The month of March marks my year anniversary as the Commanding Officer of Taraval Station. As the Captain, I am often asked by community members and by members of the police department, “How do you like it?” My response is, “It’s great. I am very lucky to have hard working officers, a community that wants to be involved and a Board of Supervisors who work closely with me to address concerns of the community that we all serve”.
As the Commanding Officer, it is important for me to evaluate and re-evaluate how I am doing as a Captain and how my officers are performing. In my experience, I have seen that, overall, the officers of Taraval Station are working hard and truly believe in their commitment to the residents of the Taraval district. With that being said, there is always ways to improve. As a department, it is vital that we evolve in our strategies to address crimes trends and how we engage with the community.
In 2016, I’ve decided to go to a new format for the Captain’s Community Meeting. In an attempt to engage with a larger portion of the community, the Captain’s Meeting will now be held quarterly. The meetings will be held throughout the district instead of always meeting at Taraval station and the meetings will consist of a panel of speakers to address your comments and concerns. The core group of the panel will always be made up of me, a liaison from the District Attorney’s office, a liaison from SFSafe and the elected member of the Board of Supervisors which represents the area where the meeting is being held. In addition, we will invite other agencies within San Francisco that can address concerns specific to the community.
The first meeting is at 6:00-8:00pm on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 and will be located at the Ortega Library.
Since the meetings will be held throughout the district, we have made a real effort to choose locations that have parking and are easily accessible to public transportation. I would like to encourage everyone to please join us in the conversation because we are always more successful when we work in partnership.
Throughout the city we have seen an increase of property crimes. Many are frustrated as they have become victims of auto break ins and residential burglaries. In a press release by the SFPD dated March 16, 2016, it states:
“The 2015 numbers reported by the San Francisco Police Department to the FBI as part of the Uniform Crime Reporting program has been released. The overall number of the Part 1 crimes in San Francisco increased 15.30 percent in 2015 when compared with 2014 data, largely due to the 17.55 percent increase in Property Crimes.
Although Part 1 crime is up, Violent Crimes was actually flat when compared to 2014, and gun violence (injuries and death attributed to firearms) in 2015 was down 6.15 percent; a trend that has continued over the last several years.
Preliminary data collected by the Major Cities Chiefs of 75 agencies indicates that many other major cities across the country are experiencing an increase in violent crime.”
The statement continues:
“Property crimes were up 17.55 percent, most notably a 21.31 percent increase in larceny/theft. Theft from vehicles, which is included in the Larceny/Theft category, saw the largest increase of 30.62 percent over the previous year. San Francisco is not alone in California as many major cities are experiencing similar increases in this category.”
As the Captain when I read data that shows increases in crimes, I need to evaluate the best use of our resources. In my opinion the best prevention of crime, is high visibility by uniformed officer partnered with residents taking an active role in the safety of the community. I often speak of being a “Good Neighbor”; this simply means watch out for each other. Communicate with one another and get to know your neighbors. If you are interested in creating a neighborhood watch group, SFSafe can assist in the creation and coordination of your watch group. I strongly encourage residents to utilize SFSafe; they are a valuable resource who will work with you to harden your neighborhood against crime. To learn more about SFSafe, please log onto their website, www.sfsafe.org.
As I’ve reflected on the past year as the Captain of Taraval Station, I’ve realized while we are consistent with giving out statistics about the crime occurring in the district, we rarely highlight the great police work being done by the members of Taraval Station. In recent weeks, the officers of Taraval Station have conducted extraordinary investigations with great success. There are four cases that I would like to highlight for you.
Soccer Referee Suffers Serious Injury at the Hands of a Player
On February 21, 2016 a soccer referee was violently attacked by a player who was ejected from a game. The game was played at Lovie Ward Park and was an adult soccer league. The suspect fled prior to the arrival of the responding officers. The victim in this case, suffered serious injury and was transported to the hospital. The initial investigation was conducted by the responding officer and the follow up investigation was handled by Sgt Jesse Farrell and Sgt Kevin Healy of the Taraval SIT. Through interviews and computer queries, Sgt Healy and Sgt Farrell were able to obtain a search warrant for the residence of the suspect. During the service of the search warrant, officers collected a key piece of evidence and obtained a confession and an apology from the suspect. Due to excellent work done by Sgt Healy and Sgt Farrell, a violent individual was arrest and taken off the street/
Robbery of Female Victim
On February 28, 2016 at approximately 1945 hours, on the 1600 block of 34th Avenue, a female fell victim to two male suspects. The two suspects, armed with a firearm, committed a robbery and sexual assault against the victim. Responding officers arrived on scene quickly to discover the suspects had fled in a vehicle. During the course of the Robbery, the suspects stole the victim’s cell phone. Officers quickly determined the location of the phone and responded to the area. Due to the quick thinking, officers located the vehicle which was still occupied by the suspects. After a brief pursuit, both suspects were taken into custody along with the firearms used in the crime. Sgt Scott Hom, was the designated investigator to conduct the follow up investigation. During his investigation, he was able to obtain a confession from one of the suspects and exercise a search warrant that has potentially linked these two suspects to other crimes.
Theft of Vehicle
On March 5, 2016 as a family was moving utilizing a rental van, a suspect stole the van with the family’s belongings inside. The family was devastated by the loss and the case came to the attention of Lt. Ed DelCarlo, of the Taraval SIT. Lt. DelCarlo made contact with the family when he received notification the van had been recovered in another city. Initially, Lt. DelCarlo was told by the agency no property was recovered during the recovery of the van. Lt. DelCarlo met with the family to deliver the disappointing news. So impacted by the grief of the family, Lt. DelCarlo continued to investigate to determine if there was possibly anything recovered. With due diligence, after numerous conversations, Lt DelCarlo was able to locate most of the property that was stolen from the family. Lt. DelCarlo’s actions serve as a prime example of officers going above and beyond to find resolution for those that are victimized in the Taraval.
Auto Burglaries at the Tiled Stairs.
If you are a resident who lives in the neighborhood of 16th Avenue and Moraga, you have witnessed an increase of auto burglaries in that area. This location is known for the “Tiled Stairs” which have become a huge tourist attraction. As with many tourists, we have seen victims leaving valuables in their rental car, leaving the vehicle to enjoy the area only to return and find their items have been stolen. Auto break ins have impacted this neighborhood greatly. On March 15, 2016, members of the Taraval Neighborhood Team (TNT) conducted a plain clothes operation to conduct surveillance on possible suspects in the area. During their surveillance, they witnessed a possible suspect looking into numerous vehicles, but never broke into a vehicle. As the officers identified the possible suspect’s vehicle, they remembered a crime alert that was distributed. In the crime alert, it described a vehicle used during an auto burglary by a suspect. Once officers realized the subject they were watching was driving a vehicle that matched the crime alert, the conducted a traffic stop and detained the subject. Upon identifying the suspect, officers determined he was on felony probation and during a probation search of the vehicle located burglary tools. The suspect was placed under arrest. During the interview with the suspect, the suspect admitted to committing the auto burglary that was described in the crime alert. Due to the great work of the officers, they were able to take a suspect into custody who no doubt would have victimized more citizens if he was not taken into custody.
These are four excellent examples of the type of work and dedication the officers at Taraval Station display on a daily basis. As the Commanding Officer, I continue to value their character and commitment to the community they serve. Despite challenges they face as law enforcement officers, they continue to rise above expectations and serve the residents of the Taraval District with honor and integrity.