It’s a new year, with new data on local crime patterns. So for that, let’s go to Bernal’s valiant SFPD liaisons, Neighbors Edie and Sarah, who attended the most recent Ingleside Police District Monthly Community Meeting, held just before the holiday break. Over to you, Neighbor Edie…
Ingleside Police District Monthly Community Meeting
December 15, 2015Captain’s Report by Captain Joseph McFadden: joseph.mcfadden@sfgov.org
(Notes taken by volunteer Edie Williams, who is entirely responsible for any errors)
- The Ingleside-Excelsior Light is in print and online with an interesting story about the women officers in the Ingleside precinct.
- SF SAFE and the SFPD have published a handy brochure on personal and property safety, preventing pick-pocketing and identity theft. There are copies in the Bernal Library and the Bernal Heights Community Center, or download one here.You can find more safety information from SF SAFE.
Recent Local Police Activity:
Bernal Heights has been seeing a lot of nefarious activity, due to the city’s attempt to push homeless residents away from the area of the Super Bowl, and thanks our easy access on and off the freeways at Bayshore / Cesar Chavez or Bayshore / Alemany.
Large encampments of homeless people are located at Highland Bridge and under the freeway at Cesar Chavez, with tents, bikes, and cardboard packaging (which police believe may have originally been packages stolen off neighbors’ porches.) There’s a SPFD lieutenant in charge of homelessness, and police are issuing citations for homelessness, but the courts are not putting them in the system, and there’s no place to put people in treatment if they were in the system–no treatment beds available, and way too many people waiting for them already.
Teens have been hanging out and partying in the area near the encampments, and in December there was a gang-related shooting on Holladay at Peralta. This may have been a setup, since the Norteño gang seems to be fighting even among themselves. What to do: The Captain asks that if you see any teen party or gang activity, call police dispatch immediately and ask for them to come check it out. If there’s no response, call the Ingleside station main number, (415) 404-4000, ask to speak to the PC-Platoon Commander, and tell them you’re still waiting for a police response.
Shooting of Mario Woods in the Bayview has generated a great deal of controversy, especially after the publication of video taken at the time of his death. The Captain believes that tasers would enable police to escalate force without killing the person involved, although tasers don’t always work, as they have to make contact with two points of skin to have impact. While the use of tasers is being discussed, the police have been issued shields for self protection.
Body cameras are coming, though not at the beginning of 2016. Police are currently developing protocols and policies for the circumstances police will wear the cameras, whether filming will include audio and visual or just visual, and how and where the data will be stored and used. They will then set up a pilot program in the BayView, Ingleside, Tenderloin, and the Mission. They must evaluate cameras, select a vendor, and then plan for ongoing future expenses for data storage and updating, etc.
The Ingleside has license plate readers on two patrol cars, which they’ve used to identify several stolen cars and arrest the drivers.
McLaren Park has seen a crowd of neighborhood motorcross bike riders ride through the park. There’s also a large group from Oakland that comes to SF and rides around the neighborhoods. Many are juveniles, they don’t wear helmets, and police believe it might be more dangerous to chase them and have them get hurt than not. Leaders in Viz Valley are identifying kids with bikes, and police will be notifying the families that if the kids are caught they’ll take away the bikes. What to do? Call the police if you see them start up, so the police can stop them before they’re out of control.
The “Wig bandit,” known for wandering through the upper Noe casing houses, was caught within a few hours once videos of him were on the news. Unfortunately, one resident chased him out of their house, but never called the police. He did report it on NextDoor, however. Please remember, Police are not monitoring NextDoor for calls for assistance. If you are the victim of or witness to a crime or potential crime, call the police directly before you post to social media. Contact phone numbers are below (and in the Bernalwood sidebar)
Videos are used frequently now as tools to help victims, witnesses, and the police. If you have installed a video camera, you can register it online with the SF District Attorney. The DA’s office will map the addresses into a database, so that when a crime is committed, the police can check the map, ask camera owners for a copy of their video, and possibly use the video as evidence in a trial. If you’re thinking of buying a video camera, the Captain recommends that you buy one that has a high enough resolution to convince a jury. Many cameras come with a 7-day loop, so have extra CDs and learn how to download the video.
