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Residents urge San Francisco Police Commission to address homicides, neighborhood policing and Muni poster dispute
Summary
During public comment at the May 27 commission meeting residents urged action on an 18-homicide year-to-date toll, concentrated violence in the Southeast Sector and Sunnydale, and complained about unaddressed burglaries and a dispute with Muni over anti-violence posters.
SAN FRANCISCO — Dozens of public speakers used the May 27, 2009, San Francisco Police Commission public-comment period to press the department on homicide response, neighborhood safety and what they described as poor police follow-up on burglaries.
Sharon Hewitt, a community advocate, thanked the commission for work in Sunnydale but said 18 people had been killed in the past year and urged a multi-pronged response that included mental-health services, jobs and sustained prevention work. "We continue to have a burgeoning issue of homicides... No child is expendable, and I say enough is enough," Hewitt said.
Laurel, a policy associate at the CLEAR Project, told commissioners that 10 of those 18 homicides occurred in the city's Southeast Sector and that many cases remained unsolved, urging the commission to prioritize clearance rates and wraparound services for families.
Alan White described community efforts to produce posters memorializing homicide victims and said Muni had refused to post them after citing process and size issues even though police investigators and the San Francisco Police Officers Association had cooperated. "The San Francisco Police Officers Association has been incredibly cooperative in helping to pay for the signs," White said.
Diana Greer, a Potrero Terrace resident, alleged repeated burglaries and said SFPD responding officers had refused to file reports or interview witnesses; the commission asked the chief to report back on the incident within a week or two and noted the matter might require closed-session handling if personnel matters were involved.
What’s next: Commissioners acknowledged the community concerns and asked department leaders for follow-up reports; several commissioners said clearance rates and better clarity about police-community communication should be priorities moving forward.
