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Central District captain outlines community policing gains, lingering staffing shortfall
Summary
Captain Garrett Tom told the Police Commission the Central District has reduced some violent crime and used foot beats, tactical units and business partnerships to address Broadway corridor problems, but the department remains about 300 officers short and continues to rely on targeted operations and community partnerships.
Captain Garrett Tom gave the San Francisco Police Commission a nearly hour-long overview of the Central District on Wednesday, detailing crime trends, staffing and neighborhood programs.
Tom said the district — about 1.8 square miles with some 75,000 residents that swell to roughly 350,000 people during the workday — has seen mixed crime results year to date: robberies were up slightly, auto break-ins and burglaries are a notable problem, auto theft is down and arson incidents increased from six to 12. He credited a recent undercover sting at Fifth and Market for a significant recovery of stolen property.
Tom described a multi-pronged response on the Broadway Corridor: three additional foot beats funded by the chief, traffic motorcycle support on weekends, a commercial-inspection unit to screen party buses, tactical units and outreach with hotels and business associations. He said the department has adopted a party-bus protocol and is working toward a new community benefit district for Broadway.
Tom emphasized the Central Station’s community programs — STEP, school visits, a student fingerprinting program, senior-lunch outreach and bilingual police service aides — and highlighted partnerships with the district attorney’s office and neighborhood advisory boards. He said Central Station fields officers who speak Cantonese and Mandarin and that the station uses PSAs and reserves to bolster language access.
Chief Gregory Sir reviewed personnel moves and training: multiple promotion ceremonies, active-shooter preparedness events with external experts and an academy class that will graduate 45 officers Friday. Sir said the department is short roughly 300 officers (about 15 percent) but expects staffing to improve with upcoming academy and lateral recruitment efforts.
Commissioners praised Tom’s community engagement and asked follow-up questions about traffic and pedestrian safety, terrorism-liaison officers and crisis-intervention (CIT) staffing. Tom said Central Station has 22 CIT-certified officers under the new curriculum and additional officers certified under the prior program.
The presentation closed with the commission and the chief committing to continue resource discussions and to monitor outcomes of Broadway enforcement and neighborhood-court diversion work.
