Neighbor Sarah, your vigilant volunteer Bernal Heights crime reporter, attended the SFPD Ingleside Community meeting last week, and she filed these terrific summary notes on the latest Bernal Heights crime trends. (Thank you, Sarah!!)
Read on, read carefully, and stay safe:
Notes from Ingleside Community Meeting: 10/15/13
Captain Falvey presided.
CRIME STATS & TRENDS:
See Sept 2013 Compstat file (included below) for detailed statisticsHomicide: There was a homicide last Weds. at 4pm near Mission and Brazil. The police are gathering evidence, including possible video evidence. The Violence Reduction Team is also in the district.
Robberies: Up 21% YTD, which is the same as the citywide number. Cell phones continue to be a big factor, but jewelry theft is on the rise. Arrested two men who were robbing elderly women of necklaces.
Robberies have moved away from the transit hubs, where the police had deployed resources, to further out, especially near the border with Taraval, where there was a cluster of similar robberies. The Violence Reduction Team had IDed three possible suspects.
Muggers also seem to be targeting people coming out of bars between 12am and 2am.
Robbery arrests up 77% YTD.
Daylight saving time ends 11/3. There was a big increase in robberies at this time last year. SFPD is deploying more officers to BART and nearby to warn commuters.
Burglaries: Creeping up. Unlocked windows and doors continue to be a problem. Same with homes under construction or renovation. Burglars look for easiest routes – make it hard for them. Burglary arrests are up 38% YTD.
Auto Thefts: Spiked the last 2 months. 50% are pre-2001 Hondas or Acuras. Buy a club-like device or get a new ignition from the dealer!
Ingleside got overtime grants for vehicle theft abatement, which while be used to focus officers in specific areas where lots of cars are stolen. Police use license plate readers on some patrol cars, but thieves thwart this by stealing front license plates from other, similar cars. (Police also look for back plates with no registration tags.) Police do NOT chase car thieves because of risks involved in high-speed chases on residential streets.
Larceny: These are thefts that are not from a person, but rather things like shoplifting or someone taking your computer at a coffee shop while you’re in the bathroom. Be vigilant. City College is seeing a lot of this.
Auto Boosting: These are thefts involving property taken from autos. Do not leave anything in your car! Recent thefts at Good Life involved multiple laptops each (items were not left out, but were in in bags inside car).
Internet/Gambling Cafes: Neighbors continue to have concerns, esp. about NetStop on the 4400 block of Mission. The “Sweepstakes” model currently seems to get them out of being prosecuted for gambling. Crime is clustering around certain sites, new cafes springing up. NetStop building owner has made some changes – reduced hours, added security, prevented loitering.
Reminders:
Call 911 for any crimes in progress. (Including crimes like this one)Wear reflective clothing when walking at night!
Drivers, be extra-careful to look for pedestrians.
Do not jaywalk with your kids because it teaches them that it’s OK.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
PAL 3×3 Basketball Jamboree at SOMA Rec Center, 11/7, 8:15am-6pm. Need 7th and 8th graders, any level.Bayview Gun Buyback: 12/14/13
Ingleside CPAB Gun Buyback: 4/5/14
Q&A:
Glen Park residents requested traffic enforcement on Diamond from Diamond Heights to Bosworth. People run all the stop signs. Captain agreed to do so. Advised them that they recently did a similar operation in another neighborhood, and it turned out that most of the people running the stop signs (34 of 40 tickets) lived within 3 blocks. Still worthwhile to do, but it wasn’t the “outsiders” the neighbors had assumed were the problem.GUEST SPEAKER:
Jimmer Cassiol, Community Liaison for SF Department of Public Works: jimmer.cassiol@sfdpw.org, 415-641-2625DPW has a variety of community programs that are volunteer-based: Adopt-a-Street, Graffiti Watch, Clean Team
The Clean Team’s cleanup for Districts 8 and 9 is SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20 – meet at O’Connell High (Folsom/20th) at 9am to help clean and green the area. Supervisors Campos and Wiener will be there.
ALSO: Gigantic 3 e-waste and bulky item dropoff for Districts 8 and 9 is Saturday, 10/20, 8am-12pm. District 9: Firehouse 7 at 2300 Folsom; District 8: St John’s School (925 Chenery). Call 330-1300 for an appointment or drop by (but wait in line).
Giant Sweep is the umbrella over all of these programs. The goal is to get residents and businesses involved in keeping the city clean, as well as prevent littering by reaching kids at an early age.
Adopt-a-Street – they give you supplies for keeping your block clean and graffiti-free.
Graffiti Watch – also involves free supplies but you must go through training on how to use the solvents. Graffiti removal is for public property/city “furniture” only.
Street Parks – adopt small piece of land and turn it into a park.
Finally, what’s the difference between art and graffiti? “Permission.”
Bernalwood 
hey todd- i have not seen anything public but man was there a major blowout at roccopulco sat night around 10p. there was an event, not sure what went down, 20+ police cars, loads of folks arrested!! next to the 100 person fight years back from there, this was the most action i have seen. 😦 dawn
Thanks for doing this Sarah. These monthly reports are sadly my favorite BW posts.
There are several new pot clubs that opened along the 4200 towards 4500 Mission St. The people going in, coming out of these places are a bit scary. Just walking past is very uncomfortable. Maybe these places need to be shut down, especially since in most cases trouble follows.
Wow.. maybe you, should move to the country. Ooooh those sinister folk. Pleease.
Is this a joke? Who exactly do you think it is that goes to these scary pot clubs? I’ll give you a hint: you’d probably be shocked by how normal most of them are. And please, provide some proof that “trouble follows.” I guarantee you there’s less trouble at most dispensaries than at a bar filled with drunk people.