[Reprinted from The Richmond Police Station Newsletter of June 6, 2014. To be added to the station’s mailing list, email sfpd.richmond.station@sfgov.org.]
CAPTAIN SIMON SILVERMAN’S MESSAGE
This week, the SFGate Blog published an article entitled, “Busted! Bay Area’s most notorious speed traps”. The article asked readers, “Where have you been popped? Where do you consistently see police doing traffic enforcement? Tell us the freeway location or the cross streets …and we’ll publish the results.”
I was pleased that several readers posted locations in the Richmond District where they had been cited or where they had seen officers stopping violators. If publishing these locations makes people drive safely in those areas, then that’s a win in my book. Some posters felt that officers using radar to enforce speed limits or officers watching stop signs was somehow “sneaky.” I don’t think there’s anything underhanded about officers observing the behavior of people using the public roadway. The reason we have traffic laws is to establish a common social contract for the safety of the entire community. Drivers who break the law risk a citation. Those who drive safely won’t get pulled over.
Richmond Station’s officers are focusing on areas where there have been collisions and complaints about dangerous driving. One example is Fulton Street which was mentioned in the blog comments. Two children in crosswalks have been hit by cars on Fulton in the last few months. I am absolutely unapologetic about the citations that my officers have written on Fulton. They will keep writing cites wherever people are not driving safely.
Just to be clear, there are NO citation quotas for officers. Quotas are illegal. The officers are writing cites because people are getting hurt and killed.
On June 25th at 5:30 pm the Police Commission will hold a public meeting in the Richmond District at Presidio Middle School (450 30th Ave). This is an opportunity for the commissioners to hear directly from residents of the district. I will also give a brief report about Richmond Station. This takes the place of our regular monthly community meeting, so we will not meet on June 17th as we usually would.
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NOTEWORTHY ARRESTS
On 05/30/14 at 10:45pm, officers were called to the area of Fulton and La Playa on a call of a reckless driver. It was being reported that this vehicle almost hit a group of pedestrians in the crosswalk. One of the officers saw the vehicle as it pulled into a parking lot on the 800 block of La Playa. As they approached the driver they could tell he was extremely intoxicated. It was also discovered that his license had been suspended due to a previous drunk driving arrest. The 55yr old male was charged accordingly.
On 06/04/14 at 4:30pm, officers were called to a fight in progress on the 400 block of 5th Ave. Officers arrived and determined that there had been an argument between co-workers, and the suspect had punched one of the victim’s in the face. That victim also sustained a cut on his stomach. The second victim came into the room to get the suspect off of the first victim and a struggle ensued. The suspect then pulled out a knife and cut the second victim in the leg, causing a deep laceration. The suspect then fled the scene. The second victim was transported to the hospital for medical treatment. On 06/05/14 at 1:30am, the suspect, a 31yr old was located on the 3500 block of Cesar Chavez and detained. He was charged with aggravated assault and threats.
NOTEWORTHY INCIDENTS
On 05/29/14 at 2:30pm, the suspect knocked on the 89yr old victim’s door on the 500 block of 3rd Ave. He told the victim that he worked for PG&E and was there to fix utilities. He then asked for payment to do the repairs. The victim gave the suspect their debit card and PIN so the suspect could go take out money. When the suspect never returned the victim called the police. Due to the victim’s age, they could not remember much detail regarding the suspect other than he was a Latin male. The officers assisted the victim in notifying the banks and discovered that there had been a total of over $4000 charged to the account.
Between 05/31/14, 4pm and 06/01/14, 1pm on the 700 block of Funston, a suspect entered a garage and took 4 bikes. There were no signs of forced entry.
On 05/31/14 at 5:23pm, the suspect approached the teller’s desk of a bank located inside of Safeway on the 800 block of La Playa. The told the teller that he had a gun and demanded cash. The teller complied and the suspect fled out of the store. He was described as a white male, 35-45yrs, chubby, with a scruffy beard and moustache. He was wearing a black beanie and a black hooded sweatshirt. The gun was not seen.
On 06/02/14, between 7:30am and 9pm on the 3500 block of Clement St, a suspect attempted to enter a residence by prying open the front door. The door was damaged, but entry was not made.
On 06/02/14 at 7:17pm, on the 2900 block of California St, a resident of an apartment building was returning home and saw the suspect at the garage door, which was closed. She could see that the suspect appeared to be removing the lock from the door and yelled at him. The suspect fled west on California towards Baker St. He was described as a white male, 30yrs, wearing a green jacket and jeans and carrying a satchel.
On 06/04/14 at 12pm, a caller who lives on the 700 block of 39th Ave, looked out her window and saw a suspicious vehicle parked in front of his neighbor’s house across the street. The caller then saw two suspects exit the vehicle and ring the doorbells of two of the houses across the street. Both suspects then went back down and sat in the vehicle for a few minutes before running back up the steps of one of the homes. The suspects forced their way through the security gate and entered the home. Within 10-15 seconds, they came running out, empty handed and got back in the vehicle and fled south on 39th Ave. The suspects were two black males, 20-25yrs, one wearing yellow pants, the other all gray clothing. The officer conducted a walkthrough of the home and nothing appeared to be disturbed. They were unable to contact the owner of the residence.
Captain Simon Silverman said: “Some posters felt that officers using radar to enforce speed limits or officers watching stop signs was somehow “sneaky.””
Dear Captain Silverman: Thanks for your service, and these reports. Sometimes people lose track of their speed – I know that I have (and probably still do, from time to time). Hearing that there is radar in the area will help me become more alert to the consequences of ‘zoning out” when I drive.
That said, I hope you continue to use radar to enforce speed limits and I especially hope the Courts throw the book at some posters here who think they have a *right* – as apparently some posters in this forum do – to speed on our roadways. I would like to see even MORE radar and MORE enforcement against these scofflaws, be as “sneaky” as you want – cite the living daylights out of speeders. Full disclosure: I have gotten a few tickets (not for speeding) in past years and it has made me more cautious and safe on the road.
I would also like to see more citations given to people who ignore pedestrians in crosswalks.
Finally, another violation that needs more attention is the obnoxious sound of really, really loud motorcycle; those cyclists are breaking the law by exceeding standard approved-by-law decibel limits. I would like to see the riders who abuse their privilege to be fined up the wazoo! I guess they think that “loud” – “macho”. What does it take, about 12 oz of wrist torque to race a motorcycle engine? Those riders are anything but “cool”; they’re a nuisance and a menace. Cite them!!
Keep those citations coming!
@phil The motorcycles are a menace! And I completely agree, ramp up the enforcement!
@Phil: Totally agree! Thank you SPD for making the streets safer for pedestrians! We need to stop this whole “California rollin stop” at stop signs. I have almost been hit many times and it is really lame! Time to shape up!
And I totally agree about the motorcycles – someone rips around in the middle of the night and sets all of the car alarms off. It is a nightmare.
And while we’re at it- fine the hell out of those bicyclists who fail to stop at stop signs
Unfortunately, the SFPD has made a choice similar to take “TSA like” approach to pedestrian safety that amounts to pedestrian safety enforcement theater. The SFPD pedestrian “sting” that makes an appearance at Geary and Cook is a prime example. If they want to make a real difference, a sting operation is not necessary. But in order to make a real difference, a daily commitment to enforcing the traffic violations that endanger pedestrians every minute of every day is required.