In last night's monthly community meeting at Park Station, Capt. John Sanford, Jr. shared the latest crime stats and briefed attendees on his plans for managing next week's unofficial 4/20 smoke-in, which is expected to attract as many as 12,000 cannabis enthusiasts to Golden Gate Park and Upper Haight.
The meeting room was decked out with streamers left over from a birthday party for April Cheng, Sanford's executive assistant. "I made the decision to leave the streamers up, so you don't think all we do is put people in jail and write police reports," he said.
April Cheng, Capt. Sanford's assistant, received flowers for her birthday.
Before starting the meeting, Sanford noted that there were as many police officers in attendance as civilians. "I've been told most of the community is at home filing their taxes," he said, before going over the district's crime numbers.
For the third month in a row, the number of automobile-related crimes in Park District declined slightly. Between January 1 and April 1, 98 vehicles were stolen, compared to 113 vehicles during the same period last year. So far in 2016, there have been 233 auto break-ins; last year, there were 272 reported incidents by this time.
"We know sometimes people are just running into a store, or running into their house, but it just takes these auto burglars a matter of seconds to break into cars, steal the items and be gone," said Sanford. "They purposefully walk around these areas looking for things of value. When you don't have anything visible and don't leave valuables in the car, it usually discourages them. They're looking for a quick catch."
There have been 18 robberies this year in Park District, which "overall is very low," said Sanford. "It's not like we have any gangs or any perpetrators who are working a specific area," and most robberies are shoplifting attempts "involving individuals who get into a struggling match with a merchant or security guard over low-value items."
In March, officers from Park Station wrote a total of 283 traffic citations to automobile drivers; no bicyclists or pedestrians were cited. 16 drivers were cited for using a mobile phone, Sanford said, adding that April is Distracted Driving month.
To cope with the expected crowds at next Wednesday's 4/20, "an entirely unpermitted" event, Sanford announced extensive road closures that will impact routes along the Panhandle, Golden Gate Park and Cole Valley.
"Our responsibility is to facilitate and make sure that the public's safety and the quality-of-life concerns are addressed within Park District," said Sanford, who expects people to start arriving for the pot party as early as this weekend.
"The message that we are putting out is that we will take swift law enforcement action if necessary," said Sanford, who's turning the community room into a command center for the district's 4/20 operations. Residents and merchants with concerns can contact Park Station officers directly at (415) 242-3060 and (415) 242-3061.
Sgt. Joe Salazar leads Park Station's plainclothes unit.
Sgt. Joe Salazar, who leads the station's plainclothes team, shared information regarding the latest narcotics arrests in the Haight Street corridor. An operation on March 14 netted four drug-related arrests; six additional arrests brought in a suspect with an outstanding warrant, as well as one who had a stay-away order.
"If you know of locations where there's very active drug dealing in an apartment building or a house, please let us know," said Sanford, who suggested using SFPD's TIP411 or anonymous tip line at (415) 731-2865. "There are many ways to notify us, even if you do not want to be identified," he said.
Salazar also spoke about a car break-in investigation at Twin Peaks that led to the seizure of guns, currency and drugs in a series of raids around the Bay Area. "Guys that commit auto burglaries diversify their crime," said Salazar. "In this case, these turned out to be some associates who were very involved in criminal activity."
While conducting surveillance in the Twin Peaks area, Salazar observed two suspects break into cars before fleeing to the Ingleside District. SFPD guidelines prevented him from giving chase, "but I was able to take pictures of the vehicles they were in, and also of the subjects," he said.
Working with police from Ingleside District, Salazar and officers from Park Station connected the individuals to a series of burglaries in the Outer Mission. Video footage from resident security cameras led to a monthlong investigation that led to the recovery of three weapons. Both suspects were on criminal probation in San Francisco, Salazar said.
Assistant DA Erica Corns works directly with Park Station to build cases.
After opening the floor to residents with questions or concerns, Sanford introduced Erica Corns, the new Assistant District Attorney assigned to Park District. "We were able to get more positions, so we can focus on a smaller number of stations," said Corns, who also works with Northern District.
Assistant DAs work directly with individual stations to gather evidence used to build criminal cases. Corns, who was an intern in the District Attorney's office for two years, was previously assigned to the domestic violence unit.
"I've been with law enforcement in San Francisco for quite a while," she said, noting that she's also prosecuted cases involving robberies, narcotics, burglaries and major felonies in her four and a half years as an ADA.
Supervisor London Breed.
Near the end of the meeting, District 5 Supervisor London Breed made a cameo appearance, offering an update on her work to address quality of life issues related to the area's homeless and transient population.
Breed offered support for police efforts to prosecute quality-of-life crimes related to drug use and sales, as well as homeless encampments, but added that "we're not doing the best job of providing alternative resources for some individuals who are out there, unfortunately living on the streets."
Many homeless people abide by the law "and aren't a part of" criminal activity, Breed said. "I'm committed to understanding it a lot more, and continuing to make sure we're providing funding into those programs that help change lives."
The next Park Station meeting will be held at 6pm on Tuesday, May 10th in the station's community room at 1899 Waller St.
