SFPD Richmond District Police Station
Weekly Update 08-21-2015
From Captain Simon Silverman
How come you never call?
As our use of social media and e-mail has increased, we are getting more and more cases where people contact us on-line to report a crime in progress. We don’t monitor Nextdoor.com, e-mail, Twitter or Facebook 24/7. However, our public safety dispatchers are always on duty for you. Please call 911 for emergencies or 415-553-0123 for non-emergency police service.
Here are some of the incidents that occurred in the Richmond Police District this week:
DISCHARGING A FIREARM / VANDALISM TO VEHICLES
08-13-2015 10:00 PM to 08-14-2015 7:00 AM
Rossi & Turk
An unknown suspect shot at a row of parked cars overnight resulting in damage to the vehicles. Several .40 caliber shell casings were recovered at the scene. No one called the SFPD at the time, but the next day a few people reported having heard gunshots over night.
Captain’s Note: If you think you hear gun shots, please call 911.
ROBBERY
08-14-2015 10:40 AM
Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park
The victim was taking pictures with his camera when the suspects attacked him from behind, yanked the camera from his grasp and fled to a nearby vehicle.
Suspect #1: Black male, 20-30 years old, wearing blue jeans
Suspect #2: Black male, 20-30 years old, wearing blue jeans
Suspects’ Vehicle: Red Nissan SUV with Oregon license plates
ARREST: CIVIL SIDEWALKS VIOLATION / RESISTING ARREST / BATTERY ON A POLICE OFFICER
08-14-2015 10:48 AM
Geary & 19th Ave
An officer saw the suspect sitting on the sidewalk in violation of the civil sidewalks ordinance. The officer explained the ordinance to the suspect and tried to identify him to see if he had previously been warned or cited for the offence. The suspect ignored him and walked away. The officer told him to stop, but the suspect made a fist and tried to punch the officer. The suspect struggled with the officer and twice bit him on the arm with enough force to break the skin. Other officers arrived to help and the suspect was safely handcuffed.
ARREST: WARRANT FOR GRAND THEFT
08-15-2015 6:29 PM
Geary & 45th Ave
Officers were on patrol when they saw a suspect they knew to be on probation for grand theft. They ran a record check and discovered that he also had a warrant for his arrest for grand theft.
MISCELLANEOUS SERVICE
08-15-2015 10:10 PM
Clement & 4th Ave
A customer went into the restroom just as the restaurant where he was dining was closing for the night. The employees closed and locked the business with 2 padlocks trapping the customer inside. The customer called 911 and the responding officers tried to contact the restaurant owner but could not find him. The fire department arrived, cut the locks and rescued the customer.
Captain’s note to business owners: We keep an emergency contact file for businesses so that we can get in touch with you after hours if need be. If you want to add your business to the contact file, drop by Richmond Station.
ARREST: DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
08-15-2015 11:15 PM
Geary & Stanyan
Officers saw a BMW going 65 MPH on Geary Blvd and pulled it over. The driver appeared to be intoxicated and refused to perform field sobriety tests. He also refused to consent to blood alcohol testing so the officers obtained a search warrant which authorized drawing a non-consensual blood sample from the suspect. The suspect had a previous DUI conviction.
Captain’s Note: Under California law, a person who drives a motor vehicle is deemed to have given his consent to chemical testing of his blood or breath. A person who refuses testing faces sanctions from the DMV such as a license suspension.
ROBBERY
08-18-2015 11:30 PM
Fulton & 26th Ave
The victim was walking along when four suspects surrounded him, threatened him and took his wallet and shoulder bag. They fled on foot.
Suspect #1: Latino male 5’9”150 lbs skinny build, with a baseball cap, red T-shirt and dark pants
Suspect #2: Latino male 5’150 lbs medium build, with a white T-shirt
Suspect #3: Latino male 5’6” skinny build
Suspect #4: Latino male
ARREST: DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
08-19-2015 2:19 AM
Geary & 38th Ave
Officers responded to a call that a car had hit a light pole and discovered that the driver of the car was under the influence. She claimed to have had just “three vodka and cranberries” but her blood alcohol concentration tested at over .24% which is three times the legal limit.
ROBBERY
08-19-2015 12:44 PM
MLK & Bernice Rodgers Way in Golden Gate Park
The victim was leaning into his car when the suspect ran up and struck him on the back of the head with a camera tripod. The suspect then took the victim’s backpack from the car and fled on foot.
Suspect: Latino male, 30-35 years old, 5’4” 150 lbs, wearing a black T-shirt and black pants
ARREST: DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
08-19-2015 11:49 PM
Fulton & Arguello
Officers on patrol saw the suspect speeding and running stops signs. They detained him and found that he was intoxicated. His blood alcohol concentration tested at over .16% which is two times the legal limit. He subsequently apologized for, “Driving like an a**hole.”
Captain’s Note: In vino veritas.
MENTAL HEALTH CALL
08-20-2015 6:21 PM
Hagiwara Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park
A disturbed person jumped out of the bushes and began trying to grab members of a Segway tour. Officers responded, and recognized the man from previous, similar incidents. He was transported to the hospital.
