SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Police Department is alerting shoppers to be more aware during the holiday season. The Police Department has seen a 16 percent decrease in auto burglaries citywide. According to the SFPD, the drop comes after the SFPD took steps to address auto burglaries by increasing plainclothes teams and doubling uniformed foot patrols, expanding investigative resources at district stations, creating a General Crimes Unit to address serial auto burglars, identifying and focusing on burglary hot spots, and increasing training for fingerprinting.
“Addressing the spike in car break-ins has been one of my top priorities since my time on the Board of Supervisors,” said Mayor London N. Breed. “I am excited that our targeted awareness and enforcement campaigns are steadily addressing this issue, and I want to thank Chief Scott and the SFPD for their continued efforts to keep our neighborhoods safe for residents and visitors.”
For the first 10 months of 2018, officers booked or cited 331 people for auto burglaries, a 31 percent increase over total bookings and citations for 2017. “We’re seeing consistent and significant progress in our efforts to stop auto break-ins,” said San Francisco Police Chief William Scott. “But we recognize that too many San Francisco residents, workers and visitors continue to be impacted by these crimes. Our officers will have increased visibility during the upcoming holidays to combat street crimes. By remembering to Park Smart this holiday season, shoppers can help us prevent auto burglaries.”
The Park Smart campaign is a partnership between the SFPD, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the Department of Emergency Management, SF Safe, community benefit districts and local tourism and travel partners. The campaign includes signage, posters and other messaging materials placed in garages and on street signs and buses; postcards distributed by police cadets; and social media messages circulated online to raise public awareness about auto burglary prevention.
-Never leave valuables in view. Place items in your trunk prior to arriving at your destination
-Keep all items such as backpacks, purses, cameras and passports on your person
-Park in a lot with an attendant, if possible
-Keep packages with you until you’re ready to leave- or move your vehicle to a different location each time you load items into the trunk
