San Francisco - Crime & Emergencies

The era of San Francisco Patrol Special Police officers patrolling the Castro is set to conclude at the end of the year with the departure of current officer Cody Clements.

Safeway shoppers inside the Castro location at 2020 Market Street were met with a new sight over the weekend: automated gates and fencing to help deter shoplifting.

Bay Area robberies that target well-known retailers have gotten out of control over the past several days, so much so that it has Governor Gavin Newsom saying he is taking action.

While initial reports described “no reported injuries” in a shooting that also hit Ritual Roasters and several cars, SFPD announced Sunday that one victim has been shot and suffered “life-threatening injuries.”

Another company has run afoul of San Francisco ordinances and spray-stenciled ads on sidewalks in the Mission District.

The Church and Market Safeway has moved all its shopping carts inside the store after 160 carts were stolen in recent weeks.

Early Friday morning, the driver of a vehicle crashed into and destroyed two parklets at Church and Market streets. 

Jacqui Berlinn was touched by the people who turned out at her protest in the Tenderloin this week, which highlighted the dangers of fentanyl and its impact on the neighborhood.

After months of delays, the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit (Castro CBD) held a virtual town hall Tuesday about its proposal to install a private network of 125 security cameras, and it was highly contentious.

The one-story, flatiron-shaped building that once lived at 2100 Market was home to multiple businesses over several decades. One of its brief incarnations in the 1970s, a 24-hour diner called The Truck Stop, figures into the unsolved case of "The Doodler," a serial killer who preyed on gay men in San Francisco, and about whom Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan has just done a new podcast.

The brutal attack on a 67-year-old man was recorded on security video, as another violent incident against an elderly victim continues a worrisome streak.

Since the Castro Merchants launched a broken-window recovery initiative and survey last Thursday, neighborhood business owners have reported 72 incidents of vandalized and broken windows at a cost of $135,472.74.

Increased foot patrols, handbills, and police liaison programs aim to beef up security in advance of this weekend’s Year of the Ox celebrations.

There's been a massive jump in burglaries in the Richmond District, year over year, according to new data from the SFPD's Richmond Station. And while burglaries are reportedly up in multiple neighborhoods, we're only hearing a definitive report on the first five weeks of 2021 from the Richmond.

Two kids were found safe in the Bayview after a carjacking/kidnapping in Pacific Heights on Saturday, Oakland swears in a new police chief, and San Jose police de-escalate two standoffs in one morning.

A random, unprovoked pellet gun shooting Friday night in the California Street Whole Foods parking lot left a 28-year-old woman hospitalized.

Private investigator Jack Palladino, who worked on high-profile cases including celebrity and political scandals involving Bill Clinton and Kurt Cobain, among others, has died after suffering from a violent attack and attempted robbery in the Haight-Ashbury.

The culture of Cow Hollow may be under attack, or maybe some joker called the police for a pretty cheesy reason.

The Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District (Castro CBD) has extended the deadline on its security camera survey and delayed an upcoming virtual town hall.

Two women killed in a hit-and-run on New Year's Eve will be remembered during a vigil Wednesday afternoon at the scene of the collision in SoMa.

On Tuesday evening, the Castro's Parisian-themed bakery and cafe Le Marais Bakery (498 Sanchez) had its storefront window smashed and the business burglarized, leaving its owners frustrated and disappointed in what has already been a challenging year for small business owners.

Vehicle thefts are up 50% in the Taraval and Richmond Districts, and surfers say a new lockbox key system is responsible for a spike in thefts targeting their cars.

Marina residents who live near the Buena Vista Motor Inn (1599 Lombard St.) say that break-ins, attempted break-ins, and two reports of gunshots in recent months have them on edge — and they connect this apparent uptick in crime to the motel being used to shelter homeless individuals during the pandemic.

A four-alarm vegetation fire broke out Friday just after noon on Sign Hill/San Bruno Mountain in South San Francisco, immediately threatening homes and a densely populated area.

ATMs were damaged at both Bank of America and Wells Fargo.