has 364 women amongst its 2,000 members.