Capt. Sandra Tong: Homeless Outreach

The SF Police Department has begun working with the mayor's office and other city agencies to try to help some of the city's chronic homeless population.  Each district police station in San Francisco has dedicated a few of its officers to this project called "Homeless Outreach." 

In the Richmond District, I have designated two officers for the project, officers Gary Fagundes and Bobby Cheung. The main purpose of the assigned officers is to make contact with, and identify the needs of, those homeless persons who dwell within the Richmond so that whatever services the city and county of San Francisco has to offer are made available to them. These services include medical and psychiatric care, methadone clinic access, General Assistance and the Return-to-Residence Program.

The Richmond District is large and its geography offers challenges for Fagundes and Cheung; many of the homeless that dwell in the district sleep in Golden Gate Park. The officers are discovering that those individuals most willing to accept assistance are younger or have been on the street for a shorter period of time. The longer someone has been on the street, it seems, the more unwilling they are to accept assistance, but we will maintain our efforts at trying to bring services to the people who need it the most.

If merchants or residents would like the Operation Outreach Team to patrol any particular area, please let me know and I will target passing calls to the destination.

Traffic Enforcement
I continue to receive complaints almost on a daily basis from members of this community regarding traffic safety. The issue is never far from my mind. I have directed my lieutenants to staff at least one radio car every day in the Richmond dedicated to enforcing traffic code violations.

Additionally, last month Richmond Station was assigned two motorcycle officers for traffic enforcement and traffic accident investigations. In the past, the traffic "solo" officers worked out of a separate company and responded to traffic accidents when needed and targeted enforcement "hot spots" throughout the City. Now, we have one dedicated motorcycle officer for the day watch in the Richmond and one for swing watch to supplement the enforcement of traffic laws that the officers in the district do on a daily basis.

This is a good opportunity for me to express my appreciation for the officers at Richmond Station who diligently seek traffic offenders, especially people driving under the influence of alcohol. Those of you in the community who receive the electronic Richmond Station Newsletter via e-mail (if interested, send an e-mail request to: sfpd_richmond_station_@ci.sf.ca.us) read each week of the arrests that the officers in the district make - on average one per week of people driving under the influence. The vast majority of those arrests are made from "routine" traffic stops involving the most common vehicle code violations.

It is my hope that the attention to traffic enforcement in the Richmond will be rewarded with a safer district for everyone and fewer traffic casualties in the upcoming months.

The next Richmond District Community/Police Forum will be held Tuesday, April 19, at the Richmond Station, located at 461 Sixth Ave., at 7 p.m. I will address the community's safety concerns and present the district's crime statistics.

Capt. Sandra Tong is the commanding officer at the Richmond Station.