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Sexual Harassment Discussed
At TC’s Annual Safety Hearing

Sexual harassment was the main topic of discussion at the Taxi Commission’s annual safety hearing, conducted Dec. 20 by Acting Executive Director Kelly Castagnaro. Commissioners Paul Gillespie, Mary McGuire and Martin Smith, all cab drivers, were also in attendance.
Emily Murase, Executive Director of the Commission on the Status of Women, and Bernice Casey of the Department on the Status of Women made the presentation. Among the materials they furnished was a brochure for cab drivers on the law of sexual harassment published by the Victorian Taxi Association in Australia. It was suggested that similar information could be provided to San Francisco cab drivers.
Inspector Farrell Suslow of the Taxi Detail presented crime statistics for 2004. The figures showed a decrease from 33 reported offenses against drivers in 2003 to 22 in 2004. The number of offenses committed by drivers decreased from 12 in 2003 to eight in 2004.
There were 10 reported robbery/carjacking incidents in 2004, compared to an average of 20 over the previous five years. Insp. Suslow attributed the reduction in robberies to the installation of security cameras in all San Francisco cabs in 2003.