Capt's Report: Crime Down, Burglaries Up

By Dmitry Kiper

The biggest problems in the Richmond District this year have been homelessness - and all the crimes associated with it - and burglaries, according to Richmond District Police Capt. Sandra Tong.

Tong gave an overall crime report at the SF Police Commission meeting held Nov. 30 at the SF Jewish Community Center. While giving a presentation titled "Community Partnerships" to approximately 50 people, Tong outlined the variety and severity of problems currently facing the Richmond and specific steps being taken by the SF Police Department.

There have been 526 burglaries this year (as of November 2005) in the Richmond, 48 more than last year. That's about a 10 percent increase. (The Richmond's police district is large, covering the area running from Lincoln Way to Jackson Street, and from the Great Highway to Divisadero Street.) The department has a Burglary Abatement Program, which includes the development and deployment of a task force if a crime pattern can be established, Tong said. The program also includes community outreach in the form of local media and community meetings.

Small businesses are sometimes tempting targets for burglars, said Tong, because the lucrative result of such theft is evident.

David Heller, president of the Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants Association, asked the police department for some reserve officers - volunteer officers that serve part-time - to monitor the busy areas of Geary Boulevard during the upcoming holiday shopping season.

"We can work on that," Tong said. "I'll make the request."

With regard to the homeless issue, the police department has the Operation Outreach Team to help get members of the homeless population back on their feet.

"Their job is to go out to the field and hit all the hot spots where there are homeless issues," Tong said.

Police Commissioner Joe Alioto Veronese praised the Richmond District Police Department for "training police officers to specifically deal with the homeless," and for having an outreach team tries to locate help and housing for them.

During public comment, however, one Inner Richmond resident expressed his discontent with the homeless at the east end of Golden Gate Park, which spill out into the lower avenues. His biggest concern was drug use among the homeless population, particularly methamphetamine, and the variety of public health and safety issues that go along with it.

With regard to other crimes, the captain pointed out various statistics in her report, such as the 7 percent decline in the overall crime rate in the district. Traffic collisions, however, have increased by 6 percent this year-to-date, with a total of 425. Speeding is the leading cause.

Echoing the slogan of a September traffic safety campaign, Tong said, "Traffic safety starts with you."

At the end of the meeting, Commissioner Gayle Orr-Smith announced that this would be her last meeting as committee vice president. She is resigning for "personal reasons." Orr-Smith gave a passionate 15-minute speech on how "frustrating and heartbreaking" youth violence is in San Francisco, particularly in the southeastern part of the City. The answer is not more police, she said, but better parenting, education and after-school programs.