Board approves $86 million police overtime shift after heated debate over accountability

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 on May 6 to approve an ordinance that shifts and supplements funds to cover projected police and sheriff overtime for the current fiscal year.

The ordinance appropriates approximately $5,400,000 from the general reserve and $311,000 in boarding-of-prisoners revenue, de-appropriates $86,300,000 from various salary and project lines, and reassigns about $61,000,000 to overtime in the Police Department and $30,000,000 to overtime in the Sheriff’s Department. The measure passed on first reading after a full-board debate and roll-call vote that recorded ayes from nine supervisors and nos from Supervisors Fielder and Walton.

Supporters and opponents framed the choice as between two difficult outcomes. Supervisors who voted yes said declining to fund overtime now would force the controller to restrict other police spending midyear and could impair public safety operations. Supervisor Dorsey said he opposed the circumstances that led to the appropriation but would vote to avoid “an unthinkable” disruption in services.

Opponents argued the department has repeatedly failed to forecast and manage overtime and that approving the appropriation again would perpetuate poor fiscal oversight. Supervisor Walton said, “we'll never have change with this department if we don't stop giving them a blank check,” and declined to support the appropriation for that reason.

Supervisors pressed for specific accountability details during the discussion. Supervisor Walton asked Artis Graham of the Department of Human Resources whether DHR had authorized the police to suspend the MOU’s “10b” overtime rule; Graham said she was not aware of such an authorization for the last fiscal year and would follow up. Assistant/Chief Lazar of the San Francisco Police Department said the department “never went back to the way that we had it” after adjustments made during the pandemic and that the department continued some modified practices to maintain staffing.

Controller Greg Wagner told the board that for the police department the request reflects a reallocation of salary savings to overtime and that the sheriff’s portion exceeded its appropriated budget and therefore seeks an appropriation from the general reserve (about $5.74 million). Wagner said that late in the fiscal year the controller’s office could restrict nonlegal commitments and capital spending to limit overspending but that the remaining year-to-date and projected overtime could not realistically be offset without the appropriation.

Members of the public and multiple supervisors raised factual questions about the administration of the 10b private-detail program, whether officers who called in sick had later worked private details, and whether existing timekeeping and human resources systems permit adequate early detection of anomalous patterns. Controller Wagner and department leaders said quarterly financial reports include overtime projections and that the department is upgrading its workforce and management technology to improve monitoring.

The motion carried 9 ayes, 2 noes (Supervisor Fielder and Supervisor Walton). The ordinance passed on first reading; the action will return to the board for a subsequent reading as required by city rules.

Ending: Several supervisors signaled they would press for legislative and administrative reforms in the coming budget cycle to prevent a repeat of the pattern that led to this midyear appropriation. The board asked staff and department leaders to provide more detailed reporting and to propose measures to strengthen oversight of overtime allocation in future budget and committee hearings.