Capt. Paul Chignell: Community Policing Works

One of the most important components of community policing is to marshall all of the available resources to solve problems in a community.

In that regard, Taraval officers are instructed to reach out to city agencies, non-profits and other community-based agencies to brainstorm in solving the most vexing or the most mundane issues as they come up. Many times, the best solution to a house being used for drug activity may not be arrests because it may be difficult to locate suspects and narcotics. But, utilizing the city attorney's office in a code abatement action that may involve the SF Planning Department, SF Fire Department and the SF Health Department, the problem may be mitigated or abated.

The same model is used in other instances, whether it is a graffiti problem, need for traffic engineering changes or others. Every day at the Taraval Station we use the resources of city agencies to solve problems. We also reach out to our elected officials to assist us in new legislation or to move things along more efficiently. We work with state Sen. Leland Yee, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, Supervisor Carmen Chu and San Francisco supervisors Sean Elsbernd, John Avalos and Ross Mirkarimi - all elected officials who represent parts of the Taraval Police District.

It may sound trite - but it is true - by working together we can improve the quality of life for residents, merchants and visitors.

Capt. Paul Chignell is the commanding officer at the Taraval Station.