Fillmore merchants feel safer with stepped up police presence

Merchants along Fillmore Street in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood says crime is down from a year ago and they credit the drop to a stronger police presence and open communication. 

They say the problems have not disappeared but that they do feel safer.

Late Thursday afternoon, two police officers on foot patrol introduced themselves to the manager of ModCloth,one of the new merchants in the area. The clothing store opened on Fillmore Street just two months ago. 

As part of their beat, the officers welcomed the store manager with safety tips. 
 
More than half the stores on Fillmore are family-owned.

Merchants say ongoing theft problems threaten their livelihood. 

"This is our hard earned money that we put into the store so when we do get shop lifted, it's a net loss. So it's really difficult," said Ron Benitez, who co-owns Asmbly Hall with his wife. 

The area is filled with high end stores. Workers say safety is a concern.

At Crossroads Trading Company, the assistant manager says she and other employees often ask suspicious or disruptive people to leave the store.
 
"It can be intimidating. Most of us walk or commute by bus. Especially when you're dealing with a challenging person in the store. I have a personal fear of am I going to see them on my bus?" said Steph Bull with Crossroads. 
 
"Stores can not find workers and if these worker don't feel safe on these corridors, they're not going to come work for us," said Vas Kiniris, executive director of Fillmore Merchants Association. . 

But merchants say what has helped reduce crime are regular police foot patrols. 

"We'd have somebody come in with a bag and then clear a shelf and take off," said Amanda Cooper, manager of L'Occitane. She said this happened while she was in the store," That was really unfortunate. But we haven't had anything like that happen this year which is great." 
 
Police Captain Joseph Engler says the commercial corridors his district covers such as Pacific Heights, the Marina, Japantown, and Hayes Valley have seen a 25 percent drop in auto break-in's compared to last year. 

He says foot patrol again is key. 
 
"Always stay ahead of the trends. Put the resources where we see things popping up and by having a presence, We try to quell the situation," said Captain Engler. 
 
People sort of let their guard down in this neighborhood. If anything, we need to lift it up a little bit more because it makes it a little easier to target," said Bull with Crossroads. . 
 
Captain Engler says there are foot patrol officers assigned in various commercial corridors seven days a week. Officers walk the beat starting in the morning, just before lunch, and go until after dinner time.