On Tuesday, March 27, 2012, there was a surprise retirement luncheon for Captain Henry Parra at Patio Espanol. The place was packed with those who had served with Henry during his 34-year career with the San Francisco Police Department and many others who simply admired his leadership style.
There were a lot of stories covering Henry’s many years with The City but we can personally speak of his courage (he has every medal the Department made), his dedication to the uniform he wore, and his refusal to compromise his integrity. There’s also another side of Henry Parra - something present and future administrators might consider mirroring. On Henry’s last day of service he received permission and had the privilege of working with his son, Matthew, a police officer assigned to the Southern District. And, during his entire tour of duty, Henry wore his patrol officer’s star rather than the Captain’s gold because he never forgot where he came from . . .
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It’s just another day in the Bayview District when Officer Gabe Alcaraz, Officer Jason Kirchner, and Officer Dave Johnson check out an individual who was a known gang affiliate only to find he was carrying a loaded, .38 caliber revolver. This was the officers’ second arrest for the day involving suspects carrying loaded weapons in their district.
The Broadway/Columbus corridor is still a major headache for the officers assigned to Central Station and so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Sergeant Steve Benzinger, Officer Joe Salazar, and Officer Josh Olson to come across a parolee using narcotics in his parked vehicle while attempting to hide a loaded, Colt .45 semi-automatic weapon . . . Suspect, gun, and contraband all in custody.
We’ve had several cases recently where officers respond to an area to check out a suspect only to find that the individual detained was not involved in the crime under investigation but, nevertheless, was still armed with a gun. Wrong place at the wrong time . . .
So here’s a new twist - trespassing in a restaurant while armed with a gun. It took place at an establishment in the Southern District where the manager flagged down Officer Jason Robinson and Officer Brent Bradford. The manager explained that there was an individual inside who was refusing to leave. The officers approached him and assisted in escorting him from the premises. Once outside, the officers determined that the individual was on parole so he was subject to a search. The former trespasser now really wanted to leave the area probably because he was carrying over 50 grams of cocaine, 25 grams of methamphetamine, a touch of heroin, and a loaded gun. He’ll probably order ‘take out’ next time . . .
One of the most dangerous calls the officers handle is dealing with “suspicious” people. Officer Candiece Lewis and Officer Kamakana Alvaro came across one of those in the Mission District. There were 2 individuals the officers were dealing with and, as the
officers pulled up, one of them hid behind a car for few seconds and then came around carrying a beer can. The officers detained both suspects and when they checked the area where they saw the one drop behind a car, they located a fully-loaded, .38 Smith/Wesson revolver.
It was a little after midnight when Officer Jesse Cruz and Officer Alvaro Mora observed a traffic infraction. They pulled the car over with 3 on board and a back-up unit with Officer Eric Eastlund and Officer Mark Margreiter arrived. The driver was on probation with a search condition for a narcotics-related offense and, so, a search was conducted which revealed an AMT .380 caliber handgun. The occupants of the car were members of a notorious gang in the Bayview so the gun may have been used in other crimes . . .
Talk about a suspicious person . . . Sergeant Raymond Cox, Officer Thomas McWilliams, and Officer Mark Roan were working in plainclothes capacity in the area of 19th and Geary when they saw an individual walking into a nearby bank wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up, a neoprene face mask covering his mouth and nose, sunglasses, and carrying a large duffel bag. The officers, thinking a robbery was about to take place, quickly developed a plan that would protect the other customers but also place themselves in extreme danger. Once inside, they noticed that the suspect appeared extremely nervous and apparently decided not to go through with his objective. Once detained outside the bank, the officers discovered 2 replica M4 airguns, 2 replica swords, and a replica hand grenade, all found in the duffel bag. We understand the role the replica guns and hand grenade probably would have played in this attempted takeover, but the swords . . . ??
Officer Carl Ueber and Officer Enrique Alejandrino effected a traffic stop which led to a further investigation once they ran the driver and as they asked him to step from the car he seemed to cooperate until he got out and took off running. A good samaritan tried to stop him, but at 6’2” and over 230 lbs, it probably wasn’t a good idea. The officers, however, did catch up and recovered what the suspect was hiding - a fully-loaded, Davis Arms .380 semi-automatic weapon with a round in the chamber, ready to go.
The Central Station midnight watch was given information on 3/16/12, describing a suspect, and the vehicle he was driving, who was wanted for an attempted homicide. Two days later, Officer John Cunnie and Officer Yaroslav Shablinskiy locate the vehicle driving southbound on Columbus Avenue. They conduct a felony traffic stop and discover that the driver is the same suspect wanted in the shooting. A subsequent inventory of the vehicle revealed a loaded, .40 caliber Glock semi-automatic weapon . . .
And Officer Damon Jackson and Officer Luis DeJesus were in the Northern District patrolling an area where robberies, attempted murders, sales of narcotics, and possession of dangerous weapons were routinely occurring. Sure enough, they saw an individual who they knew was on probation from an earlier firearms violation. When they went to make contact with this individual he ran. But just before he ran, the officers saw what they believed was a gun tucked in his waistband. The chase was on and Officer Jackson
and Officer DeJesus were able to capture the armed suspect and recover the weapon - a .40 caliber Glock semi-automatic with an extended clip.
There was a recent shooting in the area of Osceola and LaSalle Streets so when Officer Gabe Alcaraz, Officer Ali Misaghi, and Officer John Norment saw a car speeding by, they decided it might be a good idea to investigate. A traffic stop was conducted a short distance from the original traffic violations and the officers were backed up by Officer Erik Maher and Officer Tommie Bartley. Probably a good thing they had the extra uniforms since the passenger of the car that was stopped decided that he wasn’t going to wait around until the officers discovered the Glock 19, 9mm semi-automatic weapon with a 30-round magazine that he was carrying. But as soon as this suspect moved from the car and attempted to point his gun at the officers there was a tremendous struggle to disarm him. The suspect, at one point, managed to partially rip Officer Misaghi’s holster from his gun belt.
So, in a very short period of time, as documented in this article, 9 firearms were removed from the street. There were, obviously, other guns recovered but we just didn’t have enough room to continue. And, in each incident, the officers who either responded to a call or initiated a contact were totally exposed to deadly force.
We must reiterate the fact that the SFPD will be losing over 56 officers in July, 2012, due to retirements. There will be even more retirements to follow, close to 350 officers leaving the force within the next year and one-half.
The streets aren’t getting any safer. And the officers left behind will be asked to do even more than they have already accomplished until reinforcements arrive. And, with newly hired recruits facing a 6-month Police Academy, and an additional 14-week Field Training Officer Program, there will be very little help that can be expected in the near future . . .
Stay safe.
