I'm Honored by Promotion

Capt. Denise Schmitt

On Saturday, June 12, I transferred to the Hall of Justice to accept a position as commander of the Administration Bureau. It is a tremendous honor to be asked to join Chief George Gasc—n's command staff. My family and I are very gratified by the faith being shown in extending this opportunity to me.

The Administration Bureau contains five divisions: Forensics, Technology, Support Services, Staff Services and Training. In my new role, I hope to develop and improve the critical infrastructure that supports the work of field officers. Without efficient lab analysis, Internet tech support, training and record and evidence management, the work of the officers and the task of convicting criminals becomes more difficult.

I am, of course, sad to leave our Taraval District. It has been a privilege to serve you as the captain of Taraval Station - one I will miss a great deal. The residents and merchants of the Taraval District are an active and vocal lot who never hesitate to speak up when they see things they like or ways to improve. Working with the station, you have all made an impact on the crime and quality-of-life issues of our neighborhoods.

The officers of Taraval Station are an amazing group of dedicated professionals who balance the demands of a very difficult job with remarkable grace. Over the past seven months, they have incorporated an entirely new unit in the Station Investigations Team, incorporating additional investigative responsibilities into the routine of the station. Patrol officers began collecting fingerprints and conducting more thorough interviews during initial investigations, leading to better cases and more arrests. New foot beats were staffed, leading to a reduction of crimes committed both on Muni lines and in the Ocean Avenue corridor. The Compstat and intelligence officers developed daily briefings for each watch, providing officers coming to work with a clear picture of crime patterns, hot spots, wanted criminals, parolees and probationers entering the district and stolen property. More officers received training in plainclothes work, allowing decoy and surveillance operations to run around the clock.

Since the Fall, the combined efforts of the cops of Taraval have steadily pushed the incidence of violent and property crimes down. They have reduced thefts from automobiles by 70 percent, going from an average of 120 per month to fewer than 40. They made arrests in more robberies and assaults, despite having fewer of them occurring.

Accidents in the district are down by 20 percent thanks to regular enforcement across the board and a commitment to such programs as pedestrian stings and drunk driving arrests. Recently, the officers began using a problem solving model to address on-going issues, like vandalism in our parks and alcohol-related offenses stemming from some of our licensed premises.

Taking over to lead these fine officers is a man many of you have met, Lt. Henry Parra, who has been serving as a night watch platoon commander here at Taraval since December. He is an experienced patrol manager and investigator with real leadership skills. We are fortunate to have him here to step right into the captain's position.

I thank you all for the support you have given to the members of Taraval Station and to me in particular during these past seven months. Great strides have been made, but the best is still to come.

Capt. Denise Schmitt was the commanding officer at the Taraval Station.