26-117 Burglary Investigation Protocols

Department Notice

San Francisco Police Department

This document is not an official representation of the published policy. To access the official signed policy, please submit a request through our Public Records Request Portal.

26-117
Published: 
Expire: 
(Update to DN 18-027)

The Burglary Unit, which is under General Crimes, is responsible for the investigation of specific burglary cases. While the Burglary Unit may not handle every burglary case, members of the Burglary Unit will review all burglary reports.

The purpose of this Notice is to identify the case criteria for the Burglary Unit and the protocol for notifications to the Burglary Unit during business and non-business hours.

The Burglary Unit investigates:

  • Attempted or completed residential or commercial burglaries.
  • Burglaries involving a loss of more than $15,000.
  • Auto burglaries involving a loss of more than $15,000.
  • Burglaries or auto burglaries likely to have high media attention.
  • Safe and ATM burglaries.
  • Residential, commercial, or auto burglaries where a firearm is taken.
  • Commercial or residential burglaries in which an arrest occurs.
  • Auto vehicle thefts taken from residential or commercial burglaries.
  • All attempted or completed grand theft.

Should any of the burglaries listed above occur, a notification to the Burglary Unit or the Department Operations Center (DOC) should be initiated as follows:

  • During normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 0600-1800), the Burglary Unit should be notified of the listed types of burglaries. The office number is [Redacted]. If the Burglary Unit cannot be contacted during these hours, DOC can be notified and will contact the OIC of Burglary.
  • During all other non-business hours (1800-0600), DOC should be notified and will contact an on-duty Night Operations Unit.

In most instances, the Burglary Unit will NOT handle the below cases:

Entering with the intent to assault or vandalize. This falls under General Work.

  • Home invasions. This falls under Robbery.
  • Domestic violence incidents. This falls under Special Victims Unit.
  • Vehicle vandalism or tampering where there is no evidence of attempted theft. This falls under General Work.
  • Trespassing.
  • Retail theft type burglaries. This falls under Organized Retail Crime Task Force.
  • Misdemeanor theft cases.
  • Residential, commercial, auto theft, and auto burglaries where a firearm is taken and an arrest is made (this falls under Crime, Gun Investigations Center) or the subject is associated with gang affiliations (this falls under Community Violence Reduction Team).
  • Organized Retail Crime.
  • Possession of stolen property. This falls under the Fencing Unit.

Should there be any questions about a need for a response to a burglary, either the OIC of the Burglary Unit or the OIC of Night Operations can be contacted at any hours by a Commissioned Officer or Acting Platoon Commander.

/s/
DERRICK J. LEW
Chief of Police