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CONGRATULATIONS RETIREES Lt. R. Olson #769 31 Years
Dep. W. Chow #1035
25 Years
Dep. J. Javier #1118
22 Years |
Contributing Writers: Capt. K. Paulson
Lt. R. Ridgeway
Lt. S. Colmenero
Lt. J. Shannon
Sgt. R. Winters
Sr. Deputy F. Brown
Cathrine Sneed Brad Reiss Mick Gardner
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Three Gun Safety Rules: Rule #3
Rule #3: ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
Firearms should only be loaded once you are ready to use them. Keeping your firearm unloaded when not in use will help create a safer environment. With semi-automatic weapons, also make sure the chamber is empty, since simply removing a magazine does not necessarily mean the firearm is unloaded.
The Three Gun Safety Rules, in review:
Rule #1: ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
Rule #2: ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
Rule #3: ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
Source: www.NRA.org.
Chris Cheng is a six year San Francisco resident, and is History Channel's Top Shot Season 4 Champion. He worked at Google as a Program Manager for five years, and is now a professional marksman for Bass Pro Shops. |
© 2014 San Francisco Sheriff's Department Information Technology & Support Services |
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 A Message from Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi This month, we greet the new year with a look back at the accomplishments of our staff and inmates, and extend a welcome to our up-coming challenges.
Our deputies are highly skilled. Once again, we joined in the annual Urban Shield emergency preparedness exercises, which assess the response capabilities of first responders with 38 teams participating in over 40 scenarios. We hosted two scenarios at our San Bruno Complex, a challenging exercise for both the SFSD's Special Response Team (SRT) and the over 100 staff and volunteers assigned to our scenarios.
Our deputies are ambassadors. Sr. Deputy Fabian Brown represents Region 10 for the International Association of Women Police (IAWP). With members from 60 countries, the IAWP's Mission is to strengthen, unite and raise the profile of women in law enforcement. In September, IAWP held its 51st Training Conference in Durban, South Africa, the first time the conference was held in Africa. Over 1,235 delegates from 54 countries focused on "Global Empowerment of Women in Policing," discussing topics on cyber crime, peacekeeping missions, cross border crimes, crimes against people including: child and human trafficking, child pornography, trafficking of endangered animals and human organs, and women in hostage negotiations.
Our staff is generous. In December, the Department conducted two toy drives simultaneously: one for children hospitalized at UCSF, continuing a 30-year tradition; and a second for the children of victims and the incarcerated. All of these children, and their families, deserve support during the holiday season.
Our inmates also contribute. The Garden Project provided sustenance for body and mind, feeding and educating. The Garden Project hosted the students of Bret Harte Elementary School in Bayview Hunter's Point for farm learning days. In 1992, the Project built a garden at Bret Harte, and continues to donate organic vegetables weekly to the food pantry at the school. In turn, students visited the farm to learn more about where and how the food their families receive is grown.
By the end of the year, we were looking ahead to the end of incarceration and the beginning of a new life with the Reentry Resource Fair. The contrast between life inside, and life outside is great, and the transition difficult, more than just simply walking out the jailhouse door. This event brought together dedicated public service organizations and inmates preparing to rejoin their families and communities with renewed energy and the skills to succeed.
Finally, we cheer on our staff members preparing for the Dash and Splash, a 5k Fun Run and Walk and the Polar Plunge - a fundraising event benefiting the 16,000 athletes of the Special Olympics of Northern California. Please click on the link below in the Dash and Splash article and show your support. Thank you!
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Urban Shield
 The Urban Shield Exercise is an annual full-scale preparedness exercise that assesses the response capabilities of first responders. This year's exercise, held from October 25 through 28, 2013, at various locations throughout the Bay Area, involved 38 teams that participated in over 40 scenarios. The San Francisco Sheriff's Department (SFSD) hosted two scenarios at our San Bruno Complex. The event was challenging for both the SFSD's Special Response Team (SRT) and the over 100 staff and volunteers assigned to our scenarios. The event kicked-off at 5:00 am Saturday morning and ran continuously for 48 hours. The teams moved nonstop, pushing themselves to the limits, as would be the case in a real-world emergency.
The first scenario involved a takeover of a city bus by members of a homegrown violent extremist group who were holding hostages and making demands for freedom. Teams had to work out a solution on how to free the hostages and effect an arrest in the safest way possible. The scenario was made more challenging when the participating team's leader was taken out of play early in the scenario.
 Once the team completed the bus takeover scenario, the team had to utilize intelligence gathered to assist them in the second scenario, which involved the service of an arrest warrant on a homegrown extremist group leader. Here, the team had information that an extremist group had established an encampment in a rural area. The team had to maneuver over rural terrain and then assault the extremists' compound and take the leader into custody.
