Your very thorough and very vigilant neighbors, Sarah and Edie, attended the SFPD’s Ingleside Station Chief’s Meeting this week, and they typed up these invaluable summary notes about the latest Bernal Heights crime trends. As always, they bring useful information on how to avoid becoming a statistic, so you are strongly advised to read the whole thing:

Captain’s Report by Captain Tim Falvey
tim.falvey@sfgov.org

Captain Falvey began with a review of the Ingleside, the third largest police district in the city at 6.5 sq. mi. It has 123, 980 residents and its population of 19,074 per sq mi is second only to the Taraval. There are 174 residents per police officer, and the district is broken up into 6 patrol sectors, numbered 1-6. Bernal Heights is covered by the #1 car.

In San Francisco, 55% of the crime occurs in 3% of the geography. To manage daily police patrols and other activity, the station house reviews a series of specific focal points (passing calls, crime patterns, critical infrastructure/landmarks/venues) and produces a list of specifics for police officers to deal with – this is called The Ingleside Station Daily Mission. In a Passing Call, police are asked to drive by and keep an eye on known hot spots, public events, or other areas of concern.

As one part of the solution, ShotSpotter gunshot detection and location technology has been installed in high-crime areas such as the Sunnydale, and the City intends to install more overall.

The Ingleside district uses the Fugitive Recovery Enforcement Team (F.R.E.T.), to apprehend parole violators and fugitives with outstanding warrants and check that parolees are not violating their terms of release. They also work with the Violence Reduction Team (V.R.T.), a citywide SFPD team that can be deployed in any area where problems occur.

Ingleside networks with Supervisors from District 09 (David Campos), D10 (Malia Cohen), and D11 (John Avalos), as well as D7 (Sean Elsbernd) and D8 (Scott Weiner).

The SFPD Ingleside website now has a Community Events page. If you would like a flyer or information for your event posted there, please visit the website.

CRIME UPDATES:

Homicide: 15 this year so far, up from 8 in 2012 and 9 in 2011, though there hadn’t been a homicide for 110 days until Nov 18th, when a 24-year-old from the East Bay was shot at 3:30 am Sunday morning on Mission and Silver. Also, five of the homicides occurred at once at the Howth Street murders back in March. There have been 6 homicides in the Sunnydale, all within a few blocks of each other and within a period of 2.5 months; perhaps gang-related. Interesting to note that over the last 10 years 94% of SF homicide victims, 95% of homicide suspects, and 75% of prisoners in San Quentin are high-school dropouts. Future Grads program involves Chief talking to 8th graders about this.

Gang activity: There have been several recent incidents involving gangs in the Lakeview and Sunnydale. To manage conflict, police try to present a high profile, especially in border areas between police districts and gang areas. They use single motorcycle officers, groups of motorcycles that can go off-road/ride on trails (called “the Hondas” though now actually Kawasakis), the Gang Task Force, Violence Reduction Team, regular Ingleside patrol officers, the Ingleside Housing Unit, and the Ingleside FRET Operation.

A serious beating incident at Balboa HS focused attention and police presence there (School Resource Officers). It seemed that it was instigated by teenagers who did not attend Balboa but who stopped there on their bus route to school.

Domestic Violence: General incidents and arrests have decreased, but there’s been an increase in domestic violence. DV is hard to track, since in often happens in the home and is therefore not visible. Police will try to identify and track repeat offenders.

Robberies: There’s been an increase in the use of pepper spray to commit robberies. (Pepper spray is for sale over the counter; dog and bear repellant are also used.) One perp was a 13-year-old boy. In another incident, the license plate was reported and police located the car in the Lowes parking lot. The three women in the car still had pepper spray.

Burglaries and hot prowls have increased this past year. Recently there have been several daytime burglaries. Here’s how they do it: Burglar knocks on door. If you answer, they ask for a specific person, then leave when told that person doesn’t live there. Next they go up the street and try another house. If no one answers, they go back to their car, wait and watch till they’re sure no one’s home, then return to break down the door. So if you’re home and someone knocks, you should answer, even if you don’t open the door. If you don’t respond at all, a burglar will think your house is empty and break in. If you see someone knocking on doors, call the police (553-0123) and ask them to come by and check – provide a description of the person or a car license number. If thieves are kicking the door or climbing over a fence into a back yard, call 911. The police have gotten some DNA evidence on one or more of the burglars – there have been a couple of arrests, and they also think one person knows they’re being watched. There has been a corresponding big drop in activity.

As an aside, the penalties for a hot prowl (burglary that occurs when a resident is home) are much stiffer than for a burglary where no one is home.

