Booster member Julie Jackson (julie@jacksonliles.com) wrote this recap of the June 26 Boosters meeting with Captain Albert Pardini of Bayview Station. Thanks, Julie!

San Francisco SAFE
To set up a Neighborhood Watch, call 673-SAFE, or get more information at
www.sfsafe.org

SAFE brochures: http://www.sfsafe. org/2os_brochure.htm

Personal safety tips:Thieves are looking for easy opportunities - be aware of your surroundings at all times, walk with confidence
Trust your gut instinct if you feel that you are in danger
Stay on well traveled streets, avoid shortcuts that would take you off the beaten path
Only carry the cash and items you need, separate your money, identification and keys in separate pockets
Avoid gas stations and ATM machines at night, if possible
Stay in well lighted areas at night
Program 911 and the local SF emergency # 553-8090 into your cell phone
Use your cell phone camera to take pictures of anything suspicious or to
capture license plate numbers, this can be done discreetly

Home safety tips: Keep your windows and doors locked, install motion sensor
activated lights at the exterior of your home, get to know your neighbors,
let your neighbors know your typical schedule and when you will be out of
town so they know to be suspicious if they see activity at the house at an
unusual time, set up a Neighborhood Watch with your neighbors, consider
having SAFE come to do a Home Security Assessment on your home

Car safety tips: lock your doors once you get into your car, don’t leave
items in your car when parked, don’t leave your garage door opener in your
car at any time (it could get stolen and the thief would have easy access to
your home), be aware of your garage door area when you are coming or leaving
in your car (someone could sneak in)

Captain Albert Pardini from the Bayview Police Station
Sign up to get the weekly e-mailed report from the Bayview Station by
sending an e-mail request to the Bayview station at:
SFPDBayviewStation@ci.sf.ca.us

There is no easy answer on the crime that has been proliferating on Potrero
Hill, unfortunately. Apparently, there are many “commuter criminals” coming
to the City due to SF’s low prosecution rate. Again, they are looking for
an easy opportunity to get cash or items that they can sell for cash.
Captain Pardini said that the police dept. thinks that gang activity in the
Potrero Hill Housing Development is on a downward trend. No answers on the
many gunshots we hear from time to time, except that the City is *maybe*
looking at thinking about possibly researching a system that detects
gunshots and immediately alerts authorities to the location where the shot
was fired from. Basically, the department is understaffed and the Bayview
station covers a huge area of the City with around 115 officers. Since they
can’t be everywhere at all times, he highly encouraged us to set up
Neighborhood Watches, look out for each other and notify them of anything in
the least bit suspicious.
Tony suggested that we find out what we as a
community can do to pressure the City to allocate more resources to the
department, I hope that can be discussed further at a future Booster’s
meeting.

Captain Pardini stressed that ANY suspicious person or activity should be
called into the non-emergency police #553-0123. He emphasized that no
matter is too small to report to this number, so trust your instinct. You
can call anonymously, or you can leave your contact information and have
them follow up with you after they check out the situation. Of course, in
an emergency don’t hesitate to call 911 or the local emergency #553-8090.
Don’t hang up if you are put on hold or you will have to restart your place
in the queue. If you are on the highway and the 911 call gets routed to the
Vallejo CHP, they will redirect you immediately to SF when they answer the
call.

You can also request “Passing Calls” (officers will make several drive-by
trips to a certain area over a period of time) by calling the station at
671-2300. This is a good way of getting more police presence in your area,
which in itself can discourage crime.

Officers patrolling the Potrero Housing Development carry cell phones in
order to be contacted quickly. Their numbers are below.
Potrero Hill Development
Officers Kelvin Sanders and Alex Rodatos 415-509-1408
Potrero Hill Development
Officers Tim Fowlie and George Ferraez 415-987-6389

For property theft crimes, such as car break ins or bicycle thefts, take
advantage of the online reporting system at:
http://www.sfgov. org/site/ police_index. asp?id=28854

It’s very quick and you will be able to print out the final report which will be sent via e-mail. It also saves the officer the time of having to come out to to take the
report and then go back to the station and input the information the old
way, which results in more officers on the street. It’s still a bummer to
have something stolen, but at least the online version is easier than the
old system of making a police report.

For nuisance issues such as trash or abandoned cars, call 311 and make sure
to take note of the ticket number in case you need to follow up with a
supervisor if the matter is not corrected.

I hope that others will chime in with anything I may have missed and forward
their information to the group. Thanks to Tony for arranging to have the
Booster’s meeting this month focused on safety at the request of many
neighbors on the Hill.

Best,
Julie