San Francisco installs 18 street cameras in Chinatown after rash of crimes

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - Increased safety measures are now helping keep the community safer in San Francisco's Chinatown.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Chinatown Neighborhood Association chair Pius Lee and others made the announcement on Thursday, touting the fact that there are 18 public safety cameras, which are now operational.

They said that these new, high-definition cameras are installed along a two-block stretch of Stockton Street from the tunnel at Sacramento to Washington streets.

The calls for increased security measures comes after a number of crimes, one of the most recent was last month.

That's when Walter Wong was walking in Chinatown in the afternoon when he said three men came up from behind him, grabbed him by the arms, assaulted him and stole his watch.   

One of his friends tried to help as Wong blacked out for several minutes. 
He was taken to the hospital where he was treated for a fractured cheekbone and bruises to the back of his head. 

"A couple of fellows behind me lifted me up," Wong said at the time. "Threw me on the ground. At that time I was unconscious."

Six days after the attack on Wong, a man used a broom to break the windshields of three vehicles that were stopped in traffic on Jackson and Stockton streets.

And now, with the installation of these cameras, the city is hoping they will assist police should a crime take place and they hope their presence will be a deterrent to criminals.