Thank you to everyone who participated in making this event a success. |
International Association of Women Police (IAWP) Conference in South Africa
Last year Senior Deputy Fabian Brown was elected to the position of Region 10 Coordinator for the International Association of Women Police (IAWP). In this position she represents the members of her region at board meetings, provides training opportunities and assists members in their efforts to network with other law enforcement officers. The IAWP has members in over 60 countries. The mission of the IAWP is to strengthen, unite and raise the profile of women in law enforcement.
In this role, Senior Deputy Brown enjoys meeting people from different countries and comparing the policies and day-to-day activities of our department to theirs. It amazes her how, even though we are technologically ahead of many countries, we have only started focusing on crimes such as child and human trafficking and trafficking of endangered species and human body parts. In other parts of the world, articles around these subjects are written quite often. Until recently, here in the United States we only heard about them if a celebrity was involved or something horrific had occurred.  The IAWP held its 51st Training Conference in Durban, South Africa in September 2013. This was the first time the conference was held on the continent of Africa. There were over 1,235 delegates from 54 countries! The conference focused on "Global Empowerment of Women in Policing". Topics at the conference were cyber crime, peacekeeping missions, cross-border crimes and crimes against people. Senior Deputy Brown attended sessions on: child and human trafficking, child pornography, trafficking of endangered animals and human organs, and women in hostage negotiations.
Senior Deputy Brown stated, "This was a great conference and a chance to network with women officers from around the world. We all exchanged ideas, techniques and experiences.
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Building Strong Viable Linkages  In his on-going commitment to improving public safety and the quality of life within the City and County of San Francisco, Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, in conjunction with the Department's 5 Keys Charter High School, debuted the first of its kind Resource Fair on December 30, 2013. The Resource Fair brought together a number of public service organizations, all dedicated to providing inmates with the tools necessary to break the chain of recidivism and to safely return them to their family and friends as productive members of the community. This innovative event provided key elements to those housed in County Jail #5, as they prepare to transition back into our community. This included housing and vocational job training resources; drug, alcohol and anger management counseling; assistance with obtaining a driver's license, identification card, or birth certificate; as well as assistance in obtaining local health care services and enrollment in the Affordable Care Act. The catalyst for this event was the staff assigned to the Keys to Change program at CJ5. Their program design addresses the fact that those coming home from jail have a huge hurdle to overcome in making a successful transition to life-after-incarceration. This forum also allowed community providers and networks to grasp the challenges of jail life and the difficulties faced in adjusting from being incarcerated to rejoining society. We believe that the incarcerated participants of the Reentry Resource Fair "Building Strong Viable Linkages" will become more aware of the valuable resources that may be available post-release, as well as the opportunity for living a healthy lifestyle.
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SFSD inFocus: Part 4: Community Programs - NoVA Part four of a series of articles that will serve to inform and educate the public on the San Francisco Sheriff's Department - Community Programs
The Sheriff's Department No Violence Alliance (NoVA) Project addresses the needs of ex-offenders who have the desire to put their criminal past behind them and lead productive lives. The vision of the Project is that inmates released from incarceration in San Francisco will be provided with the support tools needed to succeed in the community. The mission is to enhance public safety by implementing a "wraparound" system of services for ex-offenders when they return to the community.
The primary goal of the NoVA Project is to reduce the violence in the communities of San Francisco. The main objectives of NoVA are to: 1) minimize recidivism by providing ex-offenders with a choice of services that will help them become law-abiding citizens and 2) increase the number of ex-offenders who have sustainable living wage employment.  The NoVA Project's intensive community-based approach encourages men and women to take control of their violent behaviors through rehabilitation, and to the extent possible, successfully reenter the community as productive members of society. The strategy is to pair intensive case management with a network of comprehensive services to help ex-offenders reintegrate with their families and communities and avoid re-involvement with the criminal justice system.
Participation in NoVA is voluntary. Program participation is not court-mandated or a condition of parole or probation. Participants must choose and be willing to participate in a program designed especially for them. Through their participation ex-offenders can receive other services like housing and psychological counseling. Ex-offenders who fail to fully participate in their program risk being dropped and losing their housing and other benefits.
Additionally, NoVA has a survivor restoration services component that seeks out and offers services and support to victims identified by ex-offenders as a first step in helping individuals to deal with the trauma associated with violent crimes.
