Dan Johnson, whom some readers may know as Burritophile Dan, is now also SFist Dan! Seems he has some stuff to say about non-burrito-related issues; first up, he follows up on some anti-crime measures in his neigborhood. . .
You may recall our presence at a lower Haight neighborhood meeting back in January after a spate of gun violence galvanized the area and turned out hundreds of folks along with news cams and Heather Fong. Well, during that meeting Supervisor Mirkarimi promised that he would somehow find the city funding for a security camera at the corner of Haight and Webster, which is kind of the locus of all things crack-deal in the area.
Well, the camera went up! Neighborhood scuttlebutt is that the dealers have vacated the corner pretty much completely, but it's too soon to tell whether this will make a meaningful difference or if they'll just set up shop down on Laguna. We tried to take a picture of the camera for this blurb, but a guy came up to us and said "no pictures of this corner." This corner. With the camera. Rather than argue, we went photo-less. But...Mirkarimi said it would get done, and it got done. A Supervisor following through on his promises? Wow. We also remember how he promised to have the city take over all public housing by next January if the housing authority couldn't get its act together. Will he keep that one as well? Time will tell...
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What? Who told you no pictures of the corner? Could you be more specific than "a guy"?
It's a public street. You can take as many pictures as you want. Take a picture of the person who told you not to take pictures.
I'm in favor of the cameras, but I'm also in favor of public awareness and access to them. These should really be webcams, where anyone can see what's going on.
Ah -- right. If I understood Dan's report correctly, it appeared to be a member of the local criminal element (allegedly).
Which is what makes it weird.
I don't know about the city taking over Public Housing, but I would welcome the Feds coming in and taking the projects over, while removing Greg Fortnos as its head. Hear that, Mr. Fancypants Mayor?
Put THAT in your public forum.
Yes, they hassled me once, too. I used to have a picture of the guy somewhere.
At least we know the cameras are having an effect. They deserve every bit of the discomfort and crack-fuelled paranoia they're getting.
I would say that you stepped right into it on the sidewalk.
This is EXACTLY the battle that's brewing over this neighborhood.
Yeah, I should have been more specific. The dude was a definite, um, criminal-element type. He was definitely on the nervous side, which made me nervous, and it wasn't a situation where I was going to go into my constitutional rights..
Is there a betting pool on how long that camera is going to last there before somebody shoots it off the pole?
Whether the cameras help or not, thank you for that you do, Supervisor Mirkarimi!