SAN FRANCISCO—On Monday, March 11, the San Francisco Police Department indicated in a news release that over 135 felony arrests were made as part of a goal to drive down crime in the area.
Plainclothes teams with the SFPD made the arrests and seized over 10 pounds of narcotics and recovering 11 firearms in January and February, helping drive down crime and hold criminals accountable, Chief Bill Scott indicated Monday.
Plainclothes officers is one piece of a citywide strategy to decrease some of San Francisco’s most challenging crimes, like drug dealing, robbery, auto burglary, retail theft, and sex trafficking. The SFPD deploys plainclothes officers in crime regions that investigators identify through analysis of police data. They work closely and coordinate with investigations bureaus and uniformed patrol officers.
Plainclothes officers focus on crimes impacting their district stations and collaborate on citywide abatement operations. Tenderloin plainclothes officers focus largely on crimes involving drug dealing, while Mission plainclothes officers often focus on crimes associated with sex trafficking in the Shotwell corridor.
On January 11, plainclothes officers from five district stations were working on a robbery abatement operation when they witnessed four suspects casing pedestrians. The officers witnessed the suspects attempting to rob a woman of her purse and arrested the four suspects, who were juveniles, after a foot pursuit. Officers recovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun. The suspects are believed to be involved in a series of robberies in the region.
On January 15, plainclothes officers from six district stations were working on an auto burglary and robbery abatement operation when they received a call about a suspect vehicle involved in an auto burglary. The officers spotted the vehicle in Oakland and followed them back to San Francisco, where officers arrested the driver and seized stolen property from the burglary as well as a loaded semi-automatic handgun.
On February 15, plainclothes officers tracked two vehicles wanted in several auto burglaries in the Bay Area. After attempting to stop one suspected vehicle, the driver jumped out and attempted to flee on foot. Officers stopped the suspect and took him into custody. The suspect was in possession of a loaded semi-automatic handgun. Officers recovered both suspect vehicles.
On February 29, plainclothes officers from the Tenderloin Station recognized a wanted murder suspect. The officers followed the suspect and made a high-risk vehicle stop to take him into custody. The suspect was in possession of a loaded semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine.
Between the dates of January 1, 2024, to February 29, 2024, the SFPD plainclothes teams developed probable cause to make 135 felony arrests, seized 11 firearms, recovered 8 vehicles, and seized 10.4 pounds of narcotics. The Police Department will continue to conduct operations and make arrests for those who commit crimes.
