Reader Sarah and Sidekick Edie attended the monthly Captain’s Meeting at the SFPD’s Ingleside Station (so you didn’t have to). And once again, the notes they shared with us are invaluable. Read on to find out what’s going on in the neighborhood, and how to stay safe:
Ingleside Community Meetings are held on third Tuesday of every month from 7 to 8 pm in the Community Room of the Ingleside station, and all are welcome to attend and ask questions. This is a great opportunity to meet and discuss crime and other problems affecting the district.
Captain’s report by: Lieutenant Mario Delgadillo (filling in for Captain Mahoney, who was at a training session).
1. The biggest new issue for the police is Occupy SF. All districts have been sending four to five officers to the site regularly during the week, which then means fewer officers are available in the district. It also affects their ability to train the officers new to the district. That said, he added that only small splinter groups had been at all violent, and he said that many officers “would like to agree with their cause.”
2. There was a double shooting last week in the Sunnydale area; both people survived. The police have been successful in getting guns off the street in the past week. One incident, however, involved someone holding a toy rifle that looked extremely realistic. If it had been night, the person would likely have been shot. The upshot: don’t let your kids have realistic-looking guns, especially assault rifles (in case you thought that was a great idea).
3. There was a spate of robberies over the weekend in the district – across neighborhoods, apparently unconnected. There has also been a spate of bike thefts along Monterey Blvd, so the bike decoy program will likely show up there soon. It’s slow going but several people have been caught. Also have a laptop lojack decoy – an officer sitting with a bag, waiting to catch anyone who runs up and steals it.
4. There have been some new personnel rotated into the station since June:
- Lt. Parra was a lieutenant before he transferred here.
- Lt. Delgadillo started off 30 years working gangs and narcotics in the Mission, as Sgt. he worked gangs all over the came to Ingleside. Now he’ noticing a new generation: retired police officers’ kids are arresting older gang members’ kids.
- Lt. Tom Feledey was a sergeant before he came here.
- Lt. Trena Wearing is familiar with this district because she did recruiting here.
5. Sarah asked about the spate of wallet/bag thefts at the library playground in Bernal Heights. This had been a topic of discussion recently on the Bernal Parents List. Lt. Delgadillo didn’t think most of them had been reported, as is often the case when the victim assumes that there is little chance that the item will be recovered. But let us encourage everyone to report these crimes, even when they’re small, because the data is what allows the police to spot a trend and start using decoy programs, stationing plainclothes officers, etc. to catch the perpetrators. Lt. Delgadillo made a note of this rash of thefts, however, and will report it to the captain.
6. The lieutenant came prepared to talk about Bernal Heights. There are lots of social and cultural activities in Bernal Heights, with lots of people on the streets, so people look out for each other and don’t hesitate to call the police. Only 4 incidents reported in Bernal in the month reported on (9/11 to 10/8):
- Shooting on Franconia. Two friends got into a fight in a house, one shot and killed the other. Arrest was made the following day when the suspect returned to his house to walk his pit bull. Officers had staked out the house and arrested him.
- Aggravated assault at 30th and Mission
- Bike theft
- Car break in
Miscellaneous other information:
– Captains throughout the districts: District captains work the day shift. At night there’s a single captain for the whole city.
– Urban Shield: This past month, SWAT teams from all over the world (Jordan, Israel, East Coast US, etc.) came here to do 31 exercises in 48 hours. The teams worked non-stop in various scenarios including hostages, terrorists, dignitaries and moved from one incident location to another all over the Bay Area, including on ferries, BART, aircraft, etc. Interesting trivia: Jordan’s team shot everyone in sight in an exercise to protect a dignitary (considering everyone they “shot” as collateral damage), but they also have a separate all-female SWAT team to work in areas men aren’t allowed. SF has two SWAT teams. Some of the Peninsula cities have shared SWAT teams.
– Neighborhood watch groups are very good at affecting crime. In the Mission, when Lt. Delgadillo was working there on gang matters, neighbors began doing neighborhood walks, accompanied by police officers. The gang members saw them with the police and realized that they couldn’t touch the neighbors or they’d get arrested, so they moved away from the walkers and changed to other streets.
– Alemany trash and graffiti: Police are trying to clean up abandoned cars and campers (some with people living in them) because they’re a hazard to kids who might try to get into them. Campers also go to Holly Park to camp – probably when the police have moved them off of Alemany. Police are being aggressive (within the law) by towing vans, but there’s only so much they can do. (A member of the community had asked about these.)
– The sidewalk at the top of the hill overlooking San Jose Avenue between the Highland and Richland Avenue bridges is not mapped in the 911 system. When neighbors call, the operators always thinks they’re talking about the sidewalk at the street level on San Jose Ave. itself, not the paths behind the houses up above San Jose. The group discussed how to fix this issue using specific language and asking to speak to a supervisor.
– Marijuana dispensaries: will the Feds start clamping down again? Rumors abound, but not an SFPD priority. FBI and DEA can undertake their own actions, however.
– A suspect in a recent series of bank robberies all over the Bay Area was apprehended on Tuesday in the Ingleside District. Another bank robber turned himself in the same day.
CRIME STATS:
4-week period, 9/11/11 to 10/8/11
Crime/Number of Incidents/% change (month)/% change (YTD)/# arrests
Aggravated Assault/23/-12%/-33%/13
Robbery/23/-12%/6%/4
Sexual Assualt/2/1/100%/0
Burglary/34/10%/-16%/1
Auto Theft/40/-30%/-13%/0
Theft from Auto/43/-17%/-6%/0
A little about us and our future: I am Andrew Marks, the General Manager and Operator. I have been in the food and beverage industry for 17 years, it is all I have known since I was 14 besides school, and a once upon a time career as a musician. I have been bartending for 11 years, 6 of which have been here in San Francisco. My first job here in The City was at Blowfish Sushi, where I bartended at for 5 years. I also bartended at Madrone for a few years, Salt House, and I still continue to moonlight at Laszlo/Foreign Cinema where I have worked for the last 3 years. I enjoy cocktailing, cocktails, but primarily I am a beer and a shot dude, which will be reflected a lot in the general concept of Iron & Gold.
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