SAN FRANCISCO—On Thursday, July 19, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón announced that a jury found two co-defendants Derrick McWay, 19, of San Francisco and Jaquan Crowell, 20, of San Francisco, guilty of felony auto burglary earlier this week. The conviction is the result of a joint effort between the San Francisco Police Department and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office Crime Strategies Unit (CSU), a multi-disciplinary team of neighborhood prosecutors, analysts, and investigators who used a data-driven approach to resourcefully address neighborhood-specific crime.

“Strategically focusing on auto burglary hotspots and problem areas are effective tactics in reducing the city’s auto burglary rate,” said District Attorney George Gascón. “Through data-driven analysis and collaborative efforts with the San Francisco Police Department, we were able to significantly drop the number of incidents in this hotspot.”

“Working in collaboration with the District Attorney’s Office, auto burglaries are down 20 percent year to date in our city,” said Police Chief William Scott. “The outcome of this case shows how strategic, data-driven collaborations can have a powerful impact on improving responsiveness to our communities and reducing crime rates. We are committed to continuing this work with our partners in the District Attorney’s Office to address serial crimes in our city.”

According to a press release from the SFDA’s Office, on January 22, at approximately 6:42 p.m., the SFPD conducted an auto burglary abatement operation in collaboration with the Crime Strategies Unit. The operation was carried out at the Safeway located on Monterey Boulevard, which has been the scene of many auto break-ins. Following a two-week trial, the co-defendants—a getaway driver and a lookout—were convicted of felony auto burglary, and misdemeanor charges, of possessing stolen property and possession of burglary tools.

“As a result of this successful arrest and prosecution, there have not been any reported auto burglaries at this specific location since this arrest,” said Assistant District Attorney Maggie Buitrago.

“Through the analysis of online, 311, and in-person auto burglary reports, we were able to identify the Monterey Boulevard Safeway as a hot spot location that was ripe for the focused deployment of investigative resources,” said Ingleside Station Captain Jack Hart. “Empowered with this information, Ingleside plainclothes officers utilized evidence-based principles to be at the right place at the right time to make the arrest. Neighborhood prosecutor Margaret Buitrago recognized the importance of this case to the community, officers, and victims, and worked diligently from arraignment through trial to obtain this just result.”

The partnership between the Crime Strategies Unit and the SFPD resulted in a decrease of auto burglaries. Effective policing, methodical investigations, and aggressive prosecution led to convicting repeat offenders, who worked in groups to prevent detection.

The case follows two recent pleas in two separate cases for felony auto burglary violations in the past few weeks. On May 24, a defendant was sentenced to 5 years in state prison for breaking into a car located at California and Franklin Streets and stealing $2,000 worth of stolen goods. On June 6, a prolific auto burglar was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in county jail for committing multiple auto burglaries in the SOMA district.