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Chief: homicides up year-to-date; department opens internal review after video allegation
Summary
Assistant Chief Tom Scheuer told the commission that, as of Feb. 26, homicides were 15 year-to-date compared with 9 in 2010; shootings and arrests showed mixed trends. Scheuer said the department opened an investigation after press conferences alleging Fourth Amendment violations and pledged an impartial inquiry.
At the San Francisco Police Commission meeting on March 2, Assistant Chief Tom Scheuer delivered the department—s most recent crime statistics and outlined steps the SFPD is taking in response to recent violence.
Scheuer said the extraction period ending Feb. 26 showed overall Part I crimes were largely flat; he reported that violent crimes were down in the most recent extraction period (about 8%), and that overall Part I crime was down 13% when comparing extraction periods. However, he cautioned the commission that homicides were a concern: the department recorded 15 homicides year-to-date as of Feb. 26, compared with nine at the same point in 2010. Scheuer noted shootings were down roughly 23% year-to-date and arrests were up about 5%. He also flagged that some property-crime counts rose by about 93 incidents in the latest extraction and said SFPD would audit those numbers for possible overcounting.
Commissioners pressed Scheuer on whether the recent homicides followed a pattern and on community-engagement responses. Scheuer said three recent incidents lacked an identifiable pattern and described departmental steps: redeploying violence-reduction teams and placing the gang task force in affected areas, notably the Bayview and Mission districts, and holding daily reporting to the chief—s office.
Commissioner James Hammer asked about an advisory and a press conference held by the public defender alleging Fourth Amendment violations; Scheuer said SFPD was made aware that afternoon and had opened an internal investigation. "We take this very seriously," Scheuer said, adding the department would investigate "impartially and thoroughly." He identified Internal Affairs plus other investigative units as working on the matter.
Chief Scheuer and commissioners agreed to continue community meetings and to share schedules for events the commission might attend as the department responds to violent incidents.
