2018–06–26 Mission Police Station Community Meeting

League of Women Voters of San Francisco Observer Corps Report

Observer name(s): A. Marseille

Location: Mission Police Station

What meeting did you attend (name of the body, whether it was a regular or special meeting, etc)?

Mission Police District, Regularly Scheduled Community Meeting

Did you attend the whole meeting?

Yes.

Tell us about public input: Did it happen? How was it conducted? Did it seem adequate?

There was plenty of opportunity for public input, although there were a lot of residents in attendance who had questions. In order to end the meeting on time, the Captain stayed after the meeting to continue to answer questions. Questions from the public focused on the safety concerns of Mission residents.

Tell us about the government: who was there? Were they attentive? Were they prepared? Were they courteous with each other and the public?

The meeting was led by Captain Gaetano Caltagirone. There was also a representative from St. James Infirmary who made a presentation about their program (needle exchange, HIV testing, Hepatitis C testing, and outreach/social services for sex workers). The audience had a number of questions about the programs at St. James, and she stayed to answer all of them.

Want to tell us anything else (about the process used, the content of the meeting, decisions made, adherence to laws and regulations, etc)?

In this meeting there was a lot of focus on encouraging neighbors to watch out for each other and work together. One resident was asked to speak about how he worked with his neighbors to install cameras on their block, report crimes, go to court, and work together to reduce crime on their block (which they did successfully). A handout called “Improving Neighborhood Safety” from the Castro Community On Patrol was also distributed.