Here's a good practice the SFPD could adopt to help the public keep track of the department's progress toward Vision Zero: monthly reports showing the department's traffic crash and citation data. It's already a practice at the New York Police Department, where it was mandated by law.
Now that SFPD seems to be turning a corner with recent policy reforms and pledges to pursue Vision Zero, these monthly reports could show people what's changing. As Streetsblog NYC reported today, NYPD's latest report showed a 66 percent increase in citations in January for drivers failing to yield to pedestrians, though the department has received a lot of press attention recently for its crackdown on jaywalkers.
Currently, the SFPD only releases crash data on an annual basis, and full collision reports released by the SFMTA take up to two years to be released, since the data has traditionally had to go through the California Highway Patrol's Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System. The SFPD recently changed this by adopting a database allowing for far more efficient data delivery within a month or two, which should provide the department the ability to publish monthly reports on its website, as NYPD does.
The Board of Supervisors certainly has an interest in seeing recent crash and citation data. Acting the SF County Transportation Authority Board, the supes created a subcomittee yesterday to monitor the city's progress towards Vision Zero. Monthly data releases would go a long way towards making those efforts more transparent policymakers and the public.
See snapshots of what the NYPD's most recent collision report looks like after the break.
