Today, during a press event in the Bayview, Ed Lee will announce that he will drop plans to implement a controversial stop-and-frisk policy after everyone from community groups to the Board of Supervisors and even the SFPD spoke out against it. Although the Mayor's office originally promised to come up with a new strategy to clean up the city's most violent neighborhoods, one that wasn't riddled with potential civil rights violations, it turns out most of Lee's alternatives are programs that have already proven to be successful.
According to the Chronicle this morning, in lieu of the stop-and-frisk plan he's been pushing since June, Mayor Lee will clean up the Bayview by keeping an eye on known gang members and parolees, and using crime-tracking software to predict areas that need increased police presence. Unlike the random searches that come with stop-and-frisk, SFPD Chief Greg Suhr explained his department will now focus on checking in with paroled youth as a way of letting them know they're on watch. SFPD will also be taking a zero-tolerance stance with parole violators or those who violate the gang injunction like we saw last week in Visitacion Valley.
In addition to the zero-tolerance policy, SFPD says they will use computer data to predict areas of high crime that need increased police presence. Aside from some new laptops, this tactic is identical to the CompStat system the city has been using for years, so it's good of Mayor Lee the former civil rights attorney to go ahead and take credit for such a forward-thinking solution to the city's current gun problem.
The final piece in Mayor Lee's three-part violence abatement plan will be to formally accept and publicize another common practice in the Bayview: allowing community leaders like church ministers to act as a buffer between informants and the cops. Ministers like Rev. Joseph Bryant of Calvary Hill Baptist Church, where Mayor Lee will give his announcement today, have pledged to take relinquished guns and crime tips to the police no questions asked.
Previously: All Stop and Frisk coverage on SFist.
[Chron]
