A reader, Joe, sends in this thrilling tale of being held-up at gunpoint on Harrison:
Last night my friend and I had the pure joy of being held-up at gunpoint, and it went a little something like this:
- Around 1am in a car at 22nd and Harrison, we get a tap on the driver-side window from the gun barrel of our new acquaintance, his best buddies presents themselves on the passenger side… 3 black males, early to mid 20s, dressed kinda like diamond thieves (all black heavy jackets and ski caps)
- Without any commotion or raised voices, we open the door and proceed to quietly and casually present them with our personal effects… (her purse & phone, my wallet)
- They take off behind us, I proceed to call the cops as we drive away…
Now, for some reason I defaulted by calling the general number for SF Police -who then instructs me to call 911, which then disconnects me twice. Marvelous.
I call back the general number and insist on having them provide dispatch since calling 911 was a world of fail. In less than 2 minutes a few cruisers show up to take things from there.
Goodtimes indeed.
The SFPD Public Affairs Office had no knowledge of any problem with the 911 system.
Just curious, was your engine running?
no, it wasn’t. and we had maybe sat there for 10 mins max when it happened.
I wonder: what 911 dispatch did you get connected to?
If you call on your cell phone you can sometimes get connected to the CHP dispatch which drops a fair number of calls since _tons_ of people get routed that way.
The SF emergency # is: (415)553-8090
General dispatch # is: (415)553-0123
ya, I heard yesterday 911 can route you all the way to Sacramento (would that be CHP dispatch?)
Regardless it was frustrating to be disconnected by 911, but then actually have a hard time getting the local dispatch to do something other than tell us to call 911 back. crazytown.
here’s my account of the event:
http://willotoons.com/blog/2009/07/stick-em-up/
What are the direct fire and ambulance numbers for SF?
sorry to hear. glad you’re ok. stay safe out there y’all.
though there’s not a damn thing joe could have done to avoid this.
other than maybe speak out against the ridiculously tolerant attitude the city has regarding street crime in the hood.
but hey, that either means i hate poor people or i’m a crybaby living in a “rough area”, so feel free to disregard whatever i say.
You’re always hating on neighborhood entrepreneurs. ;p
heh. i’m a hater either way. or a crybaby.
its not that you’re a hater, its that you jump to outrageous conclusions.
I don’t know if you’ve ever lived in a city that has a lot of street crime, but this is not one of them.
The city may not be getting guiliani on their asses, but far too many studies have shown that crime was reducing BEFORE guiliani took office, and it coincided with a nationwide drop in crime as the economy improved under peace and prosperity clinton.
All of which is only to say, that it is not as simple as SF cops/prosecutors falling down on the job or being ‘ridiculously tolerant’. Black and Whites would definitely stop and detain, and there would be prosecution if a weapon (of any kind) is used in the commission of a crime (with sentencing enhancements)- so I’m not even sure this is a good example for you to use as a your strawman.
Bad street crime is DC in the years of 300+ murders, and NYC in the late seventies and eighties when you stood a GOOD chance of being mugged, as opposed to here, where it is so singular an occurrence (relatively speaking) we hear about them.
it is not an “outrageous conclusion” that the mission is an area of tolerance for street crime. it is a fact.
no one loves the cops more than i do, and i am not criticizing them (nor would i advocate the Giuliani gestapo tactics for sf). sfpd works hard. and they’re responsive in my experience. but there aren’t enough of them to do the community policing needed to assuage street crime, they are completely reaction-based, and they have no backing from the DA.
this is all straight from the captain’s mouth over the course of numerous conversations…not shit i made up. but ask any cop…they’ll tell you…we lock up the bad guys, and they’re out in a day.
it is not an “outrageous conclusion” that the DA in sf doesn’t prosecute on street crime. it is a fact. that there is no weapon does not remove the fact of a crime, or that harm may be done, or that a dangerous environ is created.
take a look at 16th & mission. take a look at the pimps & hos & drug dealers up & down our blocks in the middle of the fucking day (much less at 3am).
in what world is that not a street crime-tolerant environ? one that attracts folks from all over to do deals?
maybe it’s not as bad as 1975 DC or NYC, but we don’t live there. we live here.
my point is not “oh my god we have a crime crisis in the mission”, it’s “the era of tolerance for street crime in the mission ought to end…the mission is a family neighborhood”.
but whatever….some folks like street crime more than me, some folks aren’t bothered by it…and everyone is welcome in the hood.
I <3 zinzin
Dude, SF is an incredibly low crime city when compared to similarly-sized cities across the US.
Also, your lumping of prostitution and armed robbery into the same category of “street crime” doesn’t really explain the issue accurately.
SFPD IS tough on armed robbery.
It IS NOT tough on prostitution (or petty drug dealing or DUIs for that matter).
No one is saying that’s good, but it is certainly different.
Almost no one “likes street crime.” That’s a ridiculous statement. We all know you are pissed that you have to see prostitutes and petty drug dealers. You have every right to be, but armed robbery is something that is taken seriously by SFPD.
Fair comments as always JB.
For the record, I got naught but live for sfpd
Love I mean
thanks you were able to say it much better than I.
Hey Jimbeam -
I understand your point about “lumping” but it should be noted that Mission pimps associate with Mission drug dealers and sometimes are one in the same. In addition being allowed to work on the streets with little police interference enables them to observe the goings on of a particular neighborhood (i.e. who lives where, when are they home, which cars/bikes/motorcycles are left unattended for hours at a time) which enables them to spot easy targets for theft. Unfortunately, I’m speaking from experience as a 15 year Mission resident. Criminals also represent a kind of “community” in this tolerant city of ours.
That is actually really unusual at that intersection. Weird. I surprised the police didn’t locate them. There are gang bangers to be found a few blocks away, and LOTS of people living in mobile homes, but rarely brothers on the make. That must have been awful.
Gas pedal, meet floor.
Sounds like you were mugged before and somebody made off with about 20-30 of your IQ points…
Da Truff has obviously never been held up before.
What night did this happen?
If stealing is that easy, you can hardly blame the criminals.
I’m surprised this bonehead doesn’t just give his wallet to random black guys on the street…
in the long run, shit even in the short term, they’re just taking stuff… is it worth it?
Don’t feed the trolls.
Yeah Da Truff, you can hardly blame the criminals. These people being robbed at gunpoint need to be run out of the Mission!
hmm. sounds all to familiar, as in just down south on harrison – see
http://precita.org/2009/06/robbery-in-precita-park.html
and a month earlier too -
http://precita.org/2009/06/rash-of-robberies-at-gunpoint-friday.html
WTf? thanks for posting. I’d love to be getting all the CSI details on these case#s.
gah, precita park is my hood… just down the street. hard to swallow they’re in my park.
Wow, crime in Precita Park. It’s like the mid 90s all over again. ‘Cept then you would have lost your discman.
Bold fuckers. I believe this happened to a friend of a friend, because of the way I heard about it last night. According to the police who assisted me when I was mugged (16th/capp 8pm on a wed. a while back), yes the DA’s treatment of this type of crime leaves a lot to be desired. Although they mentioned something about not having death penalty which isn’t exactly my idea of the best way to abate crime.
(this is just an oppinion) I think they should bring back public exicution eliminate manditory minimum sentences expidite death row wait time to 24hr at the most and advocate public arming and training eachother. if you live in a place where you feel you could be robbed, its your responsibility to get ready for it. Police don’t help anyone. They MIGHT catch the people who did it, probably not. if you can prove ( to a jury in court ) you feared for your life and honestly thought it was the only way out, kill those people. You kill a few, thats a few off the street, indefinitely.
I sure am glad that you’re not in charge.