potrero view
Photograph by Regina Anavy

Photograph by Regina Anavy

Bayview District Captain Greg Suhr takes notes on citizen concerns at a community meeting. These meetings are held at the Bayview Police Station on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m.

August 2010

Potrero Hill Crime Statistics Demystified

By Regina Anavy

Have you witnessed a crime and decided it was too much trouble to report? Have you assumed that someone else would call the police about that person rifling through the recycling bins, the kid painting graffiti on a wall, or the gunshots you just heard? According to Al Casciato, San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) captain of investigations, “For every statistic that is in the crime reports, there is another crime that hasn’t been reported.”  Casciato encouraged Potrero Hill residents to call when they see a crime. “It’s not a waste of time to report crimes,” he said. “The beat officers look at the reports, and then they go up the chain of command, and the managers and administrators look at them and allocate resources accordingly.  Once you figure out what types of crimes are going on and can see the pattern, you can make plans to address the problem. It’s very important for us to have accurate statistics, so we can do a better job of protecting the public.”

For reporting purposes the View has defined its crime catchment as the 94107 zip code area contained within 16th Street and Cesar Chavez to the north and south, and the Bayshore Freeway and the bay on the west and east.  Crimes are categorized under broad headings, such as assaults and quality of life, which can be broken-down into more detailed labels.  For example, assaults can include fights without weapons, aggravated assault, fights with weapons, assault and battery, and stabbing/cutting.  Some assaults occur within the privacy of a home but were loud enough to trigger a call to the police.

Quality of life crimes include such things as public urination, trespassing, intoxicated person, suspicious homeless, noise nuisance, attempted suicide, vandalism, and prowler.  Theft can include fraud, stolen vehicle and petty theft.  Sexual offense covers indecent exposure, rape, and soliciting.  A shooting doesn’t necessarily mean that someone’s been shot; hearing a gunshot can prompt a police report. Outcomes are reported along a continuum: arrest made, unable to find victim, unable to locate suspect, assignment handled, gone on arrival, or report made.

These data are tracked through CompStat, short for computer statistics, which was implemented by police chief George Gascón as a way of “significantly reducing violent crimes.”  Compstat provides a computerized statistical map to enable police to target their efforts, rather than relying on reactive policing. The emphasis is on “holding police managers directly accountable for combating the crime in their assigned area and providing them the authority to deploy their resources to achieve the desired results.” Police departments in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Newark have all experienced reduced crime rates as a result of implementing this crime control model.

Compstat is based on four principles:  “accurate and timely intelligence, effective tactics, rapid deployment, and relentless follow-up and assessment.” CompStat meetings are held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, at the Scottish Rite Temple’s main auditorium on Sloat Blvd., at 10 a.m.  The public is welcome to attend. At the June 23 meeting Gascón stressed the importance of involving the community in combating crime.  “We need to become partners with people who will be additional eyes and ears to assist us, and we need to make an aggressive effort to help people develop their own crime prevention programs. The neighborhood community advisory boards, for example, are representative of every constituency, and they provide a good line of communication to the police by holding regular meetings.”

According to Gascón, because of budget cuts no new police officers will graduate from the Police Academy in 2011.  Police overtime has also been reduced, “so there will be fewer police on the street.” At the same time more individuals will be released from prison “because of issues with the crime lab” and prison crowding.  “We can expect a spike in crime this summer,” he concluded.

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