Fall is here and we are all approaching the time of year when everything seems to get really busy. With Halloween around the corner, the holidays will follow quickly. I wanted to take a moment to focus on a few important items.
Halloween can be a very exciting time for children and adults who enjoy getting in their costumes and celebrating. Often we have children who cannot get to the next house quick enough to see the treats dropped into their Halloween bag. Sometimes both children and adults may choose a costume that gives them limited sight to their surroundings, so please be extra careful as you travel through your neighborhoods and our community. Here are a few quick tips:
- Walk Safely- Please cross streets using crosswalks. Before crossing the street, take a look around, make eye contact with drivers before stepping in front of a vehicle and watch for care that are turning and backing up. Due to blind spots in a vehicle, you may see them but they may not see you.
- Trick or Treat with an Adult- We recommend children under the age of 14 should not be alone at night without adult supervision. For those older “Trick or Treaters”, travel in a group and please stick to areas you are familiar with.
- Choose a costume that will keep you safe- Be creative, decorate your costumes and Trick or Treat bags with reflective tape or stickers. Have kids carry glow sticks. There are great glow necklaces and bracelets out there and I always like to put a glow stick in my kids Trick or Treat bag for extra illumination.
- Slow Down and Drive Safely- Please slow down and be alert for the extra pedestrians that will be out. The Taraval District is very unique in that we have many intersections that are not four way stops. Drivers should approach each intersection with caution.
- Avoid the “Witching” hour- We recommend that all children, teenagers as well be home by 10:00 pm. On evenings like Halloween, we tend to see more public safety concerns later in the evening, so please have your children home at a safe hour.
Finally, Taraval Station will be handing out treats and we would love to see all the kids and their great costumes so come on by!!
Once Halloween is over, we all shift very quickly into the holidays. During this time, please take the time to plan out your days. I know we can all sometimes find ourselves in a rush and this can cause serious traffic collisions within our community. We ask that you please slow down when driving and pedestrians please travel safely through our district as well. With the holidays, comes a high increase of package deliveries to your homes. We also see a high increase of criminals who will steal your packages off your front steps. We recommend when ordering on line, that you request a signature when packages are being delivered. Also be good neighbors. Talk to your neighbors if you are expecting a package. Let them be your eyes when you are not home to receive a package. It is common that a criminal we follow a block or two behind delivery trucks and pick up the packages after they are delivered and left unattended. If you witness this type of criminal activity, call 911.
When utilizing 911 or the non emergency 415-553-0123, please take the time to describe to the call taker the incident you are experiencing. The call taker has not experienced the incident you are calling about and the more information you can give, the better the officers of Taraval Station can serve you. In cases when an incident may change and has become more urgent, call again. For lower priority calls, i.e noise complaints, homeless concerns, if you feel there has not been a response by officers in a reasonable amount of time, call again. Finally, when making a complaint for a quality of life issue, if you wish to speak with an officer, let the call taker know. This will ensure the responding officers make contact with you before clearing the call for service. Finally, if you have an ongoing complaint or concern within your neighborhood, please contact Sgt Kevin Mannix or myself. This will allow us to evaluate the situation and develop an enforcement plan specific to you concern.
Recently, the City and County of San Francisco launched the SF311 Mobile App. “The SF311 Mobile app lets you submit a number of service requests quickly and on the go where ever you happen to be in San Francisco.”
The SF311 app lets you submit the follow types of service request:
-Abandoned Vehicles -Graffiti
-Illegal Postings -Street and Sidewalk cleaning
-Streetlight Repair -Blocked Sidewalk or Space
-Damaged Public Property -Litter Receptacles
-Sign Repair -Street/Sidewalk Defects
-Tree Maintenance.
To get started download the SF311 app to your smart phone and click the “New Request” icon.
Last month Taraval Station experienced significant member movement during promotions of Sergeants and Lieutenants, as well as a number of officers. We are thankful to have increased our officer staffing by 10 percent and also increased our number of sergeants assigned to Taraval Station. With this increase in staffing came an increase in the number of officers deployed to work at night. We also gained Sgt Ryan Crosby to lead our TNT unit. I am very pleased to welcome the below members to Taraval Station:
Lt. Martha Juarez Lt Richard Goss Lt Ed Delcarlo
Sgt Mark Yesitis Sgt Wagganmann Sgt Ryan Crosby
Sgt Rene Nielsen Sgt Eric Lau Sgt Oscar Barcena
Off Sean Cody Off Dennis Hoang Off Eric Berreneche
Off Lars Nelson Off Anthony Gomez Off Nathan Lim
Off Ricardo Ramirez
In closing, as always, please join in the conversation and my monthly Captain’s Community Meeting which takes place on the third Wednesday of each month. This month’s meeting, is this Wednesday, October 21 and Minnie Love Rec Center. Meeting begins at 6:00 pm. I look forward to seeing you there.