Neighbor Sara was unable to attend, so the valiant Neighbor Rita stepped in to bring us the summary from this week’s SFPD Captain’s Meeting for the Ingleside Precinct. There’s lots of great detail in here, so read on to stay street-smart:

Hi Everyone, I filled in for Sarah on the reporting, so it might be a little different format than what you have been used to!

Thank you,

Rita

Ingleside Community Meetings are held on third Tuesday of every month from 7 to 8 pm in the Community Room of the Ingleside station.

Captain’s report by: Captain Mahoney

There is now a Police Department General Order 1.08 for spelling out Community Policing Policy. Captain Mahoney believes it is great that it has been incorporated but says that this is exactly how he has been policing anyhow, so doesn’t see that it will change his policies. He believes in working with the community, holding meetings, staffing community events and creating community forums.

1. In general, this is the second month in a row that violent crime is down. However there is an uptick in the Alemany Housing area. There was a shooting, (possible drive by.) There was a pistol-whipping (suspect in custody) as well as robbery on the sidewalk/attempted carjacking (suspect in custody).

2. There have been a fair number of stolen autos. Generally they are taken from Noe/Mission area and are recovered in the Outer Mission. The police believe a team is involved. If you have a Honda or Acura, use multiple locking systems, as these are the targeted cars.

3. Robberies have included 3 chain grabs in 48 hours.

4. Hit and runs are up, but not only do you have to get the license but you have to see the driver to be able to id them, or the DA can’t do much with the case.

5. Smoke shops have been selling bath salts that some people use to get high (who knew?) The State has just passed a law regarding this issue and the officers are visiting smoke shops to have them pull the salts. However there is still some uncertainty regarding which salts are now illegal for the shops to sell.

6. There was a successful drug bust on Tiffany Avenue. As one of the 3 neighbors from Tiffany Avenue at the meeting, we were very interested in hearing about this bust. There was 3 suspects taken into custody and one suspect was charged.

6. Realignment is the upcoming issue that could affect our neighborhoods. The State is required to reduce the over-population in their prison facilities. As non-violent felony offenders are released by the State, they may be held in our county facility (San Francisco has 2000 beds, 1400 of which are currently in use) or may be released on parole or under some form of house arrest. The community may be absorbing many former inmates, in a tough economy where there are few jobs to be found. The Captain expects to see an uptick in crime as a result, especially in property related crimes. The Captain intends to see if the use of stay orders will work to help remedy these issues that may be created by realignment
. Learn more about it: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/realignment/

7. There was a human trafficking case in the district. The Captain was out on patrol and noticed one of the fruit vendors on the sidewalk. He has heard a lot of complaints from the business owners regarding the vendors, so stopped to talk. They sent him on his way, but something didn’t feel right about the situation to the Captain. Later, they saw the same vendor and earned his trust. It turned out he was 14 years old had been brought to San Jose from Mexico as a 12 year old and had been working ever since. He wanted to go home but was unable. So, they got the guy who had brought over 20 kids, 5 of whom made it over the border, and was working these kids to pay off their debt of transportation. The former vendor was turned over to Social Services and the Mexican Consulate was able to return him to his home.

8.Gang graffiti is on the rise in the Alemany area. Lots of houses are getting tags and they think it might be the same guys who are breaking into cars. For a graffiti arrest, they need to be caught in the act or have the materials on them.
9. Bike thefts continue to be are up in the district. Most bikes are being taken from inside buildings, so be careful to lock bikes, even inside your buildings. The Police are using a decoy bike and have managed to get someone to try and take it. They will continue with the decoy program.

10. Ingleside will be running traffic speed enforcement. It will move around the district. First the radar trailer will be placed in an area. After that, there will be officers with radar guns and they will be writing tickets. They have been instructed to position themselves near a speed limit sign, so the drivers can’t say they didn’t know the speed limit. So, be warned!

11. Ingleside will also run a Pedestrian safety enforcement program in Noe Valley.

12. Brain drain: Many high level, experienced officers will be retiring in the next few years. There will be 267 personnel lost by the time American’s Cup happens. We are not running training classes as we used to. There will not be another training until next April and out of the class of 50, they expect to end up with only 41 new officers.

13. Other challenges to staffing are occurring. There is Occupy SF and all districts have been sending officers to the site regularly during the week, which then means fewer officers are available in the districts. Of course, we are also down as the district needs to send officers to a CAL game or a 49ers game as well.

– Two questions from the Bernalsafe group were addressed:
One question from the North Slope asking what they can do regarding someone who disturbs the peace by honking at 5:30am (7-8 times) and then returns about 7 am for a repeat of the honking. The Captain unfortunately had no suggestions to this issue.

There was another question regarding the athletic shoes over utility wires (typically a sign of a drug house nearby) located at Mission & Crescent as well as at Ellsworth near the Alemany Housing and what the police will do about the drug houses before the problem intensifies and it brings other violence. As the drug houses themselves were not indicated, the Captain said that he would contact PG&E and provide security so the shoes could be removed.

CRIME STATS:
28-day period, October 16 – Nov 12
Crime/Number of Incidents/% change (month)/% change (YTD)/# arrests
Aggravated Assault/21/-19%/-31%/9
Robbery/28/-12%/1%/9
Sexual Assault/1/0/25%/0
Burglary/34/13%/-15%/3
Auto Theft/49/-16%/-13%/1
Theft from Auto/48/-8%/-6%/0

Thank you, Rita!!

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics