What a care- and crime-free life SF is living right now,right? And we don't believe any of it. According to local media outlets, SF is safe and sound. But according to a few SFist tipsters: - "Okay, that sure sounded like three gunshots at Alamo Square park, at the northwest corner, around 9:21pm. Anyone concur?" - "Heard four more gunshot-like explosions at 10:49 in the same area. Saw four cops heading east on Fulton......

Look out, Alamo Square! A "hot prowl" has been reported! We have no idea what that means -- maybe SF Crime knows? -- but oh lord how it makes us giggle. Time to send in the Hot Cops! We've really been digging this "EveryBlock" website, which aggregates news, crime reports, photos, reviews, health inspections, and lots of other details about neighborhoods. But unfortunately, the SFPD's data-sharing tool CrimeMAPS is pretty old-fashioned (it says it......

Even with all the nasty weather, this weekend proved to be yet another violent one in San Francisco. For sure. After five shootings took place within a 24-hour time period, two people lost their lives. Let's go to the rewind, folks: Yesterday, on Rosie Lee Lane in the Bayview district, Torrance Gray, 16, was found dead of multiple gunshots wounds. SFPD were responding to a call when they found him. A few hours earlier,......

Well, the bad news is still that we've hit a 12 year high for homicides in the City and County of San Francisco, with two weeks left to go in the year. On the statistical side, though, the SFPD year to date murder count has moved down by three victims, from 100 to 97. What happened to those three victims? Well, they're not any less dead, unfortunately. Rather, three of them were reclassified into non-murders.......

-- Watch out, SF. Last night's armed robbery spree shakes up, shakes down residents. [SF Crime, SFGate] -- Ding, ding: bike rally at City Hall. [Left in SF] -- Your Contemporary Jewish Museum. [Curbed] -- At Harvard U seasons change, feelings change. [Beyond Chron] -- "Come on feel the Noyes." [I'll Flip You] -- Top Bay Area noisemakers of 2007. [SFBG] -- This morning's police chase/fatal accident killed two, including Benjamin Bratt's nephew, Kristopher.......

-- Really? At Union Square? Where we sit and enjoy our Border's-bought cream cheese stuffed pretzel? Let's back up a bit: according to SF Crime, a 16-year-old boy was shot while kicking it in the Union Square area at around 9:30 p.m. on Friday night. "A bullet struck the teen in the ankle and he was transported to San Francisco General Hospital in stable condition" just 30 minutes after SFPD responded to yet another......

According to SF Crime, the No. 1 source for all San Francisco criminality and deadly shenanigans, a drive-by took palce this past Wednesday. Seems to have slipped our mind, folks. Anyway: On Wednesday night a drive-by happened in the Silver Terrace neighborhood of San Francisco. Two men were injured just before 10 p.m., close to the intersection of Silver and Quesada avenues. "A 34-year-old man was shot once in his leg and an 18-year-old......

While not nearly as exciting as receiving top honors as the best city for tourists to walk slow on city sidewalks, or best city in which singles can hump, on Monday the FBI just awarded SF as the city with the largest reported number of hate crimes in 2006. According to Bay City News (via SF Crime): With a population of approximately 746,000, had a total of 94 reported hate crime incidents in 2006,......

This morning at around 3:20 a.m., smack-dab in our old neighborhood of 23rd Street and Treat, SFPD found four gunshot victims, one of whom was pronounced dead at SF General Hospital. "Police have no suspect information in that shooting." Yet. So start singing, witnesses. ...

...And that's not even the curviest part! A car chase that started in Marin County around 3:00 a.m. Monday morning ended abruptly when the driver, speeding at around 75 mph over the Golden Gate Bridge, overshot the turn from Doyle Drive onto Lombard Street and flipped over. A open fifth of Hennessey was found in the car, and the passengers are in SF General with non-fatal injuries. Your SF Labor Day weekend homicide count: 3.......

-- SF Macarons versus Macaroons. [Gridskipper] -- East Bay movie studio/shopping center deal? Fin. [Chron] -- #70: Early morning Hunters Point murder. [SF Crime] -- Lawsuit over AT&T Wireless' ability to suck. [Examiner] -- OMG: High School Musical 2 premieres tonight! (It seems Zac Efron's a huge Giants fan. And probably a Castro Street fan, too. What?) [Chron] -- Sierra Nevada Brewing Company executive's body found in Sacto River. [Chron] -- Patti Smith singing......

Yet another pedestrian hit by yet another MUNI bus in the Richmond -- this time, the 1 California at 22nd Ave. Plus, Caltrain hit a car this morning too. More murder counts for the SF Crime Blog -- a man was shot to death in the Bayview, at Innes and Mendell. This is murder number 69 for the year, and you'll be unsurprised to hear that the cops have no leads. Hey, SF Crime Blog,......