There has been a lot of concern expressed online about recent sideshow activity in San Francisco. Oftentimes residents are aware of the noise coming from somewhere but are not sure of the location. The Glen Park Association safety committee reached out to Captain Woon about this after an event over the weekend.
He also addressed a question about the monthly Ingleside Station community meetings which have been held only one time since the pandemic began.
Here’s his reply:
Yes, the Ingleside Community Meeting will be scheduled on September 15th. It will be posted in the next few days on our newsletter.
The sideshow activity in the Ingleside District is a serious concern. Officers do respond to the locations to attempt to disperse the crowds and vehicles. Often times, though, the officers are outnumbered and the crowds and/or vehicles refuse to move. In the past, we have asked the CHP to assist with their resources including the use of their helicopter. Typically, as more officers arrive to assist, the vehicles move to different locations to avoid arrest.
Nevertheless, officers do the best they can to contain the scene and prevent innocent persons from unknowingly going into the area and endanger themselves. In addition, officers do record the incidents on their body cameras and review social media in an attempt to identify participants and vehicles for follow up investigation for possible subsequent arrests and impounding of their vehicles.
In this circumstance, the sideshow activity apparently started in the Bayview and progressed into the Ingleside. Ingleside officers did detain numerous subjects and one person was issued a citation.
Moving forward, we will continue to direct resources to address the sideshows. In addition, we have been collaborating with neighboring police departments to maximize our enforcement efforts. I’m also in constant communication with the supervisor’s office to see what other options are available to increase public safety. Furthermore, the department has dedicated a special investigations team to investigate sideshows.