January 26, 2015
Contacts:
Brent Sverdloff
Executive Director Pubic Safety Coordinator
(415) 553-1981
brent@sfsafe.org
Mason Lee
(415) 553-1985
mason@sfsafe.org
San Francisco SAFE (Safety Awareness for Everyone) will hold a public safety awareness press conference to kick off the 2015 Lunar New Year (Year of the Ram) celebration. The event will be hosted in partnership with Chief of Police Greg Suhr; the San Francisco Police Commission; The Board of supervisors; District Attorney George Gascón; and Captain David Lazar, Commanding Officer at Central Police Station.
On Wednesday, February 4, the San Francisco Police Department, SAFE, the District Attorney’s Office, Department of Public Health, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Community Youth Center (CYC) and community volunteers will hand out safety information packets to merchants and shoppers in Chinatown. Citywide distributions will continue on subsequent days. At the same time of the merchant walk, officers of Central Police Station and volunteers will pass out shopping bags, sponsored by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Chinese Community Health Plan (CCHP), printed with prevention and education tips on the Blessing / Asian Scam at various locations in Chinatown.
Safety information packets to merchants will include safety tips to prevent extortion, burglary, robbery, and details on what to do if there is an incident and how to communicate with the police. This year, the Blessing / Asian Scams awareness and pedestrian safety tips are also included. Additionally, in lieu of SAFE’s traditional red envelopes containing safety messages, merchants will now find a newly – designed “Fai Chuen” (a red and gold poster that also signifies good luck during the Lunar New Celebration) with the message “Be Safe” (printed in both Chinese and English) inserted
in each packet.
A second press conference, in partnership with Captain Robert O’Sullivan, Commanding Officer at Bayview Police Station, will be held on Thursday, February 5 at 11:00 am in the Bayview Police District at 1 Burrows Pocket Park @ Burrows Street and San Bruno Avenue. Both events are made possible by the above agencies and generous support from the Portsmouth Square Parking Corporation.
When: Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Where: Grant Avenue @ Bush Street (Gateway to Chinatown)
Time: 11:00 AM
