[Reprinted from The Richmond Police Station Newsletter of February 15, 2013. To be added to the station’s mailing list, email sfpd.richmond.station@sfgov.org.]
CAPTAIN SHARON FERRIGNO’S MESSAGE
Officers from Richmond Station have been working extremely hard this week and the results have paid off. Officer Andrew Johnson made a great arrest this week of a fugitive sex offender from Georgia. Andrew detained the man who was riding his bike on the sidewalk; a quick record check revealed that he had escaped from Georgia. He has been remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshalls and is on his way back to Georgia. More from SFWeekly
Follow up investigations led to the arrest of a man wanted for the robbery of a bank located on the 5200 block of Geary Blvd that occurred on February 8th. Investigators reached out to local law enforcement agencies and the man has been arrested after committing a bank robbery in the East Bay. The officers are commended for their attention to detail, leading to the arrest of these violent predators.
Back on August 30th a residential burglary occurred on the unit block of Emerson. The suspect had left his cell phone behind and Richmond Station Inspectors followed up and determined the owner of the phone. The owner of the phone was located in the County Jail where he was being detained for another residential burglary. He was charged with the burglary from Emerson St as well.
Our next Community meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at 6pm. It will be in the Community Room, here at Richmond Station, 461 6th Ave. (NOTE TIME CHANGE)
NOTEWORTHY ARRESTS
On 02/16/13 at 5:10pm, officers conducted a traffic stop on Palm near Geary. The officers determined that the driver had a suspended license and both the driver and passenger were on probation. A search of the occupants and vehicle were conducted and officers located methamphetamine, marijuana and counterfeit bills. The two males, one 56 the other 47 were charged accordingly.
On 02/17/13 at 12:30pm, officers stopped a male on a bicycle for a moving violation. When asked for his identification he told the officers that he had none and gave them a name. When told without verification of his identity, he would have to be transported to the station for further investigation. He then gave them his true name and officers discovered the male had two outstanding warrants for his arrest. The 24 year old male was booked.
On 02/17/13 at 11:30pm, officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle at 36th Ave and Fulton St. When the officer approached the driver’s window he could smell marijuana from inside. The driver was extremely nervous and when the officer told him he could smell it, the driver admitted to having a small amount and pulled out a baggie from his center console. The driver continued to fidget and kept moving his hands around the car and the officer commented that he was acting like he had a gun or ten pounds of marijuana in the vehicle. The driver replied, “I have two pounds.” The officer located a cardboard box on the rear seat that had two additional large baggies of marijuana in them. The 49 year old male was charged with possession of narcotics for sale.
On 02/18/13 at 12pm, officers responded to the 800 block of 41st Ave on a report of a theft that had just occurred. The caller provided a description of the suspect and officers located the male at 42nd and Fulton. As the officers detained the male he admitted to them that he had “taken the lamps” and said they were in a bag, hidden behind a tree. The officers located the property and determined the following, the suspect was seen in front of a home talking on his cell phone, and he then entered an alcove by opening the front gate and took 3 lanterns. He also went to another home and took a ceramic elephant from in front of another home. The 41 year old male was charged with burglary and theft.
On 02/19/13 at 5:35am, a female attempted to leave a grocery store on the 800 block of La Playa without paying for the items. She had concealed several bottles of champagne, ribs, razors and hosiery in her purse and a paper bag and tried to walk out the front door. When a clerk and a security guard blocked her way, she pushed the clerk twice. The 32 year old female, who is on probation, was charged with robbery and a probation violation.
On 02/19/13 at 8:24am, a foot beat officer was in the area of California and Divisadero and observed a male riding his bike on the sidewalk. The male was detained and when asked for identification, he said he had none a verbally provided the officer with a name. The officer told him that he would need to verify his identity for the moving violation and he would have to be taken to the station in an attempt to do this. The suspect then gave the officer his true name and date of birth, and upon running a warrant check, discovered that the male had a warrant for his arrest from Chatham County, Georgia for a sex offense and failure to register as a sex offender. The suspect also told the officer that he had cut off his ankle bracelet that monitors his movement. The 30 year old male was charged with the warrants.
