Mayor Daniel Lurie has issued an executive order to address significant staffing shortages within the San Francisco Police Department and sheriff's office, citing dangerous low levels of personnel. With the SFPD down about 500 officers and the sheriff's department short around 200 deputies, Lurie outlined measures to combat reduced community safety and slow response times. The executive order includes immediate steps to recruit retired officers, streamline hiring processes, and evaluate overtime use, all of which are indicators of the departments' struggles to meet operational demands without incurring excessive costs.
"These shortfalls have significantly strained these departments' ability to fulfill their core responsibilities," wrote Lurie in his executive order, referring to both police and the sheriff's department.
"The consequences include reduced neighborhood presence, slower response times, and an overreliance on costly and unsustainable overtime," Lurie wrote.
In 100 days, the city would create programs for retired cops and deputies to return to duty, streamline the hiring process, and propose reforms to the police academy.
The SFPD says its ballooning overtime costs - which reached $108 million in the 2022-2023 fiscal year - are directly related to short-staffing and officers having to backfill shifts.
Collection
[
|
...
]