SFPD: phone and device users are frequent robbery victims; department to launch outreach

Lance Hebelin, director of the Bay Area Regional Information Crime Center, told the Police Commission that a three‑month review of 662 robbery reports showed a strong pattern of victim behavior the department says is preventable.

"Sixty percent of the incidents involve people actively using either iPhones, iPods, or similar devices at the time of the robbery," Hebelin said, noting victims distracted by personal electronics were disproportionately targeted. He summarized suspect behavior as frequently opportunistic: a single suspect approaching a lone pedestrian accounted for the majority of incidents, with officers reporting that suspects walked up and confronted victims in roughly 72 percent of the reviewed cases and that about 23 percent of robberies involved a firearm.

Chief Gascon amplified the message, urging residents to be aware of surroundings and promising a multi‑channel public education effort: a press release, community police advisory boards and outreach to ethnic and non‑English media. Commissioners recommended working with SFMTA/Muni to adapt prior transit safety materials and to use community ambassadors for neighborhood distribution.

The department said it will publicly release targeted information about higher‑risk areas and would coordinate additional enforcement and prevention strategies, including saturation and decoy operations in identified hotspots. The chief and Captain Joseph Garrity said the department would continue to combine enforcement with education, asking residents to keep eye contact when confronted and to avoid distraction in public spaces.

Next steps: the department plans a press rollout in the next few days, distribution through community advisory boards and ethnic press engagement; commissioners asked that outreach materials be translated and distributed at transit stops and community centers.