Mayor Breed wants $27.6 million to help fund San Francisco crime crackdown
SAN FRANCISCO -- Mayor London Breed wants $27.6 million in additional funding for the city's police force in the wake of soaring overtime costs from the combination of a shortage of officers and special deployments targeting crime hot spots in San Francisco.
The supplemental funds will ensure that officers are able to continue to respond to the basic needs and priority concerns facing the city -- a proposal backed by Supervisors Catherine Stefani, Rafael Mandelman, Matt Dorsey, and Joel Engardio.
"We have been working hard to address serious public safety challenges in San Francisco, but we need our officers out on the street," Breed said in a news release. "While we are working on strategies to address our staffing shortages, we can't wait to ensure our officers are able to provide the basic services our residents deserve and that our prosecutors can hold drug dealers and repeat offenders accountable."
Officials said overtime have soared over the last year as the city has launched priority initiatives like San Francisco's tourism deployments, operations in the crime-ridden Tenderloin neighborhood and violence reduction work throughout the city.
Between 2021 and 2022, the department saw a 121% increase in total overtime in the wake of ramped up police presence in key areas like Union Square, the Tenderloin, and throughout downtown and commercial corridors.
"We need officers responding to break-ins, breaking up the open-air drug dealing in the Tenderloin, and addressing the shootings and violent crimes in our neighborhoods," Breed said. "This funding is essential for keeping our city safe."
As demand for officers has surged, staffing levels have fallen significantly in the last three years. Currently, San Francisco has 340 fewer officers than in 2019 and is 541 below the staffing analysis recommended level.
"While the Department actively plans for long-term hiring solutions, overtime is a necessary short-term intervention that will better meet calls for service workload demands, and the multifaceted service needs of public safety in our city," said Police Chief Bill Scott.
Breed's supplemental budget will go before the Budget Committee of the Board of Supervisors, after which it would head to the full Board of Supervisors for a vote.
