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Board passes first reading of ordinance requiring city police to adopt citywide foot and bike patrol strategy
Summary
Supervisors approved on first reading an ordinance that would require the chief of police to adopt a foot and bike patrol strategy and work with police captains to implement patrols citywide; sponsors said the measure aims to restore community policing without new funding.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Oct. 30 passed on first reading an ordinance that requires the chief of police to adopt a citywide foot and bike patrol strategy and work with police captains to plan implementation. The ordinance passed on first reading after a sponsor presentation and was introduced with a broad set of cosponsors.
Supervisor Safaie, the lead sponsor, said the legislation moves community policing from an optional practice to a required strategy across the city. "When police are present in the community, crime goes down," Safaie said in the chamber during the item’s introduction. Safaie told colleagues the ordinance will not require additional funding: "This is will not require any additional resources. Right now it's optional. The money is there for optional foot patrols. We are saying the time has come for this to be required in every part of San Francisco."
The sponsor said the measure builds on prior efforts to restore foot patrols and includes both foot and bike patrols. Safaie pointed to expected morale benefits for officers interacting with communities and said the Police Commission and the chief will review annual plans as they are presented.
Why this matters: The measure formalizes a strategy long advocated by some supervisors and community members for increased, consistent police presence on foot and bicycles as a form of community policing. Supporters argued the requirement will improve community relations and officer morale; opponents in the chamber did not register during the brief introduction.
Board action: The ordinance was introduced and passed on first reading under the clerk’s roll-call procedure. The clerk recorded the item as passed on first reading and indicated further procedural steps would follow.
Provenance: Sponsor remarks introducing item 22 begin in the transcript at about 962.9 seconds; the ordinance passage on first reading is recorded at about 1201.7 seconds.
