San Francisco’s outdated and inaccessible criminal records request system is an obstacle to public safety. It leaves journalists and crime victims unclear about what is actually happening in our criminal justice system. Our court must provide clear records on demand for everyone — it is essential to hold officials accountable.

San Francisco lacks a fully interconnected criminal justice computer database that shares information in real time. Good data that’s easy to access can help residents understand what is really happening in our district attorney’s office, the police department, and the courts.

An interactive map of all burglaries in San Francisco from 2019 to 2021.

There are 52 superior court judges serving San Francisco. They are elected. Yet most voters have never heard of them. The judiciary shouldn’t be a mysterious Star Chamber. If you care about courtroom outcomes, it’s important to know who the judges are.

A lifelong Mission resident quit his job as a security guard at a downtown Target store because he didn’t feel safe. Rafael Gutierrez tells his personal story in this powerful video.

When a 94-year-old woman was stabbed on the sidewalk outside her Lower Nob Hill home, local media in San Francisco named the victim and the suspect — but curiously never named a central figure in the story: Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin. This is a disservice to the public.

Ghost guns represented 16 percent of all firearms seized in San Francisco in 2020. Who sold the remaining 84 percent of guns that were used in crimes? That's an important question to answer if we want to address rising gun violence.

Here/Say Media interviewed the victim’s grandson, Jack Liao, who claimed the district attorney’s office kept the family “in the dark” while trying to convince his non-English speaking grandfather to agree to no prosecution.

Another troubling week for Asian Americans. The discrimination of the past century is a direct line to modern San Francisco, where violence against Asian residents was a problem long before the politics of a pandemic scapegoated Asian Americans. We must prosecute crimes and support victims.

A TV news crew reporting on increased crime is robbed of their camera at gunpoint. Before expressing outrage over this ironic property crime, we can’t ignore the violent and senseless killings in San Francisco recently — especially the numerous attacks on Asian seniors.

Public safety was ignored on every level in our nation’s capital at the cost of jeopardizing our very democracy. The perpetrators and enablers must all be held accountable.

District Attorney Chesa Boudin won his election promising bold criminal justice reforms. Yet accountability must accompany reform. Given the failures in the New Year’s Eve case that led to the death of two women, we must hold Chesa Boudin accountable for his pledge to “protect public safety in San Francisco.”

Crime rates in San Francisco continue to rise for the fourth month in a row. We can’t forget the victims of the burglaries, arsons and stolen cars that we’ve seen more of this year.

San Francisco has separate police and fire training centers that are inadequate and need replacing. What if we built a combined public safety facility? It would be cost-effective and efficient. We can’t stop investing if we want to recruit and train better police. And there’s a perfect location for it on the westside.

Stop Crime SF urges our state representatives to enact a statewide ban on carotid artery restraints. We also ask you to support continued funding of charter schools for the incarcerated.

Investment is the most effective pathway to the community-orientated policing everyone deserves. Police departments must make structural changes to eradicate systemic racism. They must implement rigorous training and hiring to fill the ranks with officers truly committed to protecting and serving all people. Defunding or abolishing the SFPD would be reckless. This is the time to remake, reimagine and reinvest in a police department that keeps everyone safe.

The murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis demands condemnation, outrage, and justice. We must acknowledge there is much more work to be done to repair the trust that has been broken between law enforcement and communities of color. Common trust is essential for everyone’s safety and livelihood.

Supervisors want to speed up the previously scheduled closure of County Jail No. 4. But sheriff Paul Miyamoto has publicly said parts of the legislation are “irresponsible” and “a threat to public safety.” We support closing the dilapidated and seismically unfit jail. So does the sheriff. The problem with the proposed legislation is that it takes away the sheriff’s ability to add new beds to the remaining jails if he needs them for unforeseen circumstances. Click to read more details and send a letter to City Hall.

Less than 48 hours on the job, San Francisco’s new district attorney fired some of the department’s most experienced prosecutors.

Most voters have no clue who the judicial candidates are on the March 3rd ballot. But if you care about crime and criminal justice, you need to know who you're putting on the bench. This post compares the professional and personal background of all six judicial candidates. It even includes a section about why we vote for judges in California and how our process compares to other states.