so i want to make sure that we get that across because we do work with the d.a. and we work with other stakeholders in this very closely and we take domestic violence incidents very seriously, and especially in those places where we know that there is a history of domestic violence, we work very aggressively to run intervention and prevention efforts. again, year-to-date numbers, aggravated assault involving domestic violence, there are 719 versus 707. i'm talking about aggravated assaults, ok. so the numbers are down by 2%. i just wanted to make sure we had that. >> you mentioned the individuals as well and the homicide, the atrocious ones, with tourists, the arrests, there have been arrests and

charges, is there any way to work on that >> we're working this case very aggressively. we know that the people that are involved in this case, we have to make sure that we make a case that is prosecuteable. we have to be able to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. that's a very high standard. we have to do so with evidence that would be admissible in court. we may have some very good theories of the case and we're working this case very aggressively, we have to make sure that we put a case that would lead to a successful prosecution. this is a case that we're on it, just like we are on many homicides. because of the fact that homicides are also as low as they are this year-to-date and last year, this has given us for the first time the opportunity to increase the work that we do on cold cases. actually there is a great deal of effort that is being put forth in order to deal with homicides. other questions for the mayor

or ms. harris? >> let me just, and i'll get out of everyone's way. let me amplify something the chief said because it's important and to amplify a bit what the district attorney said. let's keep this going. we're moving in the right direction. let's not put into the hands of elected officials here at city hall the determination of how best to deploy the resources of the san francisco police department. let's keep that in the hands of the police professionals, the police chief, the police commission. let's not allow politics to enter in to those decisions. this chief and law enforcement in partnership with the district attorney's office, probation and others, have proven they can get the job done. the last thing we need to do is bring it back to the hands of the san francisco board of supervisors. >> thank you. >> what i would like to do now

is i would like to continue with a couple of presentations that are going to be very quick, but they have a tremendous amount of value for the public. first i would like to bring captain charlie orks that works in our community relations unit. >> good afternoon, the san francisco police department understands that it has a responsibility in educating the communities in public safety and in this area we understand that there is large volumes of community members in this city where english is a secondary language. some individuals do not speak english, read, write, or understand it. so we have the task of educating them. in a department, we have come up with some policies where we have dedicated phone language lines in each district station so if you're a victim, you can go to the station and you can talk on a three-way conversation with the officer, someone who speaks that specific language, and the victim. and it can get the crimes reported in that manner.

we have signs displayed in every district station, they are two feet by two feet laminated posters and these signs are in seven, eight different languages telling the community members that they have access to someone who speaks their language. it's important that the community know that they don't get the same level of service that english speaking people do in this town, they do get the same level of service. we have things printed out that officers kea. they're possibility guides. they have another guide that can give to the community and it's in 98 different languages. to assist the police department in our efforts, we worked collaboratively with san francisco safe and at this particular time, i would like to introduce cindy brandon from san francisco safe. >> good afternoon. i would like to thank chief

gascon, the mayor's office, and the district attorney's office for their commitment to public safety as well as their efforts to reduce crime and their increase in conviction rates. i also would like to thank the community because without their knowledge and efforts in reducing crime and preventing crime, we wouldn't be where we are today. a few quick things. some of the crimes that we're seeing today are definitely preventable. i think our role as a crime prevention partner of the police department is to educate the public on things they can be to be aware of things that will happen in the community no matter what city you live in, no matter what neighborhood you live in. some of the crimes that we are saying are theft of the use of cell phones, ipods, laptop computers while in public. we encourage everybody to be alert and aware of their surroundings at all times, even if they're exiting their home or their car. a lot of times, they're comfortable with their surroundings so they're not really paying attention. what we encourage people to do is whenever they're out in the

public, just pay attention. look around you. notice if there are people hanging out suspiciously. notice people that are too close to you. carry your purses and your wallets close to your body. do not carry them in one place. we suggest to carry them at different locations on your person or in your purse. that way if something is stolen, your hole world and your purse and your wallet is not taken away at once. we encourage people to report suspicious activities to the police at all times, calling 911 or nonemergency will definitely get a police response. also, another crime that we are seeing is car breakins or auto boostings. people leave items in their cars that are visible. so we encourage people to not leave anything visible in your car at all times. never leave anything visible including a jacket or a shopping bag. as we approach the holiday season, people tend to leave their shopping bags or their coats in their back seat of

their vehicle. police do not leave anything visible in your car. if you need to put something in your trunk, police do so before you arrive at your destination. that way people will not know that something is in your trunk. a lot of these crimes are crimes of opportunity. we would like to educate the public on safety tips that include being aware of your surroundings, knowing how not to become a victim. reducing the amounts of incidents that occur when people are careless when they flash their wallet at an a.t.m. in the dark or they're walking down a dark alley away that is not lit late at night. just practice safe habits. i think with the public learning all of these things, especially as we're entering into the holiday season, we can help contribute to the reduction of crime in our cities. so please pass on some of these safety tips. we do have more information on our website and with the police department. it's sfsafe.org. we're a tremendous asset to the community.