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Children Visit the SFSD Farm
The San Francisco Sheriff's Department was pleased to host the student body of Bret Harte Elementary School in Bayview Hunter's Point for farm learning days October 28-November 1 at the farm at the San Francisco County Jail at the San Bruno Complex. Each day, a different grade visited the farm, with transportation coordinated by the SFSD. The farm has maintained special commitment to the Bayview neighborhood since 1992. That year, a garden was built at Bret Harte. The SFSD continues to donate organic vegetables weekly to the food pantry at the school, and parents and teachers decided it would be a remarkable learning experience for students to visit the farm and learn more about where the food their families receive comes from. While on the farm, students learned about plant propagation in the greenhouse, weeded in the field, observed the endangered species whose habitat includes the San Bruno Complex (for example, the Red Legged Frog), and ate an organic vegetarian lunch. Field trips such as these offer an invaluable opportunity for children. In addition to allowing them to interact with law enforcement in a positive way, farm trips offer the opportunity to connect with the natural world. |
Garden Project Thanked for Feeding Hungry Musicians
Dear Mayor Lee and Sheriff Mirkarimi:
It is with deep gratitude that I share with you our appreciation and thanks for Cathrine Sneed and The SFSD Garden Project.
Their support in growing fresh vegetables for a cash-strapped but highly regarded International Body Music Festival in early November 2013 made the difference in getting our artists fed and well taken care of!
Given the diminishing public funding of the arts and therefore diminished stipend support for artists, food donations like this go a long way...
I hope your garden crew knows how valuable a service they provide, and how much they contribute to the health and well-being of others in our community...We are so glad that the Garden Project played an important part in nurturing our artists so that they could in turn share joy and music with others. Thank you again for your generosity.
Fe Bongolan, Hospitality Coordinator
International Body Music Festival
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Holiday Toy Drive In December, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department conducted two toy drives simultaneously. One toy drive was conducted for children hospitalized at UCSF, a drive which the Sheriff's Department has conducted for many years. The traditional toy drive for hospitalized children has continued for thirty years, mainly through the leadership of Senior Deputy Anna Payne. The second toy drive was the second annual Toy Drive to serve the children of victims and the incarcerated. All of these families need particular support during the season. Beginning in November, barrels were placed in all SFSD locations, and toys collected.
 The Toy Drive and Toy Give-Away project for the children of victims and the incarcerated was organized by the Women's Resource Center, acting in concert with Community Programs. Working together with numerous community partners, employees of the Sheriff's Department collected and distributed approximately four hundred new toys and clothing items. These were matched up with age-specific and gender-specific requests and were donated to Children's Hospital and to the families of participants in our Post-Release and Survivor Restoration programs.
To distribute the toys, the Women's Resource Center hosted two consecutive days of holiday luncheons. The meals were provided by the Garden Project. There were performances of original presentations by clients who developed the work in two theater projects offered by the Department: Rising Voices and Voices on the Rise classes offered at WRC and Oak Grove, respectively. At these events, family members and caregivers for the children of the incarcerated picked up the gifts and were invited for refreshments as a way to ease the stress of the holidays.
The third day featured an Open House and Family Breakfast for families who were visiting their loved ones at County Jail 2. Family members were invited to the WRC where they enjoyed a hot meal and were given toys for the children of incarcerated women. WRC Program Coordinator Ida McCray spoke of a challenged three-year old boy who could barely walk saying that "his eyes lit up when he was handed a toy; the smiles and the appreciation made it all worthwhile."
Partner agencies included Deputy Sheriffs' Association, Sheriff's Managers and Supervisors Association, Five Keys Charter High School, the Garden Project, Community Works, Nextcourse, The US Marine Corps Toys for Tots, Project CHEER and others. More than four hundred toys were delivered to needy children. |
Commitment to Excellence  During the holiday season, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department provides many services to our community. These services include supplementing other agencies' law enforcement officers, providing a presence at city sponsored events/sites and providing security for events held at City Hall. It is well known that our deputies serve the community and carry out their duties in a courteous, professional manner; however, it is always a good feeling when our staff is recognized for their efforts as was the case recently. The deputies who were assigned to work at the city's Sobering Center on New Year's Eve were described by program staff as "amazing." Also impressed was Riverbed Technology, who wrote praising words about Deputies Regidor and Lau for the "outstanding" work they did at the company's party at City Hall. These are just two examples of staff's display of their commitment to excellence. |
Dash and Splash
 Last year, members of the San Francisco Sheriff's Department participated in the Dash and Splash, a 5k Fun Run and Walk and the Polar Plunge - a fundraising event benefiting the 16,000 athletes of the Special Olympics of Northern California.
This February 22, we will be back out there again supporting the athletes of the Special Olympics! Go to www.idashandsplash.com and click on "Find a Team." Scroll down to "SFSD Polar Plungers (San Francisco)" and click on our team to sign up or donate. We look forward to seeing you there! |
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