By Justin Berton
San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — The influx of marijuana grow houses in the Sunset District is a “serious public safety issue,” San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón said Wednesday as officials trumpeted the department’s 36 raids in the residential neighborhood since January.
The crackdown is not directed at marijuana usage, Gascón said, but at “the level of danger associated with these homes” for people who live around them.
Gascón spoke at a news conference where police displayed 20 weapons seized from the homes, along with hydroponic lights and makeshift exhaust systems.
The chief said some of the operations that police have raided recently were tied to organized crime, but declined to elaborate.
Officials said the grow houses pose other threats to neighbors, apart from the criminal element they attract. Fire Marshal Barbara Schultneis said four fires so far this year have been attributed to jury-rigged electrical wiring for indoor marijuana farms, up from two for all of last year.
The neighborhood’s old homes, flat layout and windy conditions make for a potential fire catastrophe, said Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.
“If a fire gets going in the Sunset, there’s a good chance for extension,” she said.
Since January, police officers from Taraval Station and vice units, working largely on tips from neighbors who complained of foul odors and visitors at odd hours, have raided more than three dozen residences in the city’s western neighborhood, said Capt. Denis O’Leary.
Capt. Paul Chignell, who heads Taraval Station, said he was unsure how many pot houses were uncovered in recent years, but that “it was far less” than the total so far in 2009.
The raids have led to 44 arrests, the seizure of 20 weapons and $88,000 in cash, and the destruction of 8,229 plants, police said.
The surge in Sunset grow houses is due to several factors, O’Leary said. A soft rental market allows cash-rich growers to move in; most homes in the Sunset are difficult to see into from the street; and a perpetually robust market for marijuana keeps profits high.
And, quite simply, word of mouth through the criminal network has made the Sunset an illicit pot grower’s destination.
“It’s my experience that criminals mimic each other when something works well,” O’Leary said. “Someone came into the Sunset and said, ‘This is a good place to grow,’ and others followed.”
Gascón’s news conference came on the heels of another high-profile drug crackdown, targeting the Tenderloin’s crack trade.
“It’s certainly our goal to be more visible, but also be more transparent to educate the public,” Gascón said. “I strongly believe a well-educated public is the best way to fight crime.”
“Criminals mimic each other when something works well. Someone came into the Sunset and said, ‘This is a good place to grow,’ and others followed.”
Copyright 2009 San Francisco Chronicle