A series of robberies in the Glen Park commercial area have decreased. Police put out a flyer reminding neighbors that daylight savings makes evening commute darker, and have arrested a few thieves. They are mainly interested in cell phones and other electronics. To avoid getting mugged, the captain’s motto is “If you don’t need it, don’t bring it” – ie, don’t take every one of your credit cards with you if you’re just stepping out to pay cash for a latte.

The Glen Park commercial strip had also suffered some vandalism recently – no arrests, but the activity seems to have stopped for now. In other news, drunk people make terrible witnesses. Criminals know this and target drunk people leaving bars.

The Sunnydale has seen a series of burglaries involving vacant homes. The thief breaks into a vacant house and then tunnels into the adjacent, occupied house.

SFPD is now using Leads Online, an investigative database that permits shoppers to register their electronic purchases. Police can then search for stolen property sent to pawn shops or offered for sale on eBay.

You can also check Craigslist for your stolen items, then call the police if you spot them.

ALERT the Auxillary Law Enforcement Response Team: This is a newly launched volunteer police program. During an emergency or disaster, volunteers will do well-being checks, traffic patrol, work phone lines, or be dispatchers. To participate, volunteers must pass both NERT and ALERT training courses, and can serve as both a NERT and an ALERT volunteer at the same time (ie, after a disaster). Former Ingleside Captain Lazar is overseeing this initiative. For more information on the San Francisco Police Department ALERT Program, email at sfpdalert@sfgov.org, or call Program Coordinator Sergeant Mark Hernandez (SFPD, Ret.), at (415) 832-8419.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

The residents heard a ruckus upstairs, and the SF Chronicle reveals what they found when they went to take a look:

San Francisco residents in the Ingleside neighborhood [sic] found a dead man in their bathroom Friday night who appears to have been a burglar who accidentally killed himself trying to escape, a San Francisco police officer said.

Residents in the 600 block of Bank Street called police at 10:46 p.m. Friday after finding a man in their bathroom who appeared to be unconscious but turned out to be dead, Officer Maria Donati said Saturday. She said the residents did not know him.

Donati said the police do not consider the death a homicide and turned the investigation over to the San Francisco coroner.

The coroner’s office identified the dead man on Saturday as Michael Gallegos, 53.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

Hello Bernal crime-watchers! The ever-vigilant Neighbor Sarah attended the SFPD’s Ingleside Station Chief’s Meeting this week, and she typed up these hyper-handy summary notes about the latest Bernal Heights crime news. Read on, be smart, and stay safe.

Ingleside Community Meeting, 10/16/12

Captain Tim Falvey led the meeting – timothy.falvey@sfgov.org

CRIME STATISTICS AND TRENDS:

At the end of July, as you may recall, there was a spike in violent crime in the Sunnydale District. Someone was recently charged with two of those homicides. There was also recently a spate of tit-for-tat shootings in the Sunnydale and Lakeview areas – these were two individuals who had an issue with one another. They are gang members, but it does not appear to involve the gangs overall. One of those people was charged with a different homicide, so the police are hopeful that since he has been removed from the equation, this particular set of shootings will cease.

CRIME STATS

Robberies – down 27% from the prior month and down 19% YTD.
Violent crime – down 3% YTD.
Property crimes – down 21% vs prior month, but up 14% YTD. (Burglaries, a subset of property crimes – up 18% YTD.)
Auto thefts – down 44% vs prior month, up 58% YTD. Mostly Hondas and Acuras, model years between 1992 and 1998.

Police are making an effort to catch the auto thieves when they dump the cars (usually in the middle of the night) – they have made a couple of arrests lately. Waiting to see if that has an effect on the number of crimes. If you have an older Honda or Acura, use a Club – it won’t entirely protect your car but will usually cause a thief to move on to the next car.

Captain Falvey encouraged people to register your bikes so that they may be identified when stolen bikes are found. So far, 75 bikes have been registered. You can register your bike here.

Sgt. Josh Kunle (sp?) did some great work that led to significant arrests. A resident reported their custom surfboards had been stolen, and Sgt. Kunle found them on Craigslist. A “purchase” was arranged, and SFPD arrested two or three people.

SFPD also received information from an informant that a buyer was very interested in “secondhand” (ie, stolen) electronics. This buyer was operating at 7th and Market, where stolen goods are often sold, and was re-selling the electronics. The police arrested him and found 175 iPhones, iPads, etc. with him, as well as $4,000. There had been several robberies at Duncan/Diamond Heights recently.

Even though robberies were down overall, iPhones and iPads continue to be stolen. If you’re on MUNI, do NOT sit near the door while you’re using your iPhone or iPad – thieves know exactly how to time the grab just as the doors are closing. The police have done an educational operation on buses telling people this information.

