Police focus on property crimes
The San Francisco Police Department will begin assigning officers in its district stations this week to focus exclusively on combatting property crimes like car break-ins, coming after the worst year on record for such crimes in the city.
The new strategy is the latest in a series of efforts to quell an explosion of auto burglaries that has riled residents and city officials.
Last year saw more than 30,000 car break-ins in San Francisco, a 24 percent spike from 2016, which was already at epidemic levels, according to new end-of-the-year data provided by the Police Department. Arrest rates for auto burglaries, meanwhile, have dropped and remain well under 2 percent.
The new program will be tested at the department’s Mission and Taraval stations, two districts with significant rises in property crimes in 2017.
“We want to do everything we can to make this situation better,” Police Chief Bill Scott said in an interview. “It’s very frustrating for all involved. This is something we have to improve. We have to continue to find new ways and adapt to make this problem better.”
The new station officers will focus on investigating crimes such as car break-ins and bike thefts while acting as point people to communicate with neighborhood residents.
The department’s 10 stations, all of which reported an increase in auto burglaries last year, have teams of crime investigators, along with their patrol units. But those investigators are focused on crime in general, not on responding specifically to property crime.
The department shook-up its strategy to fighting car break-ins in October by disbanding its 18-person auto burglary task force, which operated on a departmentwide level, in favor of deploying more foot patrols focused on prevention.
In November, the department added a 35-officer, citywide General Crimes Investigation Unit for crimes such as burglaries, robberies and bicycle thefts.
Police suspect most auto burglaries are committed by coordinated teams of criminals that operate around the city. When police deploy resources to hard-hit areas, they believe the gangs simply begin operating elsewhere in the city.
The game of Whack-a-Mole means police see short-term success in areas where they devote their resources, but the problem persists citywide.
The new station-specific officers will work with investigators across the department as they spot spikes in property crimes in their neighborhoods and adjust resources and strategies as necessary, Scott said.
“Basically, what it will be is much better coordination and better focus,” he said.
At Mission Station, where police saw an 85 percent increase in auto burglaries last year, there will be four officers dedicated to property crimes.
The department will begin rolling out the program at each station by the end of the year, Scott said.
The new plan comes in part from a request by Supervisors Hillary Ronen and Norman Yee.
Ronen, whose District Nine includes part of the Mission, and Yee, whose District Seven is partly in Taraval Station’s jurisdiction, introduced a city ordinance in September requiring each station to devote a special unit to property crimes.
The supervisors, though, shelved the legislation the next month at the request of Scott, who said he supported the idea but wanted to roll out the program without the imperative from the city.
“We know when we mandate things on a department, we will only be half as successful,” Ronen said. “We’re on the same page with the chief anyway and, so far, I’ve been really impressed with his leadership.”
San Francisco is already one of the most expensive cities in the world. Its residents, Ronen said, shouldn’t have to accept “a tax” in the form of a broken window or stolen bike to live here.
“You feel very violated,” Yee said of the epidemic. “It’s really important to feel safe and not have to worry about someone breaking into your car or home. Let’s not allow for this to escalate.”
Ronen said her frustration with the break-in epidemic hit a critical moment with the Aug. 15 slaying of 23-year-old Abel Esquivel Jr., who was shot and killed a block from his home in the Mission allegedly by an assailant using a gun stolen from a city police officer’s vehicle.
“I was already very upset, but when Abel was killed, I just broke,” she said. “It was like ‘I don’t know how much worse this can get before we start prioritizing it, and start making a difference.’ ”
City residents also have been irked by what they see as a reluctance by the department to follow up on auto burglaries. Victims of property crimes are often directed to fill out police reports online and rarely see anything come of the investigations. Many car break-in victims don’t even report the crimes. Department officials have said they need to dedicate resources to violent crime.
The new station officers will ideally be more available, while initiating more public awareness campaigns to educate people on how to protect themselves and their belongings.
Both the chief and city leaders are optimistic that 2018 won’t be as bad as 2017.
“Let’s try this, and see if we can put a crack in it,” Ronen said. “We’ll see if it works.”