Russian Hill neighborhood starts 'ambassador' program

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) -- There are new additions to San Francisco's famous crooked street on the heels of a recent robbery and shooting of a tourist and an uptick in property crime.

It's called the Lombard Street Ambassador Program.

The goal is to help visitors and residents deal with traffic congestion and prevent property crime.

Picturesque Lombard Street is busy day and night, especially during the summer.

"This is really nice with the sun coming down over the street. It's just really beautiful," said Brian Ixie, a visitor from Chicago.

"I do feel safe yeah. Actually, I have not encountered any problems," said Astrid Neumann, a visitor from Austria.

But last week, one tourist from Thailand was robbed of his camera and shot when he went after the thief. Even before that, there'd been an increase in property crimes including car break-ins.

This past weekend, the city launched the Lombard Street Ambassador Program.

The workers, in turquoise polo shirts, walk the steps of the crooked street, helping tourists, directing traffic and hopefully serving as a visual deterrent to criminals.

"If they see the uniform, they'll go, 'Somebody's watching me. I can't get away with anything right now.' So it just helps deter a lot of crime," said Joe Castagnola, operations manager for the Lombard Street Ambassador Program.

Supervisor Mark Farrell secured the city funds for this program.

He says it has been in the works for almost a year and that the problems in the area are public safety and quality-of-life issues.

"The amount of traffic congestion, tourism combined with public safety concerns have grown in the entire

Russian Hill neighborhood and specifically the crooked street," said Farrell.

The number of ambassadors varies from two up to four depending on the day of the week. The program will run until November 1st.

"Anything to make people feel safer, I think is a good thing," said Rachel Ixie who's visiting from Chicago.

Supervisor Farrell said the program will return in the spring from May 1 through June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

But it will be reassessed to decide if the program will continue beyond that.