A spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department has said that steps will be taken in 2013 to lessen the number of violent crimes in the current year from levels reported in the previous 12 months.

Criminal activity has been a problem throughout the Bay Area, he said, agreeing that more needed to be done to increase safety on city and neighborhood streets.  Murder rates were up last year, having reached their highest level since 2006.  Crimes against property, such as burglary, also spiked by 40%.  Some have cited a belief that these rates could be directly linked to the state's prisoner realignment program, which shifted non-serious non-violent non-sexual offenders from state prisons to county jails.  In turn, county jails, including the Bryant Street Jail, have begun releasing certain low-level inmates before their sentences have concluded.   Others say it is too soon to statistically link one to the other.

SFPD Chief Greg Suhr reportedly said he takes upticks in crime personally.  One strategy being employed to reduce those efforts involves the expansion of community based policing. This is due to a theory that working with and talking with people who live within the community is one of the best ways to solve and predict crime.   He is also hopeful the department will be permitted to hire additional officers, although increasing staffing is not currently part of the 2013 budget.

It is unclear when and if the city council will vote to approve the hiring and training of additional sworn staff.