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Taraval Station credits stepped-up patrols with recent drops in property crime; warns of hazards from illegal residential grows
Summary
Captain Denise Schmidt told the Police Commission Taraval Station has redeployed 32 officers to the Ingleside/Visitation Valley/Bayview areas, reported year-to-date reductions in Part 1 and property crimes, and highlighted public-safety risks created by illegal indoor marijuana grows at residential properties.
Captain Denise Schmidt gave a detailed community briefing to the San Francisco Police Commission on April 28 about policing in the Taraval (Sunset) District, describing staffing, crime trends, outreach and the public-safety hazards posed by illegal residential marijuana cultivation.
Schmidt said Taraval is the city's largest patrol district by area and one of the largest by population and outlined a redeployment of roughly 32 officers for about four weeks to increase uniform, high-visibility foot beats in Ingleside, Visitation Valley and Bayview. "These officers are gonna be working in uniform foot beats, high visibility, just to basically let the community know that we're...put out a high presence there," she said.
On crime statistics she reported year-to-date reductions: a reported 15 percent reduction in overall Part 1 crimes compared with the previous year and an 18 percent decline over the previous four-week period for Part 1 offenses. The captain provided example counts during her presentation (noted by the district): last year’s year-to-date total was cited as about 12,946 crimes versus roughly 11,045 this year.
Schmidt warned the commission and the neighborhood about a separate problem: illegally operated indoor marijuana grows inside residential houses. She explained how growers install commercial-grade lighting and illegal power connections that create substantial fire risks and sometimes are associated with weapons or cash. She illustrated the danger with a recent seized site described in the presentation and listed district enforcement results "in just the last year": 69 arrests, roughly 19,507 plants seized, multiple firearms taken (20 handguns, several shotguns and rifles), and about $334,202 in cash recovered.
The captain also highlighted the station’s outreach tools, including crime maps and a redesigned station website (taraval.org) that provides safety tips, directions, and weekly newsletters. Schmidt said the station runs targeted plainclothes and foot-beat operations on transit lines and commercial corridors and partners with Muni fare-evasion inspectors and merchants.
During public comment and later Q&A, neighbors asked how the department discovers illegal grows; Schmidt said tips from citizens, plainclothes investigations and targeted surveillance lead to search warrants when evidence supports them. Commissioners requested that the department provide comparative statistics on crime and incidents near existing dispensaries (Ocean Avenue and other locations) after public debate over a proposed local dispensary.
The commission did not adopt new policy at the meeting but asked the department to provide the requested data at a future session.
