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Central Station captain outlines staffing, foot beats and crime trends
Summary
Captain Paul Yip told the Police Commission Central Station has 149 sworn personnel, doubled foot‑beat officers this year and reported mixed crime trends: some violent crimes down while auto burglaries and robberies remain a persistent problem.
Captain Paul Yip, commanding officer of the San Francisco Police Department’s Central Station, told the Police Commission that Central Station has 149 sworn personnel and has expanded community foot‑beat patrols this year. "Central Police Station has a 149 police officers," Yip said as he described the station’s organizational breakdown and language capabilities.
Yip said Central handled 155,748 calls for service in 2016—an average of 426 calls a day—and that calls were running roughly 900 higher year‑to‑date compared with the prior year. He described an increase in dedicated foot‑beat officers from 14 to 28 and said the plainclothes street‑crimes unit has made about 140 arrests since April targeting auto burglaries.
The captain gave a detailed year‑to‑date crime breakdown. He reported fewer burglaries and vehicle thefts compared with last year in some categories, but said robberies and auto burglaries remain significant and that violent‑crime totals have shown worrying upticks in recent months. "Arrests are going up, but the crime is still going up," Yip said, noting that the department is examining systemic gaps beyond enforcement.
Chief William Scott and Deputy Chief Michael Redmond were in the audience during the presentation; Chief Scott later highlighted homicide caseloads and recent arrests on several homicide cases and said the department is pursuing aggressive investigations.
Yip emphasized prevention and community partnership strategies—expanded foot beats, partnerships with business improvement districts and ambassador programs, targeted traffic enforcement and an emphasis on private video surveillance as crime‑solving tools. He also noted language and community outreach assets at Central Station, listing officers who speak Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish and other languages.
The commission followed with questions about whether increased arrests are leading to durable reductions in repeat offending; Yip said the department is working closely with the district attorney’s office but cannot yet report final sentencing outcomes on recent arrests. The commission asked for continued tracking of enforcement outcomes and prosecution dispositions.
