It’s been pretty much a common theme throughout Chief Greg Suhr’s column in The Journal that conducting yourself as a professional in all of your contacts with the public definitely makes a difference. And it did for the manager of a local business, so much so that he wrote a letter to the Chief of Police commending Officer Kathryn Bartel for the manner in which she handled a difficult situation stating, “It has been refreshing to have the San Francisco police respond to a situation firmly, promptly, with courtesy and understanding.”
Now, on the other hand, some things never change . . . The Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) recently notified an officer of a matter under investigation and asked the officer to answer several questions attached to the Member Response Form they sent to him. The officer had no problem doing so except for the fact that his memory was a little rusty since the incident took place 6 years earlier . . .
So, unless you were locked up in cell with no privileges or access to the outside for the past 6 years (which would never happen in our criminal justice system), there is no reason why this complaint shouldn’t have been filed much earlier. But when you have an agency allowing for the abolishment of any standard for reporting, that’s what you get.
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The suspect was driving without proper registration and a suspended license when he was pulled over by Officer Thomas Ly and Officer Ron Meyer. During their contact the officers noticed the driver was attempting to conceal a loaded magazine. The officers proceeded a little more cautiously and, with the assistance of Officer Alice Dicroce, located a .380 semi-automatic weapon.
Officer Thomas Ly and Officer Ron Meyer had another odd call the same week when a woman flagged them down and said she had just seen her vehicle which she had reported stolen being driven by a suspect who parked it just a block away and entered a home across the street. The officers responded and managed to take the suspect into custody. While they were at the suspect’s residence they happen to check another car in the driveway which also turned out to be stolen with over 60 pounds of copper wire and numerous items taken in several burglaries.
Officer Mark Lustenberger, Officer Louie Benavidez, Officer Gerald Thompson, Officer Val Altamirano, Officer Stephen Hom, Officer Krystle Castillo, Officer Danny Barajas, and Sergeant Aaron Lozada were in the area of Geneva and Mission looking for an armed suspect. Sergeant Lozada located him on a bus which presented a whole new slew of problems. Now we have a possibly armed suspect seated among a number of other innocent citizens traveling through city streets. Sergeant Lozada came up with a game plan and, with the assistance of the other officers, managed to take the suspect and gun into custody.
And not far away Officer Luis Archilla and Officer Miguel Gonzalez watched as an individual who was walking towards their police car in a very high crime area suddenly dropped down and threw something under a parked truck. This is never good. It’s bad enough that armed suspects can sneak up on innocent citizens and commit the crimes that they do but when uniforms get in their way . . . you never know what the felon might do. Further investigation revealed that the item discarded was a fully-loaded, .45 caliber semi-automatic weapon that the suspect obviously didn’t want to get caught with . . .
Something just didn’t look right to Officer Justin Bugarin and Officer Austin Wilson while patrolling 6th and Market. Although, to be fair, nothing ever looks right at 6th and Market Streets where every drug known to mankind is dealt on a 24-hour basis by parolees and their protégés. Nor is the area immune to other violent crimes. Many years ago the colored pin map marking felony incidents in the Southern Station’s captain’s office looked like one large pizza. Anyway, Officer Bugarin and Officer Wilson attempted to contact an individual who wanted nothing to do with them so she started running away. This is usually an indication that the officers’ initial observations were spot on. The officers persisted in their efforts to speak to this ’person of interest’ and were rewarded in their efforts by recovering a loaded, 9mm Sig Sauer with an extended capacity magazine with 18 rounds ready to fire.
The young man had been stabbed several times but managed to walk 3 blocks before he collapsed in critical condition. A witness to the assault called 9-1-1 and Officer Brian Burke and Officer Chad Campos took up the investigation. They managed to identify the suspect and, with the assistance of the members within the Gang Task Force, had the felon in custody within 24 hours of the attack.
The Mission District is awash with some of the most popular restaurants and clubs which, in turn, draw many young people to their doors. Unfortunately, the criminal element is also drawn to the neighborhood because of the potential for victims. It was one of these early mornings around 1:30 a.m. when Officer John Hallisy and Officer Glen Wilson responded to a victim’s call who had been robbed at 23rd and South VanNess. The victim had been traumatized severely when the armed suspect pointed his gun directly into her face but she managed to get a partial license plate and a great description of the suspect’s SUV. The officers broadcast the information and, shortly thereafter, Officer Angus Chambers and Officer Almer Manrique located the vehicle heading out of the Mission. A felony traffic stop ended that plan and they soon had the suspect, his weapon, and the items he had stolen from the victim in their custody.
And some very lucky Giants fans should be extremely thankful that Officer Christopher Leong and Officer Aaron Cowhig were working the night that they went to ATT Park to watch their home team. The fans left everything but the kitchen sink in their car which attracted the attention of the many criminals who would prefer boosting cars to actually working at a real job. So when the suspects saw the gold mine they gladly removed the iPhones, laptop computer, camera, purses, jewelry, and credit cards. The fans were fortunate the thieves at least left the tires on the car . . . Meanwhile, a witness to the crime calls and Officer Leong and Officer Cowhig manage to not only track down the suspect vehicle, but also apprehended the suspects responsible and recovered all the loot that was taken.
And, while we have no idea what it is about iPhones that sometimes attract the wrong clientele, it happens. What we’re talking about is the rash of iPhone thefts in The City. Fortunately, we have a group of extremely talented police officers who know what to look for. Take Sergeant Chris Woon, Officer Ernest Trapsi, Officer Deniz Akmese, and Officer Danilo Cruz who work the Mission. They responded to a call of an iPhone theft and locked down the perimeter where it occurred and located the suspect within one hour of the crime.
And the Mission is also fortunate enough to have Officer Michael Mayo and Officer Joseph Obidi who actually found the thief of an iPhone before they found it’s victim. That’s right - they saw this individual running near 24th and Church Streets and to make a long story short, he had no idea how to operate the phone he had just liberated from his victim. Unfortunately for him, Officer Obidi is a formidable opponent and managed to figure out who the owner was by tapping into the phone’s data base. Victim found, suspect identified, case closed.
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One final note to our good friends at the Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC). If you’re going to conduct a “customer satisfaction” survey you should probably send the survey in a separate envelope to the officer intended - separate, that is, from the letter sustaining the allegations.
Why would this be a problem you ask . . . Well, an officer called us and was obviously upset that he received a letter from the OCC sustaining several allegations that were made by the felon he arrested. Usual nonsense of course, “Unwarranted Action for the Arrest” when it was clear there was a crime committed . . . However, in the same envelope containing the letter of sustained allegations from Director Joyce Hicks was a “customer satisfaction” survey.
Now we’re not exactly sure how this survey is going to come out but we can’t wait for the results!
