San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced a plan to rectify the staffing shortage in the city’s public safety agencies at a press conference with other leaders May 13. The “Rebuilding the Ranks” policy framework, outlined in an executive directive released May 13, will incorporate actions to ease staff burdens and reduce overtime and strategies “to build a sustainable pipeline of qualified officers.”
The directive comes after years of understaffing at the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office and regular legislative budget fights over police overtime. Currently, SFPD is down more than 500 officers, and the Sheriff’s Office is down almost 200 deputies, according to Lurie.
“That means fewer officers and deputies walking our neighborhoods,” Lurie told onlookers at a press conference at San Francisco police headquarters Tuesday. “Slower response times and a growing dependence on costly and unsustainable overtime. Our residents and our officers deserve better.”
Short and long-term goals
Short-term actions, expected to be implemented in 100 days, include several policies aimed at recently retired officers, including expanding the police reserve program to bolster patrol and investigative roles, and a special events program supporting parades, concerts, sporting events, and similar activities.
Other short-term goals include streamlining the officer hiring process, initiatives to improve academy graduation rates and widen recruitment efforts, exploration of possible personnel sharing between departments for core investigative and patrol duties, and broader use of the technology-driven first responder program and Real Time Investigation Center.
Longer-term plans, expected to be implemented within six months, include further “civilianizing” administrative jobs, public-private partnerships with business districts to manage resources, and updating retirement policies to encourage lateral transfer of officers from other departments to San Francisco.
Lurie acknowledged the accord between his office and most of the Board of Supervisors as part of a ‘tone shift’ in the city’s public safety policymaking space.
During the press conference, SFPD Chief Bill Scott, who is leaving his post to become chief of Los Angeles’ Metro transit system June 23, noted that five lateral transfer officers and 55 new academy graduates were sworn in earlier this week.
“That has been the third straight full class that we’ve had, which hasn’t happened in a long time,” he added.
Also among the longer-term goals is an evaluation of overtime and sick leave policy and SFPD’s 10B program, which allows officers to work private security shifts in uniform at local businesses that pay for the requisite overtime. The 10B program has attracted scrutiny due to a recent report that found officers working tens of thousands of hours under the program while using high amounts of sick time between 2020 and 2023. A similar program for Sheriff’s deputies was passed in 2021.
A better outlook and a ‘tone shift’
Lurie also noted recent public safety improvements, including violent and property crime reductions.
“Car break-ins are at 22-year lows and street encampments are at their lowest point since 2019,” he added. “We had the safest Lunar New Year parade on record, thanks in part to our public safety agencies at full staffing for that weekend .… People are just starting to feel safer on our streets. Now, we need to take the next step by bringing them the resources to build a modern, accountable, and fully staffed public safety workforce that reflects our city’s values.”
In addition to Chief Scott, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, and Supervisors Matt Dorsey, Joel Engardio, Bilal Mahmood, Danny Sauter, and Stephen Sherrill joined Lurie at the conference. San Francisco Police Officers’ Association President Tracy McCray and Deputy Sheriffs’ Association President Ken Lomba were also present and speaking.
“Our officers can’t do their jobs effectively if they’re overwhelmed or pulled away from the field for administrative work,” Supervisor Mahmood told reporters at the conference. “I strongly support Mayor Louie’s Rebuild the Ranks plan because it’s not just bold, it’s nuanced. By delegating nonenforcement duties to trained civilian staff, we can free up our sworn officers to spend more time in the field, where they are needed most. This is smart, it’s strategic .… It’s going to make our neighborhood safer. We owe it to our residents, the families, the children, the seniors, our small business owners, to get this right.”
Lurie acknowledged the accord between his office and most of the Board of Supervisors as part of a “tone shift” in the city’s public safety policymaking space.
“If you’re reading the tea leaves and seeing the news around this country and the globe, people have changed their tune on San Francisco, and we welcome officers and sheriffs to apply. This is a great place to be in law enforcement.”
Revival of traffic enforcement?
Later at the Board of Supervisors’ regular meeting, Lurie addressed traffic enforcement during his monthly “question time” address to the body.
When Supervisor Myrna Melgar asked the mayor about how the city was going to turn around its failure to meet its “Vision Zero” policy goal of zero traffic deaths, which it had been attempting to achieve for almost a decade, he told her the city needed to “start with enforcement.”
“You’ve heard the public, you’ve seen the data, and when people engage in reckless driving, flee from law enforcement, or endanger lives behind the wheel, they must be held accountable.
“That’s how we restore order and protect our communities,” Lurie told the supervisor. “And we need more officers on our streets to enforce the rules of the road, because traffic laws only work when enforced.”
