San Francisco police are targeting Muni scofflaws as a way to prevent rising crime rates and deter riders from evading the $2 fare.

"Crime on Muni is up and there's concern over public safety," said Capt. David Lazar of the Ingleside police station. "Our job is to bring down crime."

On Nov. 4, undercover and uniformed police officers descended on buses all over San Francisco in the largest sting operation ever executed on Muni in an effort to target fare evasion, eating, tagging and other crime.

Over 400 people were cited and nine people were arrested in the sting, according to police spokeswoman Sgt. Lyn Tomioka.

The surge of police onto Muni is part of Operation Safe Muni, which was started in the Ingleside district in September in order to tackle the problem of crime and fare evasion on Muni. Crime on Muni has increased, while crime in the city is down, according to Lazar.

"Muni is an extension of San Francisco's streets," said Kristen Holland, a spokeswoman for Muni. "The SFPD presence on Muni reflects an ongoing partnership to prevent crime and make Muni safer."

Muni loses approximately $19 million annually from fare evasion, according to Holland.
Operation Safe Muni stings in Ingleside have resulted in approximately 150 citations for fare evasion.

"Our plan with Safe Muni is to start with some analysis of the problem and determine its magnitude and scope," said Lt. Jason Cherniss, who helped organize Operation Safe Muni stings in Ingleside. "Our response will include more enforcement targeting subjects who commit any and all offenses on Muni."

The stings are part of the ongoing operation that will place officers on buses throughout the day in areas where crime is prevalent.

"As a cop, I'm concerned about major bus lines in districts where there's crime," Lazar said. "If we can reduce crime, we're doing our job."

The policy for the past 10 years is that police officers are required to ride two buses per shift, according to Lazar. The San Francisco Police Department charges the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for services, including security on buses.

Until recently, police officers would patrol the buses without asking for proof of payment. Police officers around San Francisco are now being trained to check a rider's proof of payment on Muni to prevent fare evasion, according to Lazar.

"I can't speak for the past, but we see the problem and we're working to fix it," Lazar said.
The Ingleside police station is currently training every officer on how to conduct proof of payment.

Operation Safe Muni is being expanded to include crime prevention, ridership outreach, follow-up with offenders to prevent crime and training in schools about paying on Muni, which will be part of an educational campaign.

"We are focusing much of our effort on forming a closer partnership with Muni (so) as to facilitate some of the implementations," Cherniss said.