Burglaries have been on the rise, especially in Miraloma Park and Glen Park. I asked about Bernal as well, and it seems all three areas are seeing the same kind of burglary – between 9am and 3pm, often at houses where there’s no house across the street. The burglars will knock on the door to see if anyone is home. If the resident opens the door, the burglar will ask for some random name, then say they have the wrong house and leave. To enter, they typically break in the front door. The police chased one car of burglars on Tuesday on Evelyn at O’Shaughnessy in Miraloma Park, but the burglars got away, though the stolen property was recovered.

Representatives from the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center were there and advised that elderly residents near Precita Park seem to be getting targeted by burglars pretending to be utility workers. You can check to see if PG&E has sent a worker by calling 800-743-5000.

As you may have heard, there was apparently an attempted suicide on Bernal Hill at around 9am on Tuesday, 10/16. The captain said it was behind the gate, up the hill, but he wasn’t sure whether it was the northern or southern gate. He thought the person was still alive and was transported to the hospital, but he had no other details.

NEXT INGLESIDE COMMUNITY MEETING – 11/20/12 at 7pm at Ingleside Station.

PHOTO: Steve Rhodes

By way of the Bernalsafe mailing list comes a useful warning about a bandit who has been stealing the contents of packages and parcels dropped off by delivery services such as UPS, FedEx and OnTrac:

There has been much discussion of this on the Noe Valley Parents group but I’m new here so not sure if it’s been discussed before. There is a particularly prolific parcel thief operating in the Noe Valley and Bernal Heights areas. The perp cycles around checking houses as he goes by and stops to open packages right there on the doorstep. He’s not in the least bit covert about his operations and I have even encountered him on my property (before I knew what he was actually doing). Apparently he sometimes carries a sack for his booty and follows the UPS van around.

His infamy is so great he’s even on YouTube! Yes you can see him right here:

That’s him wearing his typical garb: cap on backwards, jeans, sneakers. He’s mid-late thirties, dark complexion, about 5,9″ and is always seen on a bike. I know from the Noe Yahoo group that there are several individual reports to the police (me included)… I’d encourage the same if you are losing parcels.

HAT TIP: Noe Valley SF

Neighbor Edie heroically attended the last community meeting at the SFPD’s Ingleside Station, and even more heroically… she typed up these notes just for you. Please read them carefully to learn about current crime trends, and how to avoid becoming a statistic:

Captain’s Report by Captain Tim Falvey (timothy.falvey@sfgov.org)

Our new captain, Captain Timothy Falvey, has been in the SFPD 17+ years, last two at the airport. As an officer, he worked in Northern Hayes Valley, and as a Sgt worked swing watch in the Mission. As a Lieutenant, he worked in the Southern district, then went to the Police Academy for three years, then was the Police Commission Secretary. Promoted to Captain, and assigned here.

Falvey highly enjoys his job, especially in San Francisco. Almost his entire family was in the department, and he joined because he noticed they were the only people he knew who enjoyed going to work every day. Falvey was an accountant for seven years first, but he didn’t like to sit doing paperwork every day, now that he’s a Captain, he sits behind a desk doing paperwork…

The Captain’s had a busy first few days since he started here. The first day he was on the job, a big cluster of thieves were going around robbing people of their cell phones. Three precincts detained numerous people involved, and there was an officer-involved shooting. The second day, there was a pipe burst and major flooding in the Sunnydale, and the house on the corner was redlined, and the police spent time evacuating the children at the school there.

Welcome to the Ingleside!

Crime Stats are tracked every 4 weeks, and compare the crime for 4-week period for 3 months.

Part 1 crimes (homicide, rape, robbery, violent assault) are down 21%. There was a spike in July, but now getting back to the norm.

Part 2 crimes (arson, burglary, auto theft, theft from vehicles) are down 25%.

Shootings: Total 19 victims in our district, compared to 23 last year at same time.

Reports of shots fired: down 43% (from 7 to 4). Again consistent with June.

Increased traffic enforcement helps to curtail violent crimes, because people often come from other areas (in cars) to commit those crimes.

So when crimes increase, police do more traffic checks to find people who shouldn’t be there and slow it down.

Arrests: This month there was a 200% increase in the number of robbery arrests (3 arrests instead of 1).

Recently there was a takeover robbery in the Ingleside: two robbers put people in the freezer and took their wallets & phones. Report went out and police spotted them on 7th & Market, a known place for fencing stolen goods. Police stopped them, asked Ingleside police to call the victims’ cell phone numbers, and phones rang from the robbers’ pockets. Police have charged them with ELEVEN robberies! Great job!

