San Francisco's top public safety officials gathered at City Hall March 18 to congratulate Castro Community on Patrol for being awarded the FBI Community Leadership Award.
Robert Tripp, special agent in charge at the FBI's San Francisco office, presented CCOP's Greg Carey and Ken Craig with a certificate — they will receive the actual award next month in Washington, D.C. from FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The award was founded in 1990 to acknowledge those working on crime prevention in their communities.
"Nobody exemplifies the spirit of that award more than the LGBTQ+ community project and its leaders, Greggy and Ken," Tripp said. "They've promoted the protection of civil rights, have raised hate crime awareness, and have sustained that. The most valuable tool to us in the FBI is partnership, and I can think of no better partners. On behalf of my boss, Director Christopher Wray, I want to thank you for your service to the people of San Francisco."
Wray appointed Tripp to lead the San Francisco office in 2022. Wray became FBI director after then-President Donald Trump dismissed James Comey in 2017. An FBI director's term is for 10 years, and President Joe Biden asked Wray to stay on when he took office.
Monday's event was held in the office of Mayor London Breed, who presented her own certificate to CCOP. She said gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who was also present, was "so fortunate to have Castro Community on Patrol, which doesn't exist in every community in San Francisco."
"This is really about appreciating everything, though we know the work is not done," Breed added.
Mandelman called CCOP "an essential community institution, whether it's Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night, or at day events in the Castro."
"You look at all these people have done," Mandelman said. "They're the people who always raise their hands."
Mandelman honored CCOP at the Board of Supervisors earlier this month, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, with a special commendation. CCOP was founded in 2006 in response to several violent robberies in the LGBTQ Castro neighborhood. It patrols in teams of three or four, often during peak nightlife hours, wearing bright orange uniforms. Those on patrol watch out for medical emergencies, are trained in first aid and CPR, and carry Narcan and trauma kits. They also involve the police and fire departments when necessary.
Several speakers paid tribute to CCOP's active shooter trainings that were launched after the Club Q massacre in Colorado Springs, Colorado nearly two years ago. Five people were killed and 25 injured on November 19-20, 2022; the shooter, Anderson Lee Aldrich, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five life terms without the possibility of parole and 2,211 years. Aldrich was charged earlier this year with 50 counts of hate crimes in federal court.
Among those on hand at the CCOP event were San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who acknowledged the group for taking action to respond to the "overwhelming fear in the Castro — 'what happens if that comes our way?'"
"I was not going to miss the opportunity to come and say congratulations," Jenkins said. "You guys are so deserving of this honor."
Jenkins said that the sense of safety is as much about feelings as statistics.
"When people see you in their community, that's what assists with that feeling of safety," Jenkins said. "It's critical for people to go out and get on with their lives and enjoy their lives."
San Francisco Sheriff Paul M. Miyamoto noted, "I was elected to serve the community but you elected to serve the community." His counterpart in the police department, Chief William Scott, noted that Craig is a third-degree black belt in taekwondo.
"They don't go around talking about how he's a tough fighter," Scott said. "I wish every community had guys like you. ... You sacrificed a lot and give a lot to this city, and you're here, working hard for this city, and we appreciate you."
Carey said that CCOP is always trying to help people protect themselves, such as with the active shooter training.
"We can't be out on our patrols and always be there if an event happens," he said. "What we need is a community that is self-aware and self-prepared."
He noted that LGBTQ people have to be extra vigilant "when you have politicians every four years who bring up the LGBTQ community as enemies of the people," referring to Republicans, many of whom are seeking to pass anti-LGBTQ laws in various states.
Craig noted the FBI helped with preparing the active shooter training. He said that CCOP helps bridge the gap between the LGBTQ community — many of whom came from other cities, states, and countries, he noted — and San Francisco's public safety apparatus.
"When we started CCOP we realized people in the Castro had had bad experiences with law enforcement," he said. "We decided very early on we had to bridge that chasm, fix that gap, and get people to trust local law enforcement and the federal government."
Craig, who is from the United Kingdom, also touched on the need for people to be prepared. He said he is guided by a maxim of former British prime minister Sir Robert Peel, who said, "the police are the public, and the public are the police."
The FBI Community Leadership Award will be presented on April 19 at the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C.
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