Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Staffing