Undercover Cops To Begin Saturating Muni Next Week
Categories: Crime, Law & Order
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| Plug 1 |
| Presumably, this would be harder to pull off if undercover cops were seated nearby |
Lieutenant Jason Cherniss, who will be overseeing the operation, told SF Weekly that the premise of the operation is as intuitive as its name. People who board the bus with the intention of vandalizing, robbing, or engaging in fisticuffs don't usually have the courtesy to pay. The police will start with that.
If someone boards the bus without paying, Cherniss says, the police will keep an eye on that rider to see if he or she whips out a can of spay paint, attempts to filch a wallet, etc. And if that doesn't occur, the cops will, sooner or later, escort that individual off the bus and issue a citation for fare evasion. "In my opinion, Muni doesn't have the resources or the manpower to deal with the graffiti, the fighting, or the fare-evasion," said Cherniss.
The operation will be focusing on the 9, 9x, 14, 24, 44, and 49 lines. These bus lines all cross through the Ingleside District where this operation is based and, according to Cherniss, were chosen by Ingleside station's Captain David Lazar after going through Muni reports and listening to complaints from the community.
Cherniss wouldn't reveal how many officers will be devoted to busting Muni miscreants and said the duration of Operation Safe Muni is open-ended. But he did note that more than 40 officers are available (though perhaps not simultaneously), that operations could take place any hour of the day, and that no officers will ever be undercover alone. Cherniss also confirmed that officers working Operation Safe Muni will be on "straight time," not overtime.
The cops handling this operation are part of Ingleside station's "problem-solving team," a group of cops designated for handling "re-occurring incidents that are harmful to the neighborhood." This includes a spike of reports of robberies and violence on Muni -- or, in Cherniss' hypothetical example, a house that neighbors continually report for drug handoffs, domestic disputes, menacing visitors, vicious unleashed dogs, and blight.
The formation of a problem-solving team was suggested in the Police Executive Research Forum, which was completed last year. It is being piloted at Ingleside.
Photo | Plug 1
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