SF Supervisor Gordon Mar Releases Aggregated Crime Victim Demographic Data Following Request to SFPD

On Sept. 9, SF Supervisor Gordon Mar released aggregated crime victim demographic data for the last six years. The data was provided by the San Francisco Police Department in response to Mar’s formal inquiry to the department for 10 years of data, following a number of high-profile crimes against members of the Chinese community.

The newly public data shows instances of certain crimes increasing year over year, in conflict with public statements from SFPD claiming these crimes have declined.

“The Chinese community felt that they were experiencing more instances of crime — and they are,” Mar said. “This trend isn’t unique to Chinese victims, with crime increasing for communities across our City.”

According to the data, Asian burglary victims have increased in number every year since 2013, with 975 in 2013, 989 in 2014, 1118 in 2015, 1171 in 2016, 1427 in 2017 and 1531 in 2018. Asian robbery victims have increased every year since 2016, with 833 in 2016, 858 in 2017 and 987 in 2018.

Alongside the victim data request, Mar is currently drafting legislation to require SFPD to report these statistics annually with additional categories, including race, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, disability status and religious preference. These actions followed a hearing and town hall Mar held in the Spring, focused on increases in property crimes in the Sunset and citywide.

In addition to his legislation mandating victim data reporting, Mar has also funded new programs to expand security cameras and safe package delivery.

“Better data means better strategies,” Mar said. “I’m concerned it took so long for us to get this data and that it doesn’t seem to match what SFPD has been saying. Now that we have it, we need to keep tracking these numbers going forward, and work together and in solidarity with all the communities impacted by crime, including and especially the African American community.”