By James Sword, HANC Board

There are many theories to policing. In 2010 HANC developed a community policing stance (https://www.hanc-sf.org/16-home/-sp-234/34-elements-of-effective-community-policing ) – in essence, work with the community and foot patrol = good, sitting in cars = bad. The key to community policing is community. Unfortunately, community policing is not how police seem to be deployed in the Haight as of late. More often than not police are seen selectively enforcing Sit-Lie and other “quality of life” policies.

Recently there were 6 police officers standing on the corner of Haight and Ashbury for an entire afternoon, six. One car was parked on the southeast corner, an SUV was parked the wrong way in the southbound lane at the northwest corner, six officers standing and talking. Neighbors asked if there had been a recent crime (in the last two years there’s been a shooting by an FBI agent and vehicle mayhem at this intersection. A month earlier there was a shooting resulting in death less than a block away). There was no crime; officers stated they were assigned to this corner by Captain Pedrini after a request for some police presence – “some,” not six.

The next day there were 2 – again parked the wrong way in the driving lane, but there were also 2 hanging out in their car less than a block away. In the meetings after the shootings in November, Captain Pedrini admitted that in many cases police in cars are not able to chase and/or catch suspects. In many people’s eyes, police sitting in cars is performative. Having police sitting in cars is not community policing, it’s more of a military occupation. Visibility is important - one of the tenets of policing is that just being visible will deter crimes from happening. The best way to do this is to walk around, visit businesses, talk to people, kiss babies, etc. The laziest way to do this is to sit in your car.

Much like the previous handful of Captains, Pedrini will probably rotate out or retire in the next 1-2 years; but many of us will be in the neighborhood for another 10-30+ years. If the police department wants to be seen as something more than occupiers, if they want to be welcomed into the community, they need to make the effort.