Capt. Sandra Tong: Improving the district

I hope all of you are enjoying the beginning of summer.

September is Traffic Safety Month

Traffic safety is an important enforcement priority for the community and Richmond Station. Each year, statistics indicate that the number of traffic accidents increase. In comparing traffic statistics from 2003 to 2004, the Richmond District had a 67 percent increase in pedestrian fatalities and an overall 40 percent increase in traffic fatalities.

Each of you can attest to the number of accidents you've observed or "near" accidents that posed a potentially dangerous situation. Two years ago, when I was first confronted with this traffic safety issue, I was led to believe that violations were being committed primarily by commuters that travel through our district on a daily basis. I have come to learn that this is a myth.

The unsafe traffic conditions are attributed to citizens that live and work in our community. Each of us needs to make an individual commitment to practice traffic safety by following the rules of the road and by using our common sense. This applies to all of us, whether we're a pedestrian, motorist or both.

September will be designated "traffic safety month" in the Richmond. The SF Police Department, California State Automobile Association (AAA), city agencies and community-based organizations will partner to sponsor a community education campaign. The campaign will start with a kick-off event, followed by a month-long variety of campaign efforts throughout the district.

Besides making a personal commitment to driving and walking safer and "within the law," I invite each of you to organize a neighborhood campaign. I am always positive that each of you can identify a location, intersection or crosswalk that you find dangerous to walk or drive at a particular time of the day. I'd like you to organize your neighbors, friends or family to choose the date(s) and time to stand at that intersection or designated dangerous location and do some community education by holding up safety signs and passing out flyers. If you organize this "corner campaign," let me know the date and time and I will work with you and stand with you. You can make your own signs or we can help you make them. Contact me by sending a letter to the Richmond Station, 461 Sixth Ave., SF 94118 or by e-mailing SFPDRichmondStation@sfgov. org.

Officers Earn Department Kudos

I'd like to congratulate officers Alvaro Schor and Charles Tanaka from the Richmond Station for being honored as the Field Operations Bureau Officers of the Month in June. Schor and Tanaka work the swing shift and are very dedicated and professional officers.

Together, they are an effective sector car and are very proficient at traffic enforcement and making drunk driving arrests. I commend them for their hard work. They exemplify the type of officers you have serving you each day.

The July Police/Community Forum will be held on Tuesday, July 19, at 7 p.m., at the Richmond Station's community meeting room. The guest speaker will be an inspector from the police department's fraud division, who will discuss Internet-related crimes.

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