Crime Rate Climbs, Traffic Collisions Down

During a meeting of the SF Police Commission held in the Richmond District Oct. 27, Richmond Police Station Capt. Sandra Tong gave the commission and members of the public an update on local crime issues.

According to Tong, the crime rate has been going up, as of the end of August, for most types of crimes over the previous year, including burglaries (up 5 percent); rape (from six to eight, an increase of 33 percent - there have been arrests in two of the cases); vehicle thefts (564 to date, an increase of 37 percent); arson (from 12 to 15, an increase of 25 percent); and assault (79 to date, an increase of 8 percent). One area of crime, theft and larceny, had a total recorded count of 968 year-to-date, a 9 percent decrease.

There have been two homicides in the District - a Daly City resident was killed at the Great Highway and a man died in a gun battle near the Westside Housing Project. Last year there was one homicide.

Due to aggressive traffic enforcement efforts, the number of traffic collisions in the district was down 17 percent over last year, although there were an equal number of traffic fatalities; four last year and four as of the end of August.

Tong said there are currently one captain, four lieutenants, 14 sergeants and 67 officers working at the station. There are also three civilian personnel.

At the commission hearing, she praised the efforts of Richmond Station personnel, including Administrative Sgt. Leslie Forrestal, officer Jill Connolly, in charge of permits and special events; officers Lorie Brophy and Jerrell Bell, who are responsible for patrolling the district's schools; plainclothes officers Troy Carrasco and John Fergus; traffic enforcement officers Eddie Wu and Mike Hutton; and beat officers Eddie Chow and Phil Busalacchi.

Tong credited concerned and alert citizens as one of the main reasons why the Richmond has a relatively low crime rate.

"We live in a safe neighborhood because the people who live here care," she said.

Police Commissioner Peter Keane, a Richmond resident who jogs and shops in the district, agreed.

"There's a good sense of safety and community," he said.

One member of the community who addressed the commission was Christopher Chow, the director of the Richmond Village Beacon Center at George Washington High School. He said there are concerns caused by ethnic tensions in the neighborhood and that the overall climate needs to be improved.

"We still have a ways to go," Chow said.

- Paul Kozakiewicz