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San Francisco Mayor Worried By City's Rising Homicide Rate

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The number of homicides in San Francisco this year has outpaced 2011, a problem San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said requires a comprehensive solution.

As of Thursday morning, 67 homicides have been recorded in San Francisco, 17 more than all of 2011.

"I get a text of every homicide in the city," Lee said, dismayed by the 67 messages he has received so far in a year when violent crime has also increased in San Jose and Oakland.

"It's no satisfaction to me that even San Jose and Oakland are experiencing this," he said.

KCBS' Jeffrey Schaub Reports:

SF Mayor Worried By City's Rising Homicide Rate

The year began with an optimistic report that homicides and other violent crime in San Francisco had reached a 50-year low.

Lee abandoned a proposal to begin stop and frisk searches in 2011 because of concerns about racial profiling raised by civil liberties advocates.

Instead San Francisco police have been targeting gangs and tracking parole and probation violators to try and contain violent crime. Lee has also met with spiritual leaders to draft a plan to steer teenagers and young adults away from trouble.

"We had a 17-year-old, got great grades and was a star athlete, hang around the corner at 10 p.m., the worst thing a young guy can do. And he gets shot," Lee said.

Lee said tackling the mounting homicide problem would be a priority for the year ahead.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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