San Francisco Police Commission approves $6.5M budget shift; DPA director announces resignation

The San Francisco Police Commission on April 19 unanimously approved a budget modification that shifts about $6.5 million in current-year salary-and-fringe savings to cover overtime costs, while hearing status reports on officer-involved shooting investigations and receiving notice that Department of Police Accountability Director Hicks plans to resign in June.

CFO Catherine Maguire told commissioners the modification would use current-year salary savings to pay for overtime expenditures that have exceeded budget, including training, arrests and investigations, court pay, work related to First Amendment events and responses to homelessness-related service requests. "Essentially, we are requesting a budget modification for the current year salary to use current year salary savings to pay for overtime," Maguire said, describing the savings as largely the result of many newer officers not yet at step increases.

Public commenters urged greater budget transparency and pushed the commission to exclude tasers from future spending plans. Jackie Barczak, speaking for San Franciscans for Police Accountability, called tasers "a terror weapon that maims" and urged the commission to remove taser line items from the 2017–18 budget. Another…