Sam Spade's San Francisco

Chuck Nevius, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle got it right. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi's idea of community policing for the Haight-Ahbury is the best idea.

If you don't know what's been going on in the Haight, it's probably because you haven't walked down Haight Street lately. A bunch of young, jobless, drug-dazed, smelly bum-punks roam Haight Street intimidating tourists, threatening shoppers, blocking people's paths and even threatening to murder those who object.

It's the wild, wild west in the Haight-Ashbury. The concept of flower power, peace and love are long dead. Crime, violence and drugs have taken over.

Photo of the SFPD answering a violence call in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood courtesy of Photobucket.

The San Francisco Police Department has been arresting every punk in sight, but it still has not solved the problem. It's time for our new police chief, George Gascon, to sit down with Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and listen to what Ross has to say. It's Ross' district and he knows what he's talking about. The Chief needs to listen to the Supervisor.

Community policing is the answer.

In his report, Foot Patrols, Stomping out Crime, Supervisor Mirkarimi writes: "Cities that take a "modern approach" to foot patrols, deploying them based on crime data and results, "appear to be making significant differences in crime rates and the enhanced perceptions of safety," said a report issued by Public Safety Strategies Group."

In another report by Mirkarimi, , the Supervisor writes: "Other cities - New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston - are experiencing a steady decline of murders per capita and higher arrest and prosecution rates for those who perpetrate violent crime. They attribute their progress, in part, to something that San Francisco does not practice - accountable forms of community policing with targeted violence prevention programming."

I have the highest respect for the SFPD. I'm devoted to this City. My family first came to San Francisco in 1849. My roots are here. I want the best for my City and that's why I'm asking Chief Gascon to sit down and listen to Ross Mirkarimi.

Ross is right.
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