NOTEWORTHY INCIDENTS
On 02/17/13 at 8:10am, the victim was on a 38 Geary MUNI bus outbound. As the bus got to Geary and Presidio Ave, the suspect grabbed the phone from her hand and ran off the bus, north on Presidio Ave. The victim exited screaming that he had taken her phone, but no one came to her aid. The suspect then fled east on Post St where she lost sight of him. The suspect was described as a black male, 30-40 years, bald, with a dark hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.
On 02/17/13, between 11:30am and 3:15pm, two bikes were stolen, one from in front of the Academy of Sciences, the other from in front of the De Young Museum.
Between 02/17/13, 2pm and 02/18/13, 5:50am on the 2700 block of Geary, a suspect smashed out the glass on the front door of a business and took cash from the register.
Between 02/17/13, 9pm and 02/18/13, 10:15am on the 700 block of 7th Ave, a suspect gained entry into a garage by unknown means. The suspect then cut the lock on a storage unit and took camping equipment.
Between 02/17/13, 10:45pm and 02/18/13, 8:50am on the 3400 block of Geary, a suspect smashed out the glass on the front door of a business and took cash from register.
On 02/18/13, between 12am and 7:30am on the 2500 block of Bush St, a suspect took a bike from a garage. There were no signs of forced entry.
On 02/18/13, between 2:30am and 6am on the 3800 block of Geary, a suspect smashed out the glass on the front door of a building and took the cash register and the cash that was inside. The cash register was located around the corner from the business.
On 02/19/13 at 12:40am, the victim was sitting in a coffee shop on the 3500 block of California St. He had his iPad and cell phone on the table when the suspect grabbed the items and fled north on Spruce St. The suspect was described as a black male, 18-20 years, wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue jeans and stud earrings in both ears.
On 02/20/13, between 8am and 6:30pm on the 3700 block of Sacramento St, a suspect smashed the glass on the front door of a residence and took jewelry, cash, cell phones and a laptop.
On 02/20/13 at 3:45pm, the victim was walking on California St towards Spruce when the suspect ran by and took her phone from her hand. A witness told the victim she had seen the suspect enter a black Acura SUV and flee east on California St. The suspect was a black male, 20-25 years, wearing a red and white beanie and a black jacket.
I’ll say it again. If we had strategically placed surveillance cameras on all major streets we would have images of the faces and license numbers of perps, and their transportation, respectively.
We can either put surveillance in place, or continue to be taken advantage of by anonymous scum.
Agreed. This is not a matter of violating anyone’s privacy. If I’m out in public, I should have no such expectation, and neither should anyone else.
Phil: I’m not sure that actually deters crime. Singapore has mainy CCTV cameras however they need to be constantly maintain and operated correctly to gather info. And crime in those areas did not decline in a big way. There will be crime anywhere and anytime unfortunately. It’s more important to be aware of your surroundings and as a community notify the police asap if there is anything unusual. Strong neghiborhoods do more to deter crime than anything.
And these kid criminals seem to be wearing hoodies. I’m all for more security in place however these CCTV needs to be in areas where high crime is present. The career criminals will find a way to avoid the range of the cameras either through what they wear or through some other means that leads to damage of the cameras.
Star: Cameras will not solve every crime, and they do have logistical problems. San Francisco is not Singapore. I have a professional acquaintance who is a major supplier of control systems for surveillance cameras; he tells me that the cameras are getting better and better, and much easier to sabotage.
If someone is wearing a hoodie, they still at some points end up facing a camera. Also, license plate numbers from getaway cars can be scanned. the point it to *help* deter crime, and at the same time apprehend *some* criminals.
What is beginning to happen is that word is spreading among nefarious types that the Richmond is easy pickins’; that’s not a good thing. Today, it’s just cell phone and bicycle theft. Tomorrow?
Being aware of one’s surroundings is good advice, but that alone does not deter crime. It’s a complex phenomena and we whould put all the tools we can at our disposal – including good community awareness; responsible actions by citizens; surveillance; citizen education, and so on. Surveillance is a tool, nothing more. I do not believe it should be discounted out of hand because it doesn’t solve every crime.
