Here it is, a brand-new “Captain’s Message” from the Outside Lands.
I’ve never seen anything like this.
1. Oh, so this is the beef from elements of the SFPD against George Gascon? News to me.
2. Here’s the referenced opinion piece from the ‘Xam. I’ll note that the writer is trying to sway opinion afore Frisco’s next election day in June 2016, so we’re getting pretty political here, non? (And in that election, we’ll get to vote for DCCC candidates, who then will officially endorse candidates running in November 2016 and all this could affect who runs the SFPD and, of course, which station captains work where, just saying.)
3. And when I saw this: Read Captain Flaherty’s April 2016 message to the Taraval Community, I thought that the topic would be, and I’m srsly, Racist SFPD Testing Scandal 2.0, which came out of a rape investigation involving an SFPD officer working out of Taraval Station. This whole affair was the talk of the Westside on NextDoor.com last year, IIRC. But no, it’s a station captain lobbing shotgun beanbags at our DA. Surprise surprise.
4. “Bundle Prosecution?” I’ve never heard this term. Hey, you know, this would have made a great CWNevius posting – I wonder why he didn’t articulate this one. Now I’ve already heard the beef about the SFPD arresting people only to have the SFDA spring them, but I’ve always chalked that up to San Francisco’s notorious jury pool and also some of our more liberal judges. And I still do, actually.
5. Man, how many car windows do you have to break in order to get nine arrests? I’ll tell you, my car made it a decade and a half on the streets of the 94117 with zero broken glass. But the past six months, I’ve lost two windows (with nothing taken, there’s nothing worth stealing really, except for the quarters in the coin tray, which, of course, was left untouched). Now, do you think I’m going to report this? No. And if did, do you think the perpetrators would get caught? Prolly not. And then the people have to get caught get nine times? Wow, as stated, news to me.
6. And there’s something about the borders of Taraval Station that isn’t synonymous with the Westside? I’m baffled by that. Taraval Station is prototypical westside, IMO.
Take a look yourself, below. (I didn’t read all of it, I got bored halfway through.)
Captain’s Message – April 2016
It is good to be back! I recently had to take a little time for my family as my father had passed away. Thank you to so many who sent their condolences and good thoughts for me and my family. A special thanks to Lt. Ed DelCarlo and Lt. Jim Aherne, for standing in for me during my absence.
In the past few weeks, I have had numerous community members reach out to me to voice their frustration with the property crimes increase. As the captain of this district, it is my opinion, that vehicle break ins and residential burglaries have become an epidemic in this city and neighborhoods across the city are feeling it’s impact. Last week, I had the opportunity to read an Examiner article titled, “San Francisco Westside residents are ‘mad as hell’ about crime”. Although the focus on the article was from the perspective of the Westside residents, I think many across our district are feeling the same way. As the captain of the Taraval District, let me say, you should be mad. As the captain I am frustrated and would be just as mad if I was a resident. There are many good points to the article which discusses both the impact of Prop 47 in which DA Gascon endorsed and the disappointment with Gascon as San Francisco’s District Attorney.
Under the leadership of DA Gascon, the District Attorney’s Office has a practice of “bundling cases”. What is bundling cases? Prior to this practice, when a subject was arrested for breaking into a vehicle, the case would be reviewed for prosecution. If charges were rebooked, that subject would begin the process of being prosecuted for that one incident. Under the practice of “bundling cases”, even if an officer makes an arrest for an auto break in, the prosecution process will not begin and the subject is released. As a department, our investigators have been told that once the same subject is arrested on 9 different incidents of auto break ins, then the District Attorney’s office will prosecute those 9 cases as a bundle prosecution. That was not a typo; yes, a subject must victimize 9 separate citizens before any prosecution will take place. DA Gascon’s practice of bundling cases is not part of Prop 47, it’s not the law, and it is his policy within the office he runs. You will not see the District Attorneys of San Mateo, Santa Clara, Contra Costa “bundling cases”. The good news is policies can change. Practices can change. As a community, you can organize and show DA Gascon how his practice is negatively impacting your neighborhoods and is jeopardizing the safety we all value so much. For those who are unaware, you have the option of writing impact letters addressed to DA Gascon. This is a great opportunity to voice your frustration and really ask for change. In my experience, I have learned that community safety is the responsibility of everyone. The only way to truly combat the criminals in our city is to work in partnership. It cannot only be the responsibility of the citizens or the police department or the District Attorney’s Office or the judges who preside over these cases. It will take all of us, working together, understanding our roles in the partnership that will lead to our success.
