This Week's Top Stories

surveillance

Seventeen AI Cameras Are Watching Hunters Point — and Most Residents Don't Know It

A new community report maps 17 Flock Safety license-plate readers in Hunters Point as SFPD's citywide AI surveillance network reaches 500 cameras, raising urgent questions about consent, privacy, and who bears the watch.

A report published October 21 in the San Francisco Bay View puts a neighborhood address on a surveillance network that has grown largely out of public view. According to data from Deflock.org, a crowdsourced national map of automated license-plate readers, 17 Flock Safety ALPR cameras have been counted and mapped in Hunters Point alone. Citywide, SFPD now owns and operates 500 AI-enhanced Flock cameras — a network that began in March 2024 and has expanded year over year. The technology does considerably more than photograph license plates.

public safety

Two Bayview Homicide Suspects Arrested on the Same Morning — One a Juvenile

SFPD closed two separate fatal shootings from earlier this month with back-to-back announcements on October 20.

San Francisco police announced two homicide arrests in the Bayview district on the morning of October 20, resolving separate killings that had each occurred in the first half of October. In the first case, officers responded to the 1100 block of Thomas Avenue around 5:11 p.m. on October 1 and found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was hospitalized and later died. Investigators identified 44-year-old San Francisco resident Jorge Alberto Mendoza-Hernandez as the suspect and arrested him on the 600 block of Gilman Avenue in Bayview.

parks

Crocker Amazon Turf Battle Drags Into Fall With No Supervisors Vote Scheduled

Six months after the Recreation and Park Commission unanimously recommended accepting a $28 million Giants grant, the full Board of Supervisors has not put the Crocker Amazon renovation on its calendar.

The dispute over Crocker Amazon Park's future is entering its seventh month with no vote in sight at City Hall. The Recreation and Park Commission voted unanimously in April to recommend that the Board of Supervisors accept a $28 million grant from the San Francisco Giants Community Fund for a wholesale renovation of the park's ball diamonds. As of Mission Local's late-September reporting, the Board had not scheduled a hearing, and a round of additional community review had been added before any final action.

Upcoming Events

Friday, October 23

From the E: Fall Festival Night Market

📍 Ocean Avenue at Mission Street, Excelsior · 4:30 PM–8:30 PM · Verify · SFMTA

Sunday, October 25

Drop-In Tech Help in Five Languages

📍 Excelsior Branch Library, 4400 Mission Street · 1:00 PM–4:00 PM · Verify · Ingleside Light

Tuesday, October 27

OAH Jazz Jam at Ocean Ale House

📍 Ocean Ale House, Ingleside · 6:00 PM · Verify · Ingleside Light

Thursday, October 28

Mission Bakery Grand Opening

📍 Mission Street, Excelsior (follow @fromtheesf on Instagram for the exact address) · 1:00 PM–4:00 PM · Verify · N Judah Chronicles

More from the Community

Small Change Arcade Is Open: Pinball, Classic Games, and Community Space at 4740 Mission

Small Change Arcade, a nonprofit walk-in arcade at 4740 Mission Street in the Excelsior, celebrated its grand opening on October 16 with pinball, classic coin-op cabinet games, live music, and food.

Bayview's First Pharmacy in Over a Year Is Taking Shape on Third Street, Targeted for Early 2027

A nonprofit pharmacy called the D10 Community Pharmacy is planned for 5668 Third Street in Bayview — the long-vacant former site of What's the Scoop ice cream parlor — with a projected…

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