San Francisco sees 54 percent dip in homicides; overall number lowest in almost 40 years

San Francisco sees major drop in homicides in 2009

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco appears on track in 2009 to have the lowest number of murders in nearly 50 years.

Mayor Gavin Newsom and Police Chief George Gascon announced Tuesday that homicides in the city have dropped from 98 in 2008 to 45 so far this year. If that number stands, it would the city’s lowest number of homicides since 1961.

Overall, Newsom and Gascon say violent crime, a category that includes rapes and aggravated assaults, is down 10 percent from 2008, as hot spots such as the city’s Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood and Mission district are seeing double-digit declines.

Newsom credited more targeted policing efforts for the decline in crime.