Police & Thieves In The Street

The problem with life in San Francisco is that people here spend so much time living out on the Progressive Vanguard of the Future that we often spend our time relearning the lessons of the past, and even the teachings of basic common sense. Consider the SFPD's radical new approach to fighting crime which has resulted in a major drop in homicides for the first half of the year: SF Homicides Fall As Police Flood Tough Areas

San Francisco's homicide total for the first half of 2009 hit a nine-year low - falling more than 50 percent from last year - a drop that police officials attribute to flooding high-crime areas with officers and focusing on the handful of people who commit most of the crimes.

(snip)

Homicides began dropping late last year, around the time the department put in place a targeted enforcement strategy known as the Violence Reduction Plan.

The effort concentrates narcotics officers, foot patrols and sweeps for wanted parolees in high-crime areas. Police officials have put the plan in place in five neighborhoods - the Mission, Tenderloin, Bayview, Sunnydale and Western Addition.

Police Cmdr. John Murphy said the program's success has been especially pronounced in the Mission, where there has not been a street shooting death since Nov. 23.

Police said a string of federal arrests as part of a crackdown on the notoriously violent MS-13 gang, which is centered in the Mission, as well as stepped-up enforcement of federal weapons laws have also helped to keep violence in check.

Duurrrrrrr. Yuh mean, if the police go to neighborhoods where criminals tend to hang out and then arrest people that will cause crime to go down? Wow, way to go, Eliot Ness! Note that they also credit a "federal" effort to bust the MS-13 gang operating in The Mission. Thank goodness no SF cops got their hands dirty arresting illegal, er, undocumented aliens.

I think it warrants repeating that this sort of thing isn't considered innovative police work in more conservative jurisdictions. It's simply the way you deal with criminals.