Problems Neighbors Are Reporting:
Neighbors report groups are gathering and lighting bonfires behind Pacific Super off Alemany. Police will investigate.
If you notice daily repeat traffic problems, email a description of them to the Captain. He’ll set up enforcement campaigns.
Monthly meetings are held the third Thursday of the month in the Ingleside Police Station meeting room, then the following month at a changing neighborhood site. If you have any suggestions for meeting areas (with some parking) within the Ingleside community, please let the captain know.
Upcoming Meeting Dates:
- January: Wednesday, Jan 20th, 7-8:30 pm, Upper Noe Rec Center, 295 Day St. at 30th.
- February: Tuesday, February 16th, 7-8:30 pm, Ingleside Police Station, 1 Sgt. John V Young Lane
- March: Date to be announced, Jewish Home of SF, 302 Silver Ave at Mission.
SPFD Ingleside Contacts:
Emergency, dial: 911
Non-Emergency: (415) 553-0123
Tip Line: (415) 575-4444
Precinct phone (415) 404-4000Email: SFPDInglesideStation@sfgov.org
District Station Website
PHOTO: Telstar Logistics
Bernalwood 
Great recap. Seems like we have a rise in activity compared tot he last few years.
Correcting my typo – that’s Upper Noe Rec Center…:
January: Wednesday, Jan 20th, 7-8:30 pm, Upper Now Rec Center, 295 Day St. at 30th.
Edie – You and Sarah provide a great service to us Bernalians – thank you very much. And thank you Todd for always publishing their reports.
Thank you for attending and taking such good notes! Your neighborliness is appreciated.
A few days ago someone called police on my neighbor who had locked her keys in the trunk she was parked in her driveway when police arrived and I witnessed the officer grab her so hard I heard her wrist pop then police back up arrived and treated her like a criminal without letting her talk and say that is her car and she lives there this happened on gates and Ogden I’ve known my neighbor for about 20 years she is always nice and always has a smile won’t lie she looks scary but she TRULLY isn’t the way she was treated by the police was extremely unpleasant and the neighbors who called police on her should be ashamed and embarrassed I hope she takes legal matters against the officers
Insert missed period joke here.
“Large encampments of homeless people are located at Highland Bridge and under the freeway at Cesar Chavez, with tents, bikes, and cardboard packaging (which police believe may have originally been packages stolen off neighbors’ porches.) ” That last part was a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?
So let me get this straight: dudes who are too mentally ill and/or substance addled are perpetrating “nefarious” activity? And in case we aren’t frightened enough by that BS, we are supposed to believe they are stealing packages off our porches for the mother effing cardboard? SFPD, you gotta be kidding me. Bernal wood: please call this nonsense what it is
I wasn’t at the meeting, but my reading of the notes was not that the packages were stolen for the cardboard, but that the packages were stolen for what they contained. How did you understand it?
This is a really odd leap to me, too. I’ve never seen a homeless person build a shanty of 45 small Amazon boxes (the kind of thing that gets snuck off a porch), it’s usually industrial cardboard and appliance boxes. Unless the homeless people are somehow offloading refrigerators and ranges between the porch and the underpass? (And people are having applicances delivered unsupervised to porches…)
Perhaps the police noticed that some of the boxes were from Amazon to local addresses. Now try to imagine they were originally large boxes containing pillows or furniture, not the size box you received with the batteries you ordered once.
@Byrd Bodega – Now try to imagine they were boxes taken from recycling bins at night before the morning pickup….
Try to think about all aspects of a situation before commenting
Unless you are retarded no one was stating that these guys were stealing boxes for cardboard. These are thieves stealing what is in the boxes and too stupid to get rid of evidence.
Hey Mike,
Agree with everything you said, but hope you meant stupid, not retarded.
The homeless encampment at 101 is a health and safety nightmare. How long is this going to be tolerated by the City?
Just a few more weeks.
You mean until the SuperBowl is over and everything returns to it’s regular crappy SF self with homeless lining the highest tourist areas?