SITE OVERVIEW ♦ SAN FRANCISCO | CALIFORNIA
Target Area: Eastern Bayview • Population: 34,000 (Bayview)
Fiscal Agent: Office of the District Attorney, City & County of San Francisco
Research Partner: Vera Institute of Justice
Crime Concerns: Aggravated assaults, homicides, robbery, burglary, and other violent crimes
BCJI Funding Year: 2013 Planning & Implementation
Neighborhood Profile
Eastern Bayview is San Francisco’s most distressed neighborhood with high levels of violent crimes. In 2010, the total reported number of violent crimes in Bayview reached a rate of 1,262.6 (per 100,000) compared to the considerably lower rates of 704.4 in San Francisco and 403.6 nationally. Indeed, rates of violent crime in Eastern Bayview are approximately three times higher than those of the citywide rates. From 2008 to 2011, Bayview accounted for 26 percent of homicides, 12 percent of robberies, 15 percent of aggravated assaults, 12 percent of burglaries, 13 percent of auto theft, and 20 percent of weapons violations in San Francisco. Residents’ exposure to community violence is also estimated to be four times higher than the citywide rate. By age 17, over 70 percent of African-American youth in Eastern Bayview have been referred to the juvenile justice system. In 2012, 23 percent of youth booked at Juvenile Hall were from the 94124 zip code, over twice as high any other zip code. Additionally, approximately 15 percent of the Adult Probation Department’s current active probationers live in 94124. Only 3 percent of neighborhood watch groups are based in this neighborhood, and while levels of victimization are also high for Bayview, exposure to violence is often underreported. In 2011 and 2012, over 400 victims from the Bayview area were serviced by the District Attorney’s Victims Services Division. The target community has a longstanding and deep mistrust of law enforcement and the criminal justice system, resulting in the aforementioned underreporting of incidents by both victims and witnesses. This ultimately hinders the ability of law enforcement to investigate and prosecute the crimes that continue to trouble the community.
Planning Process
The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office (SFDA) with support from the Vera Institute of Justice led the planning process for the BCJI effort – named Safer Together – over the course of 2014. Working with a variety of neighborhood organizations and agencies, they established early on that the BCJI effort needed to capitalize on existing data and initiatives and find its “sweet spot” in light of the community’s significant survey fatigue, cynicism about initiatives, and sensitivity to research.
Through data analysis, focus groups and hotspot mapping, the process confirmed two primary hot spots – a public plaza and the Alice Griffith public housing development (the site of a Choice Neighborhoods Initiative). Findings also underscored the extent to which lines between offenders and victims are blurred in Bayview, particularly with regard to violent crime, and several major gaps in services to address family/interpersonal violence and transitional-age youth. Three main strategies emerged: (1) improving direct services/access to services for victims of crime; (2) increasing neighborhood empowerment, engagement and capacity (of both residents and organizations) to prevent and respond to victimization; and (3) increasing community trust and collaboration with the criminal justice system.
Implementation Strategies
Launched in spring 2015, the Bayview BCJI plan emphasizes integrating the work with other efforts to maximize impact. Key elements include:
- Providing community members with place-based, culturally competent, meaningful access to victim services and assistance;
- Training local leaders in trauma-informed approaches;
- Developing sustainable, trauma-informed services to address unmet needs in the target area, including those related to transitional age youth and services for Chinese- and Spanish-speakers;
- Improving access to victim compensation through the State Victim Compensation Fund and supplemental sources, including securing funds for children exposed to violence;
- Empowering the neighborhood to prevent crime and promote social cohesion and collective efficacy, through support to small community-led projects;
- Developing a Neighborhood Court that provides the target area with a means to resolve offenses through a restorative justice model operated by the community, in the community;
- Enhancing police-prosecutor collaboration for problem-solving along with community members.
These strategies are aligned with momentum in Bayview to build the capacity of local community organizations and support revitalization that acknowledges the stress experienced by residents as a result of poverty and crime.
This web site is funded in part, through a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this web site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).