Neighbor Sarah, your valiant volunteer Bernal Heights crime correspondent, attended the SFPD Ingleside Community meeting this month, and she filed these [excellent, per usual] summary notes on the latest Bernal Heights crime trends.

Read on, be wiser, and stay safer:

I attended [the Feb. 17, 2015] meeting, along with several Bernal neighbors. Here are the notes.

Capt. McFadden (joseph.mcfadden@sfgov.org) presided. New neighborhood DA Lailah Morris was in attendance as well (lailah.morris@sfgov.org).

CRIME TRENDS
SFPD recently arrested four people (two more pending) in string of burglaries in Teresita area – the group was from the Bayview, and police think they committed 30+ burglaries, some in conjunction with a window-installation business. The investigations team at the station put in a ton of hours on this.

Also busted more illegal gambling joints – 3 of the 6 that are on their list. One recent bust found not just gambling machines but also prostitution, drugs, and illegal roosters. [EDIT NOTE: This was before the crackdown on the gambling den at 3437 Mission, so that was not included in the above.]

Robberies and aggravated assaults are down. Auto thefts and thefts from autos continue to be high. Working on tracking down car break-in recidivists and watching them. Made arrests of group of four who had been robbing people on Baden, Circular, & nearby. Still random groups out there operating.

Have had several shootings (back-and-forth retaliation) in the Sunnydale, gang-related (Towerside and DBG). Gang Task Force involved. SFPD believe that when the first guy who was shot recovers, he may attempt more retaliation. Got extra resources from downtown to saturate area with police. Also had a shooting on 28th/Diamond that turned out to be a made-up story – guy claimed drive-by shooting; turned out his friend accidentally shot him at his apartment.

53 felony arrests in January. Already 41 so far in Feb.

HOW TO CONTACT THE SFPD
When you see suspicious activity, call the police! Here are the numbers to know:

• 911 is for crimes in progress (including property crimes like burglaries or car break-ins).
• 553-0123 for suspicious behavior. Police still recommend calling
• 553-8090 from cell phone (when you want 911 so you don’t get routed to CHP in Vallejo)

If there’s a crime trend going on, email the captain with the specifics (his email address is above). Like, if you see groups congregating and drinking/using drugs in a particular area regularly, email him the details (days of week, times of day, exact location). Do NOT just post about this stuff on NextDoor!  Be sure ALSO to call the police.

A community member raised issue of people at Everson/Digby using heroin – is that a 911 call? Captain said yes. Also said sometimes people worry that if they call police, the police will show up at their house, and criminals will know who called. Police do not do this – they know not to “burn” you. “Most important part of any call to the police is the description you give.”

Lunar New Year is here – can make Asian community a target of crime because criminals know they may have cash on them. Spread the word to be alert for danger, keep valuables close, give detailed witness descriptions (shoes or things that cannot change (facial hair, etc) are best things to note).

Door-to-door salesmen and PG&E/Water personnel – ask for an ID or phone number to call so you can see if they are legit. You don’t have to open the door – talk through the door if you feel uncomfortable. If you do talk to them, keep asking questions to see if it trips them up. Get a good description (see above).

Dogs are BEST burglary deterrent. Recordings of dogs = second-best. Alarms/videos = also good. If you have a camera, try to put it on a wide setting – police interested in where people came from (ie, a car) and what direction they headed in when they leave. Have cameras over all doors (front, back, side).

Bayview Station police conducted a raid on Crescent this week  Guy fled to Richland, dropping his gun en route. It is probably in someone’s back yard. If you find it, do NOT touch it – call police so they can safely retrieve it AND try to get fingerprints.

Q&A
Question about CSI: 50-100 burglaries a day in SF overall. CSI has a small team. Tends to mean they’re worse than Comcast in giving you a window for an appt. and then missing it. Fingerprints are hard to come by – only 30% of burglars don’t wear gloves, and only 10% of that 30% will leave a full print. DNA is where things are going – but slow to get there.

Question about phone scams. IRS won’t call you and demand money. Don’t give bank or personal info away over the phone!

Question about traffic enforcement at Bradford/Bernal Heights Blvd. If you have a problem intersection, email the captain with specifics (days, times, etc). This stuff gets lost when captains and officers change (as happens at Ingleside). Keep sending in this info.

Question about dark streets. Scott Wiener is trying to introduce a resolution to have the city take over all PG&E and PUC lights so that they can all be upgraded to LED and centrally managed. Right now it’s kind of a mess.

IMAGE: Telstar Logistics