Public Safety – Stopping the Violence!

I’m not interested in idle talk. We need effective action to reduce violent crimes in our city. My public safety and anti-violence platform is based on a simple principle: We must address serious and violent crimes in ways that will have the most impact on actually reducing the number of violent crimes perpetrated on our citizenry.

Let me point out once again that most violent crimes perpetrated in our city are committed by people who have committed serious or violent crimes before and/or have been in the criminal justice system previously. Therefore, my platform focuses on supporting and expanding anti-violence and anti-recidivism programs that have been shown to work.

Our city has a number of such programs that have been shown to work effectively at preventing first-time offenders from becoming repeat offenders. My pledge to you is to evaluate our local criminal justice system and provide sufficient funding to support and expand those programs that are working well in order to make our streets and neighborhoods safer.

I also intend to search the country to find the best anti-recidivism programs in other cities and evaluate which one or two would best work here.

Support for Anti-violence and Anti-recidivism Programs – One of the most successful programs we have in our city is the nationally-recognized Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP). This is an in-custody and post release violence prevention program based on the principles of restorative justice:

- Crime is an offense against the community—not simply a violation against the state—and creates an obligation to make things right;
- Victims have the right to be heard and to participate in the design and the operation of the program;
- Offenders learn how to avoid violence, and are given the opportunity to understand, take responsibility for, and repair the harm done.

In the RSVP program, violent offenders are required to participate in a 16-hour-a-day program staffed by deputy sheriffs, community violence counselors, and experienced community activists. My commitment is to support this program and build on its success by redirecting funds or finding dedicated new funding to expand it.

High School in the Jails and Vocational Training – We need to provide full funding to support and expand the charter high school in the jail as well as various vocational training programs. If first time and non-violent offenders are able to learn skills and become more marketable to employers, fewer will return to the world of crime. As a County Supervisor and former City College of San Francisco staff supervisor, I will work with City College, the Sheriff’s Department and community-based organizations to make sure these programs are as effective as they can possibly be.

I support entering into smart public-private partnerships to conduct vocational training and job placement for offenders prior to and post release.

Drug Diversion and Substance Abuse programs – I will fight to expand the effective use of substance abuse programs so we can make sure our public safety officers focus on the most serious and violent crimes in our city. I want to make sure that non-violent drug offenders are not unnecessarily stuck in a criminal justice system that can make things worse for everyone.

Community D.A. program – Expand it to the Western Addition! This program focuses on strategies to prevent and confront juvenile crime and delinquency, efforts to develop community-based responses to drug offenses, and outreach and education on domestic violence in our city. I will work with the D.A. to establish this program in the Western Addition and other areas of district 5 that have been hit hard by crime.

Community Policing – I want to make ‘Community Policing’ something more than just a buzz-word. The SF Police Department needs to step up its efforts to engage the community and be present in the neighborhoods 24/7.

Boys & Girls Clubs and other After-School programs – I will strive to provide redirect and provide additional funding to effective after-school programs.

Jail Alternatives – I also support well-designed jail alternative programs that focus on keeping those who are not a threat to society out of the jails. These programs require well-coordinated efforts among a number of agencies, as well as a redirection of funds to those jail alternative programs that work. A comprehensive jail alternative program will include job training, transitional housing, recovery services, and access to mental health services.

I intend to not only work with the Sheriff’s Department, D.A.’s office, the Public Defender, and our SFPD, but to bring community organizations such as the Center for Juvenile and Criminal Justice in as key partners in addressing violent crime and protecting the public’s safety in our city. We should be able to bring folks and hold our public safety agencies accountable for making real progress in reducing crime in our neighborhoods.

Additionally, I intend to hold a summit with City agency heads, judges, nonprofit community and social service groups, neighborhood leaders, and representatives from the private sector to discuss and come up with new solutions dealing with what happens to offenders who are on parole or probation. If our combined resources can’t provide a sufficient safety net for those who have paid their debt to society, then we are failing as a society. My commitment to you is to get all the various parties working together while setting aside sufficient funding to make sure our efforts do not fail.

DAN KALB
The Experienced Leader We Need to Make
City Government Work Better for
District 5 Residents and All San Franciscans

DAN KALB for Supervisor 5
912 Cole Street, #252, San Francisco, CA 94117
415/753-0137
fppc #1265026