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San Francisco Police Department’s Union Square Safe Shopper deployment resulting in dramatic drop in holiday-related retail crime

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San Francisco Police Department’s Union Square Safe Shopper deployment resulting in dramatic drop in holiday-related retail crime 

Beefed-up police staffing, targeted strategies in the wake of Nov. 19 brazen mass robberies are showing impressive results in reducing assaults, burglaries and larceny/theft incidents 

SAN FRANCISCO (Dec. 9, 2021) — Newly implemented crime-prevention strategies and beefed-up deployments of police resources in the wake of organized gang robberies in and around Union Square on Nov. 19 have resulted in significant reductions in retail- and holiday-related crime, according to a report released by the San Francisco Police Department. 

SFPD Captain Julian Ng, who commands the Central Station police district that includes Union Square, Chinatown and North Beach, presented the update to a meeting of the Union Square Alliance yesterday showing sharp drops in incidents of assault, burglary and larceny/theft for the period Nov. 20 through Dec. 6 compared to the preceding 16-day period. The report detailed the crime prevention and deterrence plan, which included a situational analysis, deployments and early results from the Union Square Safe Shopper program. 

San Francisco Chief of Police William Scott noted that the statistics bear out what he has been hearing from visitors, shoppers and business owners all around the City, and what he has seen reported in local news stories. A recent San Francisco Chronicle report quoted multiple sources saying that the new deployments “make us all more comfortable and safe.
“I’m grateful to Captain Ng for his leadership in the Central District and I’m incredibly proud of our police officers, from all across the city, for how they’re responding to serve San Francisco,” said Chief Scott. “Our officers are stepping up at a very challenging time, given the many concerns we’re hearing from San Franciscans that range from neighborhood safety to our City’s economic recovery. At the San Francisco Police Department, we’re committed to doing our part to bring San Francisco back — better and safer — and we’re grateful to have the support of City leaders like Mayor London Breed and our Board of Supervisors to do our jobs effectively.” 

About the San Francisco Police Department:
The San Francisco Police Department stands for safety with respect for all. Hailed by the New York Times as a major city department “where police reform has worked,” SFPD continues to break ground with its voluntary Collaborative Reform Initiative and its work on Mayor London Breed’s ambitious Roadmap for Police Reforms. Since 2018, the department has worked in partnership with the California Department of Justice to implement 272 recommendations that aspire to make SFPD a national model of 21st Century policing. Follow our progress at https://sanfranciscopolice.org/reform.