If you, as a community member, would like to organize your neighborhood to take a proactive role in the safety of your community, SFSafe is an amazing organization that can help you do that. As the Commanding Officer of Taraval Station, we too will work with SFSafe and neighbors to help you organize. I would encourage anyone who is interested, please contact me by calling the station or emailing me. Through conversations with you, I become a better Captain, serving this community. I need to hear from you. I need to hear the good and the bad. That way, we can answer the question of “How Can We Be Better?”
During my time away, I also had a recent article brought to my attention, which highlighted the Captain of Ingleside Station, Captain Joseph McFadden. The article discussed the growing crime trend or gang members committing the residential burglaries and the auto break ins within the Ingleside. It described how Captain McFadden utilizes our Gang Task Force to help identify and apprehend these gang members. The question was posed to me, “Is Captain Flaherty doing the same?” The answer to the question is yes. As part of our strategy to address the recent crime trends we have to look at using all of the resources available to us. That means, using Gang Task Force, using the Patrol Bureau Task Force, contacting neighboring district stations and using their officers in joint plain clothes operations. We have to look outside our station resources and utilize our department resources and city resources, like SFSafe, DPW for lighting, and SFMTA for signage. Again only in partnerships will be able to deter, identify, arrest and prosecute the criminals that choice to victimize the citizens of San Francisco.
A great example of organizing and impacting their community is the neighborhood that surrounds 16th and Moraga. These community members said enough was enough! They organized and have been very successful in attempting to decrease auto break ins in their neighborhood. In recent weeks, in partnership with the Taraval Neighborhood Team, our Patrol Bureau Task Force has been making arrests for auto break ins in this neighborhood. I am extremely appreciative of the officer’s commitment and dedication the safety of the community they serve. SFMTA contributed to the effort by providing signage reminding people not to leave valuables in their vehicles. As I review the daily police reports, I am still seeing cases in which victims are leaving purses on passenger seats, laptops are being left on back seats, victims are placing valuable in their trunk only to return and find that a suspect broke their window and released the trunk from the interior. Please do not leave your valuables in your car. Do not give a suspect a reason to break into your car. If you need to store valuables in a trunk, do so before your get to your destination so a suspect does not witness you loading your valuables in your truck. These simple actions can assist you in not becoming a victim.
As I close, I want to bring to your attention the incredible work by Sgt Scott Hom of Taraval SIT. On April 7th, a suspect committed a residential burglary. As the suspect fled the scene, neighbors were able to obtain the license plate of the suspect vehicle. With this valuable information, Sgt Hom was able to identify a possible suspect. This suspect was already out on bail for a residential burglary committed in San Francisco. As Sgt Hom was preparing to arrest the subject, the suspect committed a fourth burglary in the Ingleside. Thankfully, even though he tried to flee and led the officers on a foot chase, he was taken into custody. Sgt Hom is currently working on three separate incidents of burglary in the Taraval which it is believed this subject is responsible. Thank you, Sgt Hom, for your relentless efforts in apprehending burglary suspects. I am certain without your dedication to your investigations; this subject would continue to victimize citizens throughout the city. This is definitely a case where I will track the prosecution and hope justice is served for the victims he impacted.
I also want to give special thanks to all those community members who are actively taking a role in their communities. So many of you do it selflessly and I commend you for putting others before yourself. To the officers of Taraval Station, keep doing what you’re doing. I admire your determination as you face daily challenges. I value you as officers for your hard work, I value your opinions on how we can improve and I trust you to continue to do a great job for the community you serve. Your efforts are recognized and appreciated!
I am available to answer any questions, address any of your concerns and listen to any comments you may have. Please email me at Denise.flaherty@sfogv.org or call Taraval Police Station at 415-759-3100