MEDICAL CALL
08-21-2015 12:48 AM
Presidio & Pine
Officers responded to a 911 call from a man who claimed to have been robbed. They found the victim lying in the doorway and looking ill. He told the officers that he was coming down off of heroin and needed an ambulance. When they asked him about the robbery, he told a vague story about being robbed in the doorway and was uncooperative. Officers looked at the surveillance video from a nearby business that clearly showed the man calmly lay down in the doorway and wait until a passing citizen lent him a cell phone with which to call 911. Officers determined that no robbery had occurred and paramedics took the man to the hospital.
Contact Us:
Richmond Station
461 6th Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94118
415-666-8000
E-mail: SFPDRichmondStation@sfgov.org
the US Department of Justice is coming after these Criminalization of the Homeless laws http://sfist.com/2015/08/17/justice_department_says_homeless_sh.php
“Officers saw a BMW going 65 mph down Geary…” At least it never gets old enough to stop ticketing them–although I’m afraid cops would run out of ink long before they’d run out of cars to ticket. And if someone ever counted the cars that most frequently speed and tail, my money’s on BMW drivers. They certainly are special. I wish there would be more cops patrolling Geary, especially in the three morning and afternoon rush hours. PLEASE!
I took the time to read The Governments Statement on this:
https://consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/bell_v_boise_statement_of_interest.pdf
I also read over some of the Robinson and Jones Decisions.
Setting aside for the moment that failure of the Founding Fathers to add a Bill of Responsibilities to the Constitution, whereby certain Rights have Certain Responsibilities…
I agree with the notion that the sit-sleep laws are a criminalization of a class of necessary behavior (sleep) and should be viewed as a violation of the Eighth Amendment.
That said, this legal conclusion is predicated on the fact that there is not enough space provided by the public for these folks to go to.
However, After listening to three separate Richmond District Police Captains tell me the same thing; that they try to take people to shelters that have space and they refuse to go because they just don’t like the places.
I think that if there is space and they refuse to go then they should not be “covered” by an Eighth Amendment blanket.
One way a city can and should get around this last issue is to find 10, 20, or whatever is necessary acres and make it a public campground. Now, you nor I would every stay there and it would be a pit. But, for people who will not, for whatever reason, go to a shelter it would be a patch of ground for them. Under such a situation, the local police can advise a person that they can go there to sleep or they can be cited.
I for one get tired of stepping over people. I do not mind spending some money for a space for them to go. To those that think we can “solve” the problem I think you can make a dent in it but never solve it. The Romans could not solve it, the Nazi’s could not solve it, and the Communists could not solve it. All with absolute power. What makes anyone think a Democracy can do it?
You cannot. You can only manage it. So the conclusion I draw is do we manage it so I do not have to step over them on the sidewalk or do we manage it so I have to.
@JD,
But our sit-lie law isn’t against sleeping. In fact, it was specifically crafted with that in mind. It’s only in effect from 7am – 11pm. Additionally, during the day, it is legal to sleep in parks (but not erect tents or disturb the plants as many do).
Boise’s law was much more concrete, and the statement is just that — a statement from the DoJ.
Unfortunately, our homeless shelters with any capacity left (recent reports suggest 97% of beds filled nightly) are in remote parts of the city, far away from where most support groups (eg, food), communities and panhandling are. So they don’t want to go… to them it’s like us building an apartment block in the central valley and shipping them out there. Also unfortunate, but creating any sort of campground would only create a hazard, and result in permanent residents of it — with more homeless who still would be on the streets (plus it’d be literally creating a ghetto, and trying to shunt people into it, which has bad historical and civil rights connotations).
Criminalizing humans for existing without a home is wrong, sure, but it’s tempered with the fact that there is a definite level of choice in remaining here. Many of the homeless in fact come here for that reason.. the homeless problem in the city is unfortunately not solvable within city limits. It can only be solved in the communities that ultimately feed us our homeless population (many of which are local ones). And this statement from the DoJ about the Boise law is arguably about that, not us.
I think it’s time for cops to do sting operations around GGP and Richmond District late nights for people cruising around looking for victims to rob. sound like other groups of people are learning how unsecure our district is and are pulling the crap.
when i mean other groups i don’t mean race wise, i just mean another group of people. each suspect descriptions are similar but different so i wouldn’t assume they are the same group, i just think more people are picking up on how the Richmond District is becoming easy pickings
My friends are so used to their calls not being responded to, after they contact police via the non-emergency number, that they then alert others via other media platforms. However, it may be time to get with the times. I’ve heard many stories where it’s just not practical for people to speak outloud (ex: a crime going down on a public bus and not wanting to draw attention to oneself in a confined space). I don’t expect that to change overnight, but progress marches on, regardless if law enforcement becomes more flexible.
I mean people who call in have no idea if the police are coming or not, when half an hour passes (or more) they get pretty sure that no one is coming. And frankly, if people can act like a-holes on sidewalks because they have a home (or are light-skinned), then I have a lot more pity for those just looking for a place to sleep or struggling with mental health/recovery issues; they literally cannot help it — “neighbors” (or summer renters) are willfully being law scoffing jerks. The arbitrary laws of the sidewalk are irritating. It’s a sidewalk, unless there is a scheduled event, anyone seen using it as a place to party is setting an example to others (including the homeless) that such behavior is to be tolerated.
Thx for the facts, Straver.