Thursday, April 12th, Mayor Mark Farrell announced the rollout of Park Smart, a public awareness campaign that includes informational pamphlets and coordinated messaging with travel and tourism industries. Park Smart alerts motorists and visitors that “If You Love It, Don’t Leave It,” a reminder to not leave valuables in unattended vehicles. The campaign is part of the San Francisco Police Department’s efforts to prevent crimes before they occur.
The campaign is the result of a public and private partnership, involving SFMTA, the San Francisco Police Department, Office of Short Term Rentals, the Department of Emergency Management, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, 311, SF Travel and community benefit districts.
The SFMTA is always striving to provide safe and affordable parking. During the first three months of 2018, car break-ins decreased 17 percent compared to the prior year. SFPD has doubled its foot patrols, established a new robbery and burglary unit and increased resources and staffing for the prevention, reporting and investigation of these crimes.
In addition to the Park Smart campaign, the SFPD will be increasing training and resources for fingerprinting services tied to car break-ins. The SFPD is training 36 members to fingerprint at all 10 district stations. The goal of the increased training is to encourage car break-in victims to get their cars fingerprinted, even if they did not call the police in direct response to the crime. With a stronger database of fingerprints, the SFPD will have additional resources to investigate car break-ins, particularly serial cases.
Park Smart materials have been distributed in car break-in hot spots at 5th Street and Mission Street, Dolores Park, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alamo Square and the Palace of Fine Arts. Park Smart messaging has been affixed to parking meters, garages and Muni buses. Additionally, Park Smart postcards have been distributed to police stations and the Office of Short Term Rentals and electronic message alerts will be displayed on local streets.
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