Richmond Station outlines 'Safe Streets' traffic plan, merchant camera pilot amid mixed crime trends

Captain Sharon Ferigno, commanding officer of Richmond Station, told the San Francisco Police Commission at a community meeting that the station’s year-to-date violent crime numbers have declined while property crime has risen, and she urged continued community partnerships to address vehicle-related thefts and traffic injuries.

Ferigno said the station’s focus is twofold: reduce serious injuries from traffic incidents through a new Safe Streets Richmond education program and slow the recent increase in property crimes that the department attributes largely to auto burglaries and thefts of electronic devices. "Our goal with that is to start in the Richmond District and then share it citywide," she said of the Safe Streets plan, which pairs school-based education with targeted enforcement and traffic-calming measures developed with Muni and the Municipal Transportation Agency.

The captain outlined staffing and language capacity at Richmond Station — a mix of patrol, plainclothes and investigative officers and bilingual personnel — and described community-driven projects: a merchant camera program developed with local merchants and technical guidance from Sergeant Mike Murphy, and coordinated outreach with SAFE and other community groups. Ferigno said merchant cameras will be piloted on Sacramento and Geary streets to help solve thefts and provide evidence for investigations.

On auto thefts and related property crimes, Ferigno said the station has been working with undercover and plainclothes teams and conducting targeted enforcement where patterns indicate the presence of 'chop house' activity. She described educational outreach in Golden Gate Park and at major visitor sites, and the use of electronic signboards and partner web pages to remind visitors and residents to secure valuables.

Commissioners asked for clarifications on statistical comparisons and on enforcement of vehicles and camping near the park. Ferigno said her figures compare a full 12 months of 2011 to year-to-date 2012 and acknowledged that enforcement challenges — including overlapping district responsibilities in Golden Gate Park and complex camping dynamics on Fulton Street — require coordination with other stations and city agencies.

The Commission praised the traffic-safety emphasis and community partnerships; the captain said she plans to seek transit security grant funding and, where necessary, fiscal sponsorship to scale the Safe Streets program beyond the Richmond District.

The Commission did not take formal action on the program at the meeting; next steps cited by Ferigno include grant-seeking, further merchant outreach, and additional targeted enforcement.