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Supervisors hear victims and SFPD on rising home burglaries and package thefts; DA and SF SAFE outline prosecution and prevention
Summary
A committee hearing on residential burglaries and package thefts featured victim testimony from Sunset residents, SFPD data showing recent decreases in hot‑prowl burglaries after reconstituting a burglary unit, and DA office figures on filings; community groups urged better data collection, more outreach to non‑English speakers, and expanded diversion and prevention efforts.
Supervisor Mar opened a hearing on home burglaries, home invasion robberies and package thefts after residents in the Sunset District reported multiple violent incidents and repeated porch‑package thefts. Several victims described traumatic break‑ins and thefts, including one account of more than $100,000 in losses and another involving a senior family member frightened by an attempted entry.
Captain Tim Falvey of the San Francisco Police Department provided an overview of definitions and trends. He said the department’s decision to restore a citywide burglary unit in late 2017 contributed to an early drop in some burglary categories and an increase in arrests: “after that you and they also brought back other units like the robbery unit ... and we saw a drop right away of 13% in those crimes.” Falvey told supervisors the department sees value in residents’ video surveillance for identifications and encouraged reporting of incidents.
Christine Sotho Deberry from the District Attorney’s Office said residential burglary filings rose (for example, from 137 cases in Feb. 2014 to 237 in Feb. 2018 for incoming residential burglary cases) and described prosecution priorities and an 86% filing rate for residential burglaries presented to the office. She said package theft currently falls under general theft statutes and noted AB 1210 (a bill to treat some porch thefts more seriously) was under consideration in Sacramento.
Kyra Worthy of SF SAFE described neighborhood‑watch programs, residential security surveys and CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) services the nonprofit offers; she said SAFE receives dozens of service requests daily and supports station captains with language‑accessible outreach. Community speakers urged more Cantonese‑speaking dispatchers, better follow‑up from investigators, access to video evidence, and that diversion and prevention programs be made more available and culturally appropriate.
Supervisor Marr said she will follow up with a District 4 working group and hold a town hall in the Sunset on May 26 to continue developing locally driven prevention strategies and to press police and the DA’s office for better data on package theft and demographic victimization patterns.
