Thousands attend city of San Francisco job fair at Civic Center
SAN FRANCISCO -- Roughly 2,300 job seekers attended the second annual San Francisco-sponsored job fair at the Civic Center Plaza on Saturday.
Thirty-seven city departments set up recruitment booths in an effort to fill 4,483 vacancies.
Almost every city department was looking to hire but few are dealing with the shortage the police department faces. The department is down by roughly 550 officers.
College student Eric Ma came to the job fair and was attracted to the SFPD booth.
"I was just kind of asking questions about internships but (a recruiter) also asked me if I was interested in applying to become a police officer and I said 'yes,"' Mai said.
Mai is set to graduate from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at the end of the year. Even though he's an engineering student, he said his heart is in law enforcement.
"I was born and raised here in San Francisco. Hopefully, I get to take the opportunity one day to become a police officer and serve the community that I grew up in," Mai said.
His older brother will soon join the San Francisco police academy. Mai plans to apply after graduation.
Mayor London Breed went to the job fair to show her support. She said the police department needs more young talent like Mai to apply.
Aside from putting money in public safety, she wants to show officers that elected leaders appreciate the dangerous work they do.
"Any elected leader will go after an officer for wrongdoing but, at the same time, when they are doing great work, we have to equally promote that and support that in the same fashion," Mayor Breed said.
"I'm sponsoring a resolution that would be a price match guarantee so if any city in Northern California offers a recruiting or retention bonus, San Francisco will match it," said District 6 supervisor Matt Dorsey.
The city of Alameda and its police department just approved a $75,000 signing bonus.
Departments across the country have been struggling to hire and retain officers.
"If you have complaints about San Francisco city government, whatever those complaints are, I would urge people to be part of the solution, come work for the city," said Supervisor Dorsey.
Mai said he understands why people are angry with police killings. He wants to be a part of the change.
"I'd like to think that one officer makes a difference and, hopefully, I will be that difference one day," Mai said.
Elected leaders agree it will take at least five years to fully staff the police department.
