Officers Arrest Armed Parolee, Net Illegal Firearm

Tenderloin Station Update - Captain Gary Jimenez
A Tenderloin Station plain-clothes unit, consisting of Sergeant Obrochta and officers Moylan, Montero, Lew and Conway, were on car patrol in the area of Ellis and Jones streets, an area saturated with violent criminals, narcotics and weapons. The Officers observed a group of suspicious persons along Ellis Street. They recognized one of the subjects as an active parolee known for violence and narcotics convictions. As they reversed their vehicle in order to contact the parolee, another subject ran eastbound on Ellis, clutching at his waistband. Recognizing these actions as being consistent with concealing a weapon, the Officers displayed their badges and ordered the suspect to stop. He didn’t. During the pursuit, the Officers saw the subject discard a fully loaded assault pistol on Eddy Street. The suspect was soon arrested, and the firearm was recovered. These dedicated Officers should be commended for hard work that removed an armed felon from our streets.

Undercover Ops Net Stolen Goods, Perpetrators

Tenderloin Station Update - Captain Gary Jimenez
Recently, Sergeant Liu and Officers Muselman, Moylan, Johnson and Dudley, under the direction of Lieutenant Militello, worked an undercover operation for the recovery of stolen property. The team conducted its surveillance in the area of UN Plaza and the corner of Jones and McAllister – two areas known as open markets for the sale and purchase of stolen goods. On four occasions during the operation, the team observed the attempted sale of goods. The items included electronics equipment – iPods, a GPS system, a car stereo – and cigarettes that lacked the proper government seals. After recovering the goods, the team was able to reach the owner of one of the iPods. The owner thought the iPod was still in the glove box of her car. Upon checking, she informed officers that not only was the iPod gone, but the car’s stereo had been stolen, as well. In another instance, a recovered GPS unit led Officers to the victim’s car in the Bayview area, where the device had been stolen just two hours earlier. Because of the team’s fine undercover work and subsequent interrogation, three suspects were booked.

Dog Doo Afternoon

Tenderloin Station Update - Captain Gary Jimenez
5/28/09, 2 PM - Officer Jones responded to a call on Jones St., regarding a battery. A dog person was asked by a concerned citizen to clean up after his dog did a big poop deposit. The unknown errant pet lover walked away with his dog without complying with local 'pooper scooper' laws. The environmentalist quickly walked in front of the departing dog and dog owner to insist they not leave without first cleaning up his dog’s mess. The dog owner pushed our concerned citizen to the ground and the dog duo then fled southbound on Jones St. to Golden Gate Ave. This suspect is described as being a white male, 30-35 years old, 6 feet tall and 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing a brown jacket and sports a 'punk' hairstyle.

SFPD Arrest Three Suspects In February 23 Tenderloin Homicide

San Francisco police have arrested three suspects in the homicide that occurred on February 23, 2009, near the intersection of Turk and Taylor streets at 10:22 P.M. Taken into custody last Saturday afternoon, March 14, in Oakland, were Javon Fee, 28, of Oakland; Rorico Reyna, 29, of Hayward; and Barbara Barnes, 24, of San Francisco.

The suspects were charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder. They remain in custody with bail set at $2 million for each suspect.

Full SFPD press release here. SFGate coverage here.

Broken Windows?

The Broken Windows theory states that focusing on ‘low-level’ crime (disorderly behavior) can directly impact more serious and violent crime. Take the below example:

Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.

Intervening early in the cycle can prevent more serious crimes. While some dispute Broken Windows, many, such as Chief Bratton (Los Angeles) and Commissioner Kelly (New York), remain strong proponents. Their policing strategies reflect this. In particular, I’d like to draw your attention to Commissioner Kelly’s recent editorial in the New York Post:

Crime in New York began to fall under Mayor David Dinkins and continued to drop under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani - to the point that in 2002 many thought it had nowhere to go but up. Instead, under Mayor Bloomberg, new record lows were posted, year after year: Crime fell nearly 30 percent from 2001 to 2008, while quality of life improved (…)

How did it happen? The NYPD focused on low-level crime as never before. It deployed officers in large, concentrated numbers in precisely-defined zones where spikes in violent crime occurred.

Like any strategy, Broken Windows isn’t a stand-alone panacea. It’s meant to be used in coordination with other proven and effective strategies, such as CompStat, Community Policing and effective social service delivery (i.e. the CJC, modeled after New York's Red Hook Community Justice Center).

But it can be successful. We need look no further than our own Tenderloin. Just last week, in the Examiner, Captain Gary Jimenez explained how, along with community policing, increased policing presence and quality-of-life enforcement has been critical to reducing violence in the Tenderloin:

Murders dropped from nine in 2007 to four last year. Robbery dropped 9 percent, and aggravated assault plummeted nearly 14 percent (…)

Jimenez also attributed some of the success to the citywide “zone” strategy, where the police presence is concentrated in San Francisco’s most violent neighborhood. Tenderloin officers have also cracked down on quality-of-life offenses, increasing their narcotics arrests by 22 percent from 2007 to 2008 and disorderly conduct arrests by nearly 184 percent.

I, for one, believe that Broken Windows can be an effective strategy. But what's better than fixing broken windows is working together to prevent them from being broken in the first place. Indeed, not having to fix them should be the measure of success to which we aspire.

-Kev.

Community Policing and Zone Strategy Driving Successes in Tenderloin

The Examiner reported today on how a combination of increased community engagement and the targeted deployment of resources has succeeded in both solving and reducing crime in the Tenderloin.

Murders dropped from nine in 2007 to four last year. Robbery dropped 9 percent, and aggravated assault plummeted nearly 14 percent (…)

Tenderloin Police Station Capt. Gary Jimenez, who briefed neighborhood residents and The City’s Police Commission last week, said each of the murders were solved because of the focus on community policing. While entire neighborhoods in San Francisco have been intimidated into silence, Tenderloin residents feel more comfortable sharing information with police because they know and trust them (…)

Jimenez also attributed some of the success to the citywide “zone” strategy, where the police presence is concentrated in San Francisco’s most violent neighborhood. Tenderloin officers have also cracked down on quality-of-life offenses, increasing their narcotics arrests by 22 percent from 2007 to 2008 and disorderly conduct arrests by nearly 184 percent.

Tenderloin Station Update: Cameras Key to Nabbing Homicide Suspect

Update from Tenderloin Station - Captain Gary Jimenez
Many of our neighbors have heard about the man who was killed on Wednesday morning at 2 AM, at the intersection of Taylor and Turk. What many do not know is that the suspects’ descriptions were limited until two of your Day Watch Foot Beat officers came to work, and hearing of the incident at their lineup, went out to develop a more complete description, including the possible identity of the culprits. Within hours, the Officers located those believed to be responsible for this act and made the arrests. The alleged perpetrators are in custody and face a prosecution where the city cameras at this intersection will be the indisputable witness to what occurred.