please pass this on and help others learn about their surroundings and help prevent crime. thank you. >> before we open this up, i would like to give the opportunity to the vice president of the police commission to say a few words. >> thank you, chief. first of all, i would like to thank mayor newsom for having the foresight and the courage to hire a true policing professional by bringing chief gascon to san francisco. he has raised the level of professionalism and we recognize that as a police commission. thank you for your hard work. i would like to thank the members of the san francisco police department, the men and women who do this job every day. we as police commissioners are the liesson between the community and the police department. i have to tell you, i left a medal of valor, it's where we get together and decide what the medal will be. the chief talks about guns coming off the street, violent guns.

we saw where they took away guns immediately on the spot. they had the courage to take the gun away. it was very impressive. we had some young officers in the housing projects who chased somebody down and took him out at gunpoint. he was carrying an ak-47 with 30 rounds in the clip. that makes you proud as being a member of the police commission and a member of this city. the officers are doing the job out there. those guns came off the street and those people are in custody. i want to thank the officers for their hard work, i want to thank the mayor. i want to thank chief gascon. he has done a great job. thank you. >> thank you, commissioner. we can reopen for any questions that you may have. yes. >> chief, my understanding -- a number of shootings more than that in previous years or car robberies in the tenderloin as well. >> unquestionably, crimes move around and sometimes you put

resources in one place and you move it to another area. there are neighborhoods that we have seen some concerning trends and we put a great deal of attention. some of you may recall that actually earlier in the year, we started to have a spike in robberies. year-to-date, robberies are now down again. as a matter of fact, as of the last week, we're down 7% which compared to the same time year-to-date. at the beginning of the year, we were having, in fact, those of you that really follow the statistics as closely as i do will remember that at the beginning of the year, robberies were inching up. again, there was a great deal of brainstorming that went on, a lot of people working together, working doing a lot of analytical work who the suspects were, who the victims were, where was it occurring and a lot of efforts put together and that was turned around. so while there is no question that there are places that we are having issues and there are

certain neighborhoods that we need to continue to pay attention to, the overall trend is a good trend. the reality of the ideal society there will be no crime is very unlikely to occur, especially in an urban environment. we know that there is always going to be areas where there are issues. the question is not whether we have the issues, but what do we do to avoid it or prevent it. one of the reasons why i wanted san francisco safe to come in and cindy to talk is the best way to rduce crime is by preventing crime in the first place. the best way to prevent crime is not even by arresting a suspect, but quite frankly, it's been taking the opportunity from the crime to occur in the first place. there are a lot of things and most of them are bad that occur when a crime occurs. if you leave an item unattended in a vehicle and a young person, 16, 17-year-old sees that computer there that is very attractive and he or she breaks the window in order to

steal that computer, you are doing several things. number one, you're out your computer more than likely. that is going to increase your insurance and increase the level of fear in our community. the other thing that is occurring, too, is we have a young person that eventually will be arrested, if not for that crime, but another crime, and you have a person that is in the system as a criminal and his or her likelihood of being able to succeed as they grow old, it diminishes significantly once they engage in crime. when we're preventing crimes, not only are we doing ourselves a favor and the community, but we're also helping a lot of young people that very often are tempted to commit a crime, that if we perhaps were more thoughtful of removing the opportunity, that would not occur. one of the things we talk about our communities san francisco safe, very assertively talking to people about how to avoid becoming a victim. there are a whole bunch of things that occur once that

crime takes place that impacts even including the lives of those that are actually committing the crime. any other questions? >> [inaudible] what specific areas of crime -- >> i mean, we're evaluating this on a daily basis. i think that most of you, again, those of you that follow the numbers very closely, you know that we have in the last 18 months or so we have had a tremendous reduction in overtime. this department has gone from general funded over time. i know that it's confusing, but there are different pockets of overtime. there is one where the officers get paid by merchants to work on their off-duty time. you often see that on the

report of the controller. that is not tax base overtime. there is the general funded overtime which is what the taxpayers pay. that amount has gone from nearly $23 million just two years ago to right around $5 million this year. when you compute the numbers, that is equivalent to about 115 police officers that are not here today that were here just two years ago. so if you take that number and you say, ok, we have reduced already about 115 officers by that reduction in overtime and then in addition to that, you put that on the backdrop that we, through the budgetary process, agreed to reduce the size of our force by another 78 officers, you can see the math very quickly gets to the point that we are approaching very rapidly to the point where we're going to have about 200 officers less available to deal with crime problems. 115 that come from the

reduction in overtime and 78 that will simply be people that will be leaving that will not be replaced. that is nearly 10% of our workforce. that is why it's so important for the community to understand that the deployment of police officers really needs to be left up to us because we're putting people where they need to be. you cannot, on a static fashion, deploy police officers on a foot beat just because it's nice to have them there. if there is crime in that area, it calls for it. we do not have the luxury of doing so today and it's less likely that we'll have the luxury to do so in the next years. any other questions? ok, thank you very much. really appreciate your time. thank you.