Tomorrow: Public Meeting To Discuss Crime And Safety In District 8Photo: Matt Baume/Flickr
Brian Ray
Published on January 13, 2016

Issues of public safety are nothing new to the Castro and surrounding areas—we note incidents every two weeks in our semi-regular crime and safety  roundups. (Our last recap even included a story on our very own District Supervisor Scott Wiener being robbed.) 

Many commenters note fears and frustrations with safety issues such as car break-ins, vandalism, assault, muggings, and more, and Supervisor Wiener plans to address the ongoing problems at a safety meeting this Thursday at St. Philip Church (725 Diamond St.) at 6pm. According to Wiener, the meeting is intended to discuss the situation, including ways to make the community safer and increase communication.

"We've seen an increase in crime in our neighborhoods," Wiener told us. "The meeting is a good opportunity to discuss the problem and what we can do to address it. Dialogue between our law enforcement agencies and residents is key to reducing crime. We also want to ensure that neighbors are fully engaged in public safety efforts, including forming neighborhood watches."

In addition to communication and neighborhood efforts, Wiener also mentioned some specific points he'd like to address:

  • Improving police staffing and response.
  • More traffic enforcement and focus on property crimes.
  • Better efforts to ensure accountability for crime, as well as strong efforts at rehabilitation to reduce recidivism.
  • Increased neighborhood video surveillance.

Wiener acknowledged that a single meeting will not solve every problem, but that communication is key for residents to learn more about what each organization is working on to increase safety and awareness. Representatives from SFPD, the District Attorney's Office, and other groups will be in attendance.

The meeting will also serve as an opportunity for locals to voice concerns. At previous meetings, residents have brought up issues of limited police presence, increased amounts of suspicious individuals, and drug use. Others claimed that the meetings were more of a public relations event where different organizations threw more responsibility on citizens rather than coming up with solutions.

If you'd like your voice to be heard, or want to learn what police and local groups are doing about crime and safety around the neighborhood, swing by 725 Diamond St. at 6pm tomorrow. (And if you can't make it, let us know your take on crime and safety in the neighborhood in the comments, below.)