Community Members,
Summer is upon us, kids are out of school, back home from school and many adults’ parents or not are taking time off work and dreaming of far off or local destinations and planning sunny summer vacations. Apparently Mark Twain once stated the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco! With vacations in mind it’s important to protect your residences, apartments or living spaces while you are away. Try to not make it obvious that no one is home. Don’t let newspapers, mail or package delivers pile up. Contact the post office and have your mail put on hold until your home and don’t leave garbage cans out while everyone else has taken their cans in. Put a lamp on a timer so it turns on intermittently so it looks like someone is home. These are just some of the tell-tale signs that opportunistic thieves and burglars are looking for.
Look out for each other and let your neighbors know when you’re away so they can keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. Contact your building security, home owners association, neighborhood watch groups and friends and family you trust and let them know about your plans. Also just be aware that social media posts for everyone to see that you’re not at home have also come back to bite some people so just a word to the wise and be aware of what you post and if it is public or private. I know it’s fun to share your vacation experiences but be aware it may present a risk if circulated far and wide and with too much detail.
The 4th of July is also around the corner and I want to remind everyone that all fireworks to include “safe and sane” are illegal in the City and County of San Francisco. There have been past incidents of illegal and dangerous fireworks displays in our neighborhoods please don’t be part of that and if you see something dangerous just call 911. Also a new tip line has been set up using email, if you observe any activity where you think there could be any activity related to illegal fireworks sales you can report you concerns to SFPD.fireworks@sfgov.org and we will check it out. Officers throughout the city will be out in the neighborhoods on the 4th of July taking enforcement action.
Traffic enforcement is an ongoing thing and Vision Zero is always something the Police Dept will focus on. Officers will continue to engage in traffic enforcement operations at different locations in the Taraval District, we call it Focus on the Five. The five intersections with the most accidents are identified through data form our records and then enforcement operations are conducted. Drive safe, look out for each other, have a safe 4th of July and an enjoyable summer.
Follow me on Twitter at @SFPDTaraval for some really interesting tweets and go to Taraval.org for much more information on crimes tips, traffic safety, home safety and much more.
– Captain Nicholas Rainsford