Capt. Richard Corriea: Police Beat

We all face risks daily, including the risk of being the victim of a crime. And while that risk is very low here in the Richmond District, we can make it lower.

Our major public safety issues in the Richmond include robbery, burglary, assaults, auto burglaries, traffic safety and vandalism. Robbery, the focus of this article, is a violent and particularly distressing crime that carries a high potential for both emotional and physical injury.

So far this year, we have had 115 robberies reported, a slight increase over the 110 that were reported in 2008. During the last seven months, we have been focusing many officers' patrols and traffic enforcement efforts based on assessments of where and when robberies are apt to occur.

We continue to run regular undercover operations and our station inspectors commence their follow-up investigations within minutes of the first report of a robbery. We have also developed a victim profile and when officers see folks matching this profile they provide them tips to prevent being victimized. All of our strategies are designed to prevent robberies from occurring and also to quickly arrest perpetrators when a robbery does occur.

In the New Year, we are going to continue our robbery abatement strategies and develop new ones.

In 2008, Richmond Station officers arrested 19 robbery suspects. So far this year, we have arrested 31, an increase of 61 percent. Even though robberies increased five percent over last year, many more robbers were captured and sent to jail in 2009.

When officers are responding to the scene of a crime their dispatcher often provides them with some description of the suspects and any vehicles that may be involved. The first police units to arrive at the scene of a crime quickly interview the witnesses and then broadcast to near-by officers any additional information and the suspects' direction of escape. The following incidents and subsequent arrests validate the utility of this practice and show how your prompt calls to 911 are instrumental in achieving our community's vision of safe streets.

In the early morning hours of Dec. 12, a taxi cab driver was called to the 700 block of Arguello Boulevard. Just after he stopped the taxicab, he was set upon by two men, one of whom was armed with a hand gun. The men robbed the driver and then fled in a car along with another suspect. While following the suspects the taxi driver called 911. The suspects fired shots as they fled. Moments later, officers stopped the suspect's vehicle in Golden Gate Park, where they arrested them and recovered two handguns. The suspects have been formally charged by the District Attorney. They remain in custody with bail for one set at $1 million and the other at $150,000. A third suspect was charged and released after posting bail of $120,000.

On Dec. 15, a student was walking home from school while listening to his iPod. At 30th Avenue and Clement Street a young man grabbed the student from behind and demanded his iPod. The victim resisted, whereupon the robber knocked him to the ground and ripped the iPod from his hands. Calls to 911 led officers to the suspect's location, where they arrested him and recovered the victim's iPod. The 16-year-old suspect was charged with robbery and possession of stolen property.

On Dec. 22, he was released to relatives. On Dec. 17, just before 8 p.m., a woman was walking on 17th Avenue towards Clement Street when several individuals grabbed her from behind, pushed her to the ground, and wrestled away her shoulder bags. Neighbors called 911 and a short time later officers arrested two suspects and recovered the victim's property, including a laptop computer. One suspect was a juvenile, and he remains in custody at the Youth Guidance Center. The adult arrested in that incident was not charged as the victim was not able to make a positive identification.

The inability to make identification is not uncommon, even when the victim gets a good look at the suspect. A victim's emotional stress can be overwhelming, and items such as license plates and particulars about clothing, age and facial hair are often quickly forgotten. Also, suspects do what they can to avoid identification, such as in this case where they grabbed the victim from behind.

In each of these robbery cases our officers performed superbly and while searching the immediate areas located and arrested fleeing felons. The officers recovered stolen property, firearms and other evidence connecting the suspects to the robberies. The robbers apprehended in these cases face serious and provable charges because of your help and the coordinated and professional efforts of the officers, supervisors and investigators assigned to Richmond Station.

To avoid being the victim of a robbery you should remain very alert at all times. While walking alone avoid using a cell phone or other personal electronic device. If you sense something that makes you suspicious or uncomfortable, immediately make your way to the nearest place that you are apt to find other people. Call 911 immediately if you see anything suspicious.

If you would like to obtain more information about personal safety and how to prevent being victimized, please contact San Francisco Safety Awareness for Everyone at (415) 553-1984 or visit its Web site at SFSAFE.org.

Please attend the next Community/Police Forum on Jan. 19, at 1 p.m., at the Zephyr Cafe, located at 3643 Balboa St. The folks at the Zephyr have reserved table space for our meeting and would appreciate attendees purchasing a beverage or snack during the meeting.

The Richmond Station distributes an e-mail newsletter every Friday. Our newsletter, which is sent to several hundred e-mail addresses, contains information about recent crimes, arrests and upcoming events in the district. To be added to this list, e-mail us at sfrichmondstation@sfgov.org.

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