SAN FRANCISCO—London Breed, Acting Mayor for the city of San Francisco and San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott announced on Tuesday, January 9, a new citywide effort to prevent, report and investigate property crimes in the city.
“We know that people are understandably frustrated by the rise in property crimes,” said Acting Mayor Breed. “By addressing this issue in a comprehensive fashion, the police department is targeting and tracking serial criminals while restoring the trust of our residents and visitors. Parking your car should not be a calculated risk. We are taking the steps to make sure our streets are safe for everyone.”
According to a press release from the Mayor’s website, with the new enforcement strategy, the San Francisco Police Department will create dedicated teams at all 10 district stations aimed on property crimes, such as auto burglaries, which increased 24 percent in the city from 2016 to 2017. The property crimes teams will work with the SFPD’s General Crimes Unit to track identify and monitor serial offenders across districts and coordinate a date-driven citywide response. Officers from these teams will work directly with community groups on crime prevention strategies.
“San Francisco is among several Bay Area cities that are seeing a rise in auto burglaries,” said Police Chief Scott. “A successful approach to curtailing these crimes must include proactive policies, data-driven strategies and a partnership between police officers and the community. In November, we created a General Crimes Unit to focus on residential and commercial burglaries, auto break-ins and bicycle thefts. Today, we are announcing dedicated staffing at district stations assigned specifically to property crime prevention, reporting and investigation. This will give us improved coordination and communication between department units, stations and the community in our fight against these crimes.”
The district property crime teams were introduced on a pilot basis to the Mission District stations. The teams will be rolled out at the remaining eight stations in the coming months. The staffing levels at the district stations are the latest implements by the SFPD to decrease property crimes in the region.
The General Crimes Unit, a 48-member, cross-jurisdictional group, was created in November to address commercial and residential burglaries, auto break-ins, bike thefts and other property crimes. This included a comprehensive district station strategy that included the doubling of foot patrols around San Francisco, a strategic deployment of plainclothes officers and public education program on crime prevention.
