Capt. Richard Corriea: Police Beat

Over the years, the Richmond Review has made space available for the Richmond Station's police captain to comment on public safety issues. I am happy to have the opportunity to continue this practice and would appreciate learning your ideas for topics for future columns. Please e-mail me with your ideas at Richard.Corriea@sfgov.org or telephone me at (415) 666-8030.

By the time you read this article I will have completed my first month at Richmond Station as commanding officer. I am looking forward to expanding our police/community partnerships and working on public safety and quality-of-life issues together.

While the Richmond District is a safe place to work and live, we are still confronted with troubling violent and property crimes. The officers at Richmond station work diligently around the clock to prevent crime, educate the community about crime and arrest violators. We are intolerant of crime and seek a crime-free environment as our core mission.

As a long-time member of a community-policing agency, I know crime-free neighborhoods can only be achieved through strategies developed in problem-solving partnerships with our communities. So, along with San Francisco SAFE and the Richmond Area Multi Service Center, I am committed to creating opportunities for each of you to join officers at Richmond Station in working to eliminate crime and assure safe neighborhoods.

I encourage you to attend the next Community/Police Forum on Jan. 21, at 1 p.m., at the Zephyr Cafe, which is located at 3643 Balboa St. The times and locations of our future monthly forums will be varied to provide opportunities for everyone to attend.

Also, our district's police sergeants have been assigned as community liaisons for Richmond District community organizations. If your group has not been assigned a liaison please call or e-mail me.

Traffic collisions continue to be a serious problem in the Richmond. As of Dec. 23, 2008, we had 280 injury accidents this year, including four fatalities and 67 injured pedestrians.

The most recent vehicle-related death was a single car incident on Crossover Drive in Golden Gate Park on Dec. 22 where a woman riding as a passenger was killed. This collision is under investigation by Inspector Matthew Krimsky and excessive speed is suspected of being a factor in the crash.

In response to the significant number of traffic injuries, Richmond Station officers have been citing and warning violators at a rate double last year's and we have been placing radar speed-indicating equipment at various locations around the district to warn speeding motorists. Capt. Gregory Corrales of our Traffic Division is going to provide motorcycle officers to augment our officers doing traffic enforcement on streets that are particularly dangerous.

On Jan. 1, a new law authored by State Sen. Leland Yee took effect and establishes 19th Avenue and Park Presidio Boulevard (Highway 1) as a Safety Enhancement-Double Fine Zone for a period of five years. Increasing the sanctions for vehicle code violations on this dangerous traffic corridor will hopefully discourage motorists from speeding and running red lights and, in conjunction with our other efforts, reduce the number of collisions in the Richmond District.

We will soon have a traffic light at 11th Avenue and Geary Boulevard, which will make that intersection safer for both pedestrians and cross-traffic.

Next, the newly renovated Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park is open to the public. Since parking is limited and significant weekend/holiday traffic congestion is expected, we recommend that visitors utilize public transportation. There is often ample parking available at the Great Highway, between Balboa Street and Lincoln Way, and you can take the Muni #5 Fulton bus or the "N" Judah streetcar to points within walking distance of the Academy.

The Academy is currently discounting the admission charge by $3 for visitors who take public transportation. For further information, contact the Academy at 379-8000 or visit its Web site at www.calacademy.org.

Please don't leave any valuables in your vehicle while you are visiting the park. Automobile burglars target vehicles containing visible property.

Finally, Sgt. Tom P. Lee, Jr., a 30-year police department veteran who is one of our most senior supervisors and a long-time Richmond District resident, has volunteered to work the midnight watch, where he will supervise some of our newest officers. Tom's commitment to public service is appreciated. With his experience and significant ties to this community, I have great confidence in his ability to provide outstanding leadership for our officers during the early morning hours.

Happy New Year.

Capt. Richard Corriea is the commanding officer at the Richmond Police Station.