Sideshows were front-of-mind for community members who attended last night’s monthly meeting at the Mission Police Station.
When newly appointed station captain Liza Johansen asked the attendees for questions and concerns, sideshows came up as a point of concern for many.
Sideshows are unsanctioned car-related stunt shows, often involving huge crowds, loud noises and reckless driving. Many cause heavy traffic bottlenecks around the area and sometimes injuries. The Mission is no stranger to sideshows, however, over the past two years the numbers of stunt shows reported have been on the rise.
According to SFPD open data, 29 stunt shows or instances involving a stunt vehicle have been reported so far this year. Ten of these have taken place somewhere in the Mission. According to the police department data, these events happen primarily on Sunday. They have, clearly, become a growing concern for people in the neighborhood.
Johansen says that in prior years, all the police could do is observe them as they took place. But now officers have a more formulated approach when it comes to sideshows. On Sept. 24 the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed legislation that will increase penalties for people who participate, promote and attend sideshows or stunt driving.
Johansen says “They’re thinking if they don’t have an audience what’s the purpose?” For sideshows that occur in the Mission, Johansen says the best she can do right now is start by gathering intel, which could lead to arrests down the line.
Johansen urges community members to reach out with any information or new “out of the box” ideas for the Police Department to combat this issue.
Audience members seemed content with Johansen’s multiple offers of meeting individual community members to talk one on one and appreciated her being an easily accessible resource for the community.
Sgt. Robert Trujillo opened last night’s meeting with an update on gang-related violence in the neighborhood.
Trujillo oversees the Crime Violence Reduction Team (CVRT), formerly known as Gang Task Force, which handles crime related to or caused by gangs in the Mission District. Trujillo said there has, of late, been a notable rise of gang violence in the neighborhood.
According to a graph Trujillo presented at the meeting, such “gang-related crimes” include: aggravated assault with a gun; shots fired; attempted homicide with a gun; and homicide. A majority of these crimes, he said, occurred between 16th street and 17th streets.
Violent crimes in the vicinity of Mission and 16th include a lethal shootout on July 9, a gun homicide on July 19, a homicide on Sept. 4 and a Sept. 20 shooting.
Trujillo claims that many of the crimes in this area have “some sort of nexus with criminal street gangs or connection to gang activity in the area.” The police game plan? Going after individuals instead of groups.
“When we focus on the main crime drivers in an area we see a decrease in crime,” he explained. Trujillo said this approach was successful over the summer in reducing gang activity on the 24th Street corridor.
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