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Police commission hears 2008 crime trends, officials report small shifts in homicides and rises in reported sexual assaults
Summary
Deputy Chief Jason Shen presented 2008 Part I crime statistics to the San Francisco Police Commission, noting a one-count decrease in homicides in the packet and an increase in reported sexual assaults; commissioners pressed the department on whether higher reporting or real increases explain the change.
Deputy Chief Jason Shen presented a year-end review of 2008 crime statistics to the San Francisco Police Commission on March 25, 2009, reporting modest changes across major crime categories and urging victims of sexual assault to come forward.
Shen said the department’s reporting conventions affect year-to-year homicide counts: "We had 98 homicides in 02/2007 ... and we are currently in 02/2008, 97," and explained that deaths later reclassified as homicides are credited to the year they are declared, which can alter comparisons across years. He also noted an Ocean Beach death that occurred on state property was excluded from the city's totals.
The presentation showed an increase in reported sexual assaults from 148 to 169 for the period compared in the packet. "Sexual assaults are probably the most underreported crime of the Part I crimes," Shen said. "We want victims to come forward." He described efforts to connect victims with advocacy groups and to prioritize DNA evidence collection as part of investigations.
Shen described mixed trends in other categories: a reported overall uptick in robberies driven by strong-arm robberies targeting portable electronics, a small rise in burglaries and aggravated assaults, and decreases in auto burglaries and motor vehicle thefts. He said cumulative Part I counts changed only modestly in the packet’s snapshot.
Commissioners asked whether the change in reported sexual assaults reflected improved reporting, outreach or a real increase in incidents and whether increases were concentrated in particular neighborhoods or demographic groups. Shen said the department could not attribute the change to a single cause and pointed commissioners to district-level charts in the presentation packet. He outlined the department’s Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) partnerships with San Francisco General Hospital, the District Attorney’s Office and local victim services organizations.
The commission’s discussion focused on data interpretation and next steps for outreach rather than on immediate policy action. The chief’s report and district breakdowns in the packet were offered as further reference for commissioners and the public.
