26-056 San Francisco County Auto Theft Task Force - SFCATT

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.

26-056
Published: 
Expire: 

The purpose of this notice is to notify members that as of Saturday March 28, 2026, newly formed San Francisco County Auto Theft Task Force (SFCATT) was established in the Strategic Investigations chain-of-command. The task force has been added to the drop-down menu of CDW.

General Information:

SFCATT’s [Redacted]. Other operational hours will vary. The task force will be comprised of a hybrid investigations and enforcement team. The task force members will coordinate with other law enforcement agencies operating in San Francisco to strategically address vehicle theft crimes.

Investigative Duties and Exceptions:

SFCATT will investigate the following offenses:

  • 10851(a) CVC (driving or taking a vehicle without consent)
  • 487(d)(a) PC (buying or receiving a stolen vehicle)
  • 10801 CVC (own or operate a “chop shop”)
  • 10802 CVC (tampering with a vehicle identification number [VIN])
  • 10803 CVC (buying or possessing vehicles with tampered VINs)
  • 10751(a) CVC (buy, sell, receive, possess vehicle or component parts with serial or identification number removed)

SFCATT will conduct inspections of public garages, repair shops, terminals, parking lots, new or used car lots, automobile dismantlers’ lots, vehicle shredding facilities, vehicle leasing or rental lots, vehicle equipment rental yards, vehicle salvage pools, or other similar establishments for the purpose of locating stolen vehicles in accordance with the previsions of 2805 CVC.

SFCATT will conduct investigations with the National Insurance Crime Bureau on insurance fraud cases as it pertains to stolen vehicles.

Investigative Exceptions:

If the stolen vehicle was used in a more serious crime (i.e. robberies, homicides, et cetera), or in the event of a serious injury hit and run involving a stolen vehicle, units such as Robbery, Homicide, or TCIU (for example) shall continue to be notified and respond in the established manner.

Notifications:

Though not an on-call unit, active or suspected “chop shops,” and/or a building containing multiple stolen vehicles at a time merits notification to SFCATT at all hours via RTIC’s main line at [Redacted].

Other Duties:

SFCATT will administer the vehicle theft grant (VTA), including all state mandated reporting, and administer the 10851 awards program and ceremony.

SFCATT will utilize the City and County of San Francisco Impound (CCSFI) Liaison Sergeant to ensure contract compliance with CCSFI.

/s/
DERRICK J. LEW
Chief of Police