Above, I should have said cameras are “much more *difficult* to sabotage.
“She had concealed several bottles of champagne, ribs, razors and hosiery….”
Someone was planning a hot date! LOL
Seems like most of the crime is done by blacks from the housing projects. PD should start profiling them aggressively maybe that would put a dent in this crime wave we’ve been having recently.
phil: Thanks for the information. Surveillance would be a good idea to a certain degree but with SF being so liberal I don’t know if the community and the ACLU would go for it. Since some people are paranoid about big brother having too much control. I do think that increasing the police force would be a good start. You are totally right about cell phones and bicycle theft being a start. From the random home invasions it could get worse before things get better.
On a personal note I’ve seen some high def cameras for private use that is outstanding in quality. None of that grainy junk that was out a couple years ago. And it all saves it to the cloud so storage isn’t an issue.
Paul: That would be a good tactic. Crime happens with any race. Blacks have been in the spotlight by the media however it can happen anywhere. If PD continues to be proactive and everyone gets involved and just gets sick of the increase in crime I think the turning point will come sooner rather than later. This report for small business having all these smash and dash windows is quite unfortunate.
There is one method that I think could reduce bicycle theft is this method used in Singpaore is this non removable sticker placed by the police. So the sticker is something you get at the police station that has this registered number. The sticker can’t be removed at all once it is stuck on the bike. In Singapore that had reduced bike theft by heaps. I’m using Singapore as an example because it is one of the safest countries in the world.
@Paul “Most crimes” eh? Looking at the last 2 police blotters:
7 crimes describe the suspects.
2 describe “blacks” – as you say.
5 describe another race.
Yep, that sounds like most recent crimes. Even looking at the last 2 months of police blotters, it looks like half of those that report a race are “darker skinned” – which in the dark with a covered face can be an easy mistake to make.
While I know it can help 80% of us feel safer to target the other 20%, before they’ve even done something wrong as individuals, it doesn’t make it right. Let’s make sure to let anyone wanting to live peacefully in this neighborhood feel welcome, and not have our police targeting one race any more than they already do.
This is completely within the realm of fantasy, but it will soon enough be reality. Stop and frisk is controversial because so many innocent persons of the targeted population get caught up in the dragnet. They have a right to feel violated, because they are not always assumed innocent, and treated badly by *a minority* of police officers (most offers, the vast majority, are professional in the execution of their duties).
All said, we are fast moving toward a culture where surveillance is far more subtle than “just cameras”. We’re talking about biodynamic markers (eye and fac recognition, at a great distance), and scanners that “see” hidden weapons carried (legal, or otherwise). Also, the NRA’s attempt to spread weapons, notwithstanding – we are going to see way more licensing of gun owners; re-licensing schemes; ammo background check – i.e. a “death of a thousand cuts” to the outsized and screwy gun control laws we have today. This will take time, but it is going to happen.
We’re going to see more surveillance, period. There is no way around that.
Last: consider that the anonymity afforded by large urban culture is only about 200 years old. Prior to that, if you lived in a village or small city, almost *everyone* knew almost everything about you – i.e. your comings-and-goings; who’s company you frequented; how much money you made (and had); your personal history, in detail…etc. In other words, humans did not evolve to operate in anonymous environmemts, and in a rather strange twist of technology, we are going to return to that scenario – wht the great difference being that only a select few will have access to surveillance information, thus leaving the BIG problem, going forward: – i.e. how will citizens gain transparent access to when they were watched, by whom, for what reason, for how long, etc. *without* compromising necessary surveillance for those we know would do us harm.
This is way off topic but interesting to consider.
In most of these theft cases, it was doors that were left open or unlocked or items stored in unsecured garages. Leaving expensive items in a car in a garage is not a good idea. Similarly, storing a bike in a highly visible garage and not having additional measures to lock up said bike is a bad idea. Even if you are the sole user of the garage and must store your bike in it, use a rack to lock up the bike. The most industrious criminal may still be able to abscond with your bike, but it sure slows them down and prevents quick grabs.