With new SFPD redistricting taking effect as of July 19th, Central Station has picked up a chunk of additional ground to cover, which includes some of the most active areas of the city. We asked some of the area's stakeholders, including the district's police captain, to weigh in with their thoughts.

Prior to the changes, the borders of Central ran mostly from Larkin Street on the western border (with a small chunk over to Van Ness Avenue at the north) and the waterfront and piers on the northern and eastern borders, down to Market and Geary streets on the south.

Now, Central's southern border extends to Mission Street, encompassing all of Justin Herman Plaza (it previously only included the portion north of Market Street), the Ferry Building, Harry Bridges Plaza (the median on the Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building), and a larger chunk of Union Square businesses. It cuts off at Third Street and jogs back up to Market, but then includes a triangle over to Cyril Magnin Street that encompasses Hallidie Plaza.

As anyone familiar with these areas knows, they're hotbeds for potential police activity. Justin Herman Plaza attracts homeless encampments, while Harry Bridges Plaza is notorious for skateboarders and the homeless. The Ferry Building welcomes huge numbers of customers each day, especially at the Saturday farmer's market. Union Square is also densely populated, and its numerous stores, many of them high-end, are potential targets for shoplifters and robberies. Hallidie Plaza, with one of the busier BART stations, sees a robust amount of foot traffic.

Hallidie Plaza. Photo: FHKE/Flickr

To help cover all of this new territory, Central Station received two additional officers. But Captain David Lazar said it's also seeing ongoing staffing increases as officers graduate from the police academy. "Our plan is to add foot beats," Capt. Lazar said. "We’re grateful for the city [approving] the budget for more officers, which are needed."

He was referring to the Board of Supervisors' resolution, approved June 23rd, to increase police staffing levels to reflect population growth. The number of officers will expand from 1,971 citywide (as decreed by city charter in 1994) to 2,200. The resolution was sponsored by Supervisors Scott Wiener, Malia Cohen, and Mark Farrell, and passed by a vote of 6–5 (District 3 Supervisor Julie Christensen voted yes; District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim voted no).

"The redistricting makes sense" from a policing strategy viewpoint, Capt. Lazar said. "Now, instead of splitting Union Square in half, we have the majority of Union Square." And since the district previously stopped just north of the Ferry Building and didn't include the parcel of Justin Herman Plaza south of Market (by the bocce courts), Central can now focus more on quality-of-life issues in those areas, he added.

Justin Herman Plaza bocce courts. Photo: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline

Karin Flood, executive director of the Union Square Business Improvement District, said that now the area falls into just two districts instead of three, it "makes things a little more manageable."

However, she still has concerns about the number of officers assigned to the district, especially after the expansion. "Now that Central and Tenderloin have more area, do they have more staffing? I am very concerned about that, because Central picked up a lot of area," she said. "I’m not sure that they got the staffing that they needed. We’ve been advocating for a long time to get more staffing."

"We're super excited," Jane Connors, senior property manager for the Ferry Building, said of the changes. Since the Ferry Building previously fell close to the district border between Central and Southern, it wasn't always clear who was responsible for issues.

"Depending on who shows up and what issues we have, it’s always been, 'Who does this issue belong to?'" she said. "I think it’s going to be great. I think it’s going to assuredly define the boundaries. I think it’s going to be clear for the police department assigned to the district, for our tenants, for our security team."

Harry Bridges Plaza. Photo: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline

Stephanie Greenburg, co-chair of the Central Station Community Police Advisory Board, said extending Central to include all of Justin Herman Plaza is a good idea. “That’s a continuous public space, and it makes sense that you have one station or one captain with responsibility for that whole area," she said.

However, she said it seemed "odd" to extend the Mission Street border up to Third Street. "I guess I’ll just have to see how that plays out," she said. "It seems adding that area dictates adding a lot more resources to Central Station. I think there needs to be a substantial increase in resources for Central Station.”

"We know we need more [officers].... I'm monitoring it closely," said District 3 Supervisor Julie Christensen. She's concerned that the city has been basing its current policing estimation on numbers that are decades out of date. "Of course, I will be advocating for additional officers and resources if it turns out this is beyond what they can manage with what they have," she said.