Capt. Sandra Tong: CrimeMAPS, New Court

The Police/Community Forum meeting was held at the Richmond Station on Tuesday, Feb. 15. It was well attended.

For those of you who missed it, the speakers were Eileen Ross, the pedestrian and bicycle safety specialist from the SF Department of Parking and Traffic, and Dr. Johnson Ojo, from the SF Department of Public Health.

Ross sought input from the community and explained some of the projects that the City would be funding over the next several years to increase pedestrian safety in the Richmond District, including adding more traffic signals along the Fulton Street corridor and the construction of more "bubble" corners. These are enlarged corners that you may have already seen in other parts of the City that create a physical "bulb-out" barrier for pedestrians waiting on corners to cross the street.

Ojo also spoke briefly and answered questions about the services the Bureau of Environmental Health section provides in the enforcing of city health code regulations as they apply to restaurants. He said the SF Board of Supervisors had passed a measure that, when implemented, would require restaurants to reveal their cleanliness rating (A, B or C) when asked by customers. 

SF Police Department Sgt. Tom Feledy, of the planning division, will be the guest speaker at the next meeting, to be held on Tuesday, March 15,  at 7 p.m., at the Richmond Station's community meeting room. Feledy will be giving a practical presentation on the CrimeMAPS system.

If you want to check out the CrimeMAPS website before the meeting, type in the following address into the URL bar on your computer (you may also use a public access computer at the library if you don't have one): sfgov.org/site/police_index.asp and then click on the CrimeMAPS icon.

The San Francisco District Attorney's Community Court Program was launched in the Richmond in February at the YMCA. This program began in San Francisco in 1998 as a United States Justice Department pilot project called Community Court. The concept was to initiate neighborhood-based, volunteer-driven mini-courts to handle minor offenses. Currently, the Community Court system is a successful collaboration among several City Departments, community groups and merchants associations including the District Attorney's Office, the Mayor's Office, Board of Supervisors, Police Department, Sheriff's Department, Pretrial Diversion Program and other community-based organizations.

The purpose of the Community Court Initiative is to discourage criminal activities and public offenses that impact our city's neighborhoods. The SFPD refers to these as quality-of-life violations. Examples of these violations include misdemeanor graffiti charges, trespassing, misdemeanor narcotics charges, vandalism, etc.

In this way, the community affected by the activity receives the benefit of the case's disposition. The Community Court seeks to restore the loss to the community in one or more of five ways:

• Restore Victims: Community courts order offenders to pay restitution to victims who have suffered monetary losses or property damage;

• Restore the Community: Community courts sanction offenders with fines and/or community service that go directly to improving conditions in the impacted neighborhoods. The courts also create an atmosphere of inclusion and responsibility, building community and providing a direct role for residents to oversee the resolution of offenses in their neighborhoods;

• Restore the Offender's Record: Community courts give offenders a second chance by allowing them to avoid a criminal conviction in exchange for completing the community court program. Offenders are also restored by being made to understand the consequence of their actions and having the opportunity to pay back the community they harmed. Some offenders are ordered to receive addiction treatment, anger management counseling and other support services to change their behavior;

• Shoplifter Offender Program (SHOP): The District Attorney's Office, in collaboration with a citywide steering committee, developed the shoplifter program as an alternative resource for first-time shop lifting offenders. This serves as a resource for community courts' sentencing and rehabilitation efforts;

• Community Court Fund: Each community court establishes a fund of their own through fines from various misdemeanor offenses. Once the fines accumulate in each separate account, the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice issues a Request for Proposals (RFP). Any non-profit organization in any of the communities can apply for the money to do neighborhood improvements and other activities that fit the criteria of the RFP.

For more information on the Community Courts, check out the DA's website at www.sfgov.org/da. See you at the next meeting.

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