Additional police presence stops the crime in Union Square: SFPD

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – After break-ins and break-ins on November 19, the San Francisco Police in and around Union Square flooded the area with officers and so far it appears to have succeeded.

Police say that between November 20 and December 6, assaults decreased from three incidents to one, burglaries decreased from 11 to one by more than 90%, and thefts decreased 82% from 67 to 12.

“We are grateful to the women and men of the SFPD for being out there to create a safe environment for our businesses and our customers,” said Marc Capalbo, Vice President of Gump.

Retailers like Gump’s are happy with the added law enforcement presence, and they say their customers are, too.

“The majority of our customers are happy about the police presence. They feel good, feel more secure and are eager to be out and about to do their Christmas shopping, ”said Capalbo.

The police have promised to keep the police on every corner until further notice.

Retailers believe the city understands this can’t be a short-term commitment, so they hope they will raise the dollars to keep this operation going beyond the holidays.

San Francisco isn’t the only city increasing its patrols and precautionary measures.

Just last week, the city of Walnut Creek approved the establishment of a new patrol operation downtown to curb theft.

In Antioch, Mayor Lamar Thorpe says police began stepping up patrols in shopping malls before Thanksgiving.

“Interestingly, I got notes from voters saying, for example, ‘Hey, I’ve noticed more police patrols or cops outside of Target’. People notice those outside of Target. They were worried that something might have happened there and I assured them that nothing really happened there, and that’s exactly why we are there because we want nothing to happen, ”said Mayor Thorpe.

This is due to the city continuing to implement a series of police reforms that the city council passed earlier this year. Mayor Thorpe says increasing patrols shouldn’t deter people from shopping locally.

Police are also working with neighboring law enforcement agencies to keep retailers from becoming targets for thieves.