Robberies down 21%. Crime trend: robberies on the bus, especially iPhones. Perps wait outside the bus, spot someone using iPhone and, just as the bus doors are about to close, reach in and grab it. Passengers – pay attention. Don’t stand next to the open door with a $300 iPhone and wait for it to be stolen. Sit near the cameras, near the driver, far from the door.

Education, enforcement, environment… all are very important when preventing crime. When buying an iPhone, take it out of the bag and put it in your pocket, so the thieves will steal the bag, not the phone.

INCIDENTS AND RESIDENTS’ CONCERNS

Increase in burglaries in Miraloma Park. Common for perps to force open doors in broad daylight.

Alemany and Laura: Man spotted a month ago swinging a large chain and damaging property was arrested and is in jail on aggravated assault.

Blue Tape on doors: Bernal residents around Elsie St. have found blue painter’s tape at the bottoms of front doors, a strategy burglars apparently use to see when people are away from home. Now there have been several burglaries in the same area, and Taraval’s Captain reports finding tape near St. Brendon’s. Apparently, gangs will focus on a neighborhood for a while until moving to the next.

If you see tape on your door, DON’T touch it; instead, call the police non-emergency number (415) 553-0123 or email SFPDInglesideStation@sfgov.org and ask them to check for fingerprints.

Let’s keep our doors locked and our eyes and ears open: report any suspicious vehicles or persons via the non-emergency number (415) 553-0123. Get a license number and kind of vehicle, description of the people you see, pictures if you can, but don’t put yourself in danger. In one neighborhood where they’ve been taking license plate numbers, police have gotten two guns and four thieves off the street.

Traffic Control: Captain has asked his officers to concentrate on writing tickets for things that cause accidents, which create damage, and increase workload and paperwork. Also focusing on major transit corridors so that buses can move effectively.

New skatepark in Balboa Park, at the corner of Ocean and San Jose Ave. Kids have been sneaking in to skate even before the equipment was finished, but it should be open now.

The Ingleside station website has a new page on for local community-based organizations to post info on upcoming local events.

An SF ordinance prevents people from parking cars for sale in places they don’t live, so you can call on those cars with for sale signs that take up parking spaces in your neighborhood.

Beware of fraudulent calls using your personal information, such as children’s names, your address, etc.: A caller from Jamaica told someone they’d earned a large amount of money, but must pay in order to receive it. The caller knew the names of three of the victim’s children. Others identify themselves as children or grandchildren who are in another country and sick or in desperate need of cash. Callers often focus on seniors, and much of this fraud is international in origin, so it’s hard to catch the thieves.

NOTE: spookeo.com is a known source for personal information, and it’s linked to Ancestry.com. You might want to see just how much of your personal information is out there and available to anyone who pays for an account.

Suggestions to avoid being defrauded: If you don’t recognize the caller, don’t answer. They may also be able to piggyback on your line to make other long-distance calls on your bill. Talk to your family members (of all generations) about this kind of fraud, and set a way of identifying true family from fraudulent callers. For instance – establish a key word or phrase that doesn’t have anything to do with your known personal information. Tell everyone they should listen for that from callers, and always have others check with the supposed caller and other family members before they send money anywhere.

UPCOMING COMMUNITY MEETING

Ingleside Community Meetings are held on 3rd Tuesday of the month from 7 – 8 pm in the Community Room of the Ingleside station, 1 Sgt. John V. Young Lane at San Jose Ave. All are welcome to hear about issues affecting the district and ask questions. Next meeting will be Oct 16th.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

It’s that special time of the month for Bernal crime-watchers. Your ever-vigilant Neighbors Sarah and Edie attended the SFPD’s Ingleside Station Chief’s Meeting last week, and they typed up this mega-handy summary of the latest Bernal Heights crime news.

This month’s installment also covers a lot of Crime-Prevention 101 terrain that’s well worth reading. Stay informed, stay safe:

Whew! Please join Bernalwood in giving a hearty thank you to Neighbors Sarah and Edie for their excellent notes. Their YIMBY dedication is truly awesome.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

Are wannabe burglars waiting patiently to plunder your home when you’re out of town? A Bernal Heights neighbor writes about a trick the bad guys use to figure out if you’re away on vacation:

I wanted to let your readers now about what seems to be organized preparations for home theft in our neighborhood. We live on Coleridge Street, and over the last week or two we noticed little pieces of painter’s tape attached to our front door, between the frame and the door. The tape turns up during night. It would appear that the idea is to monitor who is home and who’s out on vacation. We have noticed the tape on several houses in our street.

Ingleside Police Station has been informed and Lt. Engler is on the case.

PHOTO: A neighbor on Coleridge