SFPD is gradually beefing up its staffing as new recruits graduate from the academy, and last week, Central Station added four more foot beat officers to one of the most densely packed areas of its district: Fisherman's Wharf.

The Wharf now has four officers on patrol from 11am-9pm, and another four from 2pm–midnight. That's a big increase from when Central Station Capt. David Lazar joined the station in May 2014—back then, only one officer was assigned to the Wharf beat. Lazar later added three more officers from 11am–9pm, but this is the first time in three years the neighborhood has had a night deployment.

One reason the Wharf was chosen for the new night beat is because of its heavy foot traffic, which makes it an attractive target for criminals. "This is a preventative measure," Capt. Lazar said, saying he's seeing a steady flow of nighttime robberies, three-card monte scams and drinking in public, and he wants to get a lid on it before tourism season starts in May. (From January 1st to April 17th, the Wharf saw 50 thefts from vehicles, 17 robberies, 20 assaults, 20 incidents of vandalism, seven burglaries, and four pickpocketing cases.)

Sherman and Sylvester question a man camping on the pier.

The additional officers come none too soon, according to Troy Campbell, the executive director of Fisherman's Wharf Community Benefit District. He said he walks to the ferry each night and sees multiple incidents on his route, ranging from people panhandling to playing shell games to a man passed out so cold, Campbell feared he might have died. "I very rarely have walked to the ferry and not seen something that needed a police officer to address," he said.

Thanks to people counters installed by Springboard, the CBD knows that the Wharf hosted nearly 11 million visitors last year—and that's not even counting Pier 39. "One of the reasons why I would argue we need the beat cops here is the sheer volume of people we have, and the amount of people that target our visitors," Campbell said. "If people don’t feel safe and feel like they don’t want to leave their hotel room at night, that’s not good, and that can have repercussions for our city and our industry." 

Sylvester and Sherman question and cite a man who was walking in front of cars.

"When there’s a Giants game, there’s an army of police all around the Giants stadium to deal with 40,000 people," Campbell added. "On a busy day, we can have 60,000 ... We want to protect them; protect their property."

We walked the beat on Tuesday evening with two of the new nighttime officers, Taylor Sherman and Jonathan Sylvester. Twice while we were out, a private security guard approached to ask for their help with people misbehaving. They also get a fair number of visitors asking for directions, recommendations for where to eat and drink, and requests for photos of them.

Sherman and Sylvester patrol from 2pm–midnight on the new night beat.

The main goal, they said, is to be visible in the hope of dissuading criminal behavior, from people sleeping on sidewalks and aggressively panhandling up to people breaking into cars and stealing cell phones. "The most important thing out here is having our presence," Sylvester said. "The criminals go away."

While we were out, they wrote two citations for jaywalking (including one woman who reportedly was also panhandling, but they didn't see it, so didn't cite it) and questioned a man camping on the pier with carts covered in tarps. They reminded him that he can ask them to help him find shelter.

While jaywalking might seem minor, Sylvester said citing it keeps pedestrian and vehicle traffic running smoothly and prevents collisions. "When there's a lot of people on weekends, it gets really nuts," Sherman adde.