Tenderloin cop gets neighborhood's attention

Captain Gary Jimenez with the San Francisco Police Department poses for a portrait out the Tenderloin Police Station on Wednesday May, 28, in San Francisco, Calif. Captain Gary Jimenez with the San Francisco Police Department poses for a portrait out the Tenderloin Police Station on Wednesday May, 28, in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Tenderloin cop gets neighborhood's attention 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Two years ago, right before Halloween, San Francisco Police Captain Gary Jimenez was put in charge of the Tenderloin Station.

Was that a trick or a treat?

Certainly, Jimenez isn't your typical cop. He can be unconventional, blunt and offbeat. He's come up with some comments that left the higher-ups wincing. He's also got some ideas - like his recent suggestion to start a Tenderloin safe injection center where drug addicts could shoot up under medical supervision - that have residents sputtering in opposition.

Yet in a strange way, Jimenez may be perfect for this difficult assignment. Maybe someone who thinks outside the box is just what the Tenderloin needs. The station has certainly had plenty of other captains: Jimenez is the fifth in 10 years. But he seems to have found the formula to make this work.

"He's kicking butt out there," said Elaine Zamora, a retired attorney who owns her Tenderloin home and works as district manager of the North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District. "He's a straight shooter who goes to meetings and isn't afraid to get up and talk. I'll bet (Police Chief) Heather Fong doesn't always appreciate that, but we'd fight tooth and nail to keep him."

Nothing speaks to his success like the range of support. He's received breathless praise from Randy Shaw, a firebrand blogger and executive director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. And when Jimenez joined the fight to get a full service post office in the Tenderloin, even often-combative Supervisor Chris Daly became a supporter. Most importantly, the captain has earned widespread community support because he attends all the meetings, walks the streets, and chats up nearly everyone.

"I see him everywhere, 24/7," said San Francisco Hilton public relations director Debbie Larkin. "I don't know when he goes home."

The odd part is that Jimenez is anything but a cautious department politician. He's the first to admit that he sometimes starts his mouth before he engages his brain.

"Oh yeah," he said. "All the time."

As proof he points to a Post-it note he's placed under the glass on top of his desk that says, "Positive spin." Jimenez said he wrote that out during a phone call with central command when it was suggested that he be a little more upbeat and less blunt about some of the issues facing the Tenderloin.

Good luck with that. Jimenez jokes that he is one of several SFPD officers who belong to the KMA club, meaning that he's reached the point where he can retire any time. If anybody gives him too much hassle, he can say "kiss my ass" and take off.

And that is just one example of why they call him "Crazy J."

There are times when he comes up with some ideas that surprise some people. For example, this week at his monthly community meeting, he drew a standing-room-only crowd of some 50 residents for his proposal to put a safe injection center in the Tenderloin.

Such a center would let drug addicts inject their drugs in a medically supervised environment without fear of arrest. The idea is to cut down on fatal overdoses and to keep used needles off the street. It is an interesting idea, and one that's been proposed in other city neighborhoods, but never before by a police captain.

"I don't know that I'm right," Jimenez admitted, "but I'm creating the dialogue. I think we need to talk about this stuff."

Although no one is sure where the idea will lead, a proposal is being drafted, and Jimenez said he'd like to see the neighborhood give it a three-month trial. Pending approval and funding, of course.

And, if you've got a minute, he'd also like to discuss crime in the Tenderloin. You know how the residents there are committing lots of crimes? There's only one thing wrong with that, Jimenez said - it's dead wrong.

Pointing to a 3-inch-thick stack of police reports that comprise a single day's arrest record for drug sales, trespassing, and public nuisance, Jimenez makes a wager.

"I'll bet not one of these people live in the Tenderloin," he said. "You hear about people saying someone is fresh off the boat? My problem is fresh off the BART."

As it turned out, he did find a Tenderloin resident. Just one in the stack. As of Wednesday, Jimenez said, his team has made 2,550 arrests since the first of the year and he guesses that 90 percent of them are not Tenderloin residents.

However, that doesn't mean that he isn't dealing with large numbers of people camping on the street or using the sidewalk as a rest room. He said he promised his supervisors that he won't say he's frustrated, but issuing hundreds of citations to violators, only to see them dismissed, is discouraging. The people who get the citations usually drop them off with homeless advocates who then work to get the case dismissed, he said.

"Sometimes we write a guy up and he'll say, 'Officer, why do you bother?' " Jimenez said. "He's right."

But don't get the idea that Jimenez wants to lock everyone up. When neighbors at his Tuesday night meeting began to talk about making more arrests and cracking down on drug use, Jimenez gave them a dose of reality.

"People want to take the hard line," he said. "Well, I'm the hard line. And I have been my whole career. One thing I do know, under the present system, arresting people is not the answer. We do it, and we don't have a problem with it, but it doesn't seem to be the answer."

And what is the answer? Jimenez is the first to admit he doesn't know. But, unlike a lot of guys who are playing it safe, he's not afraid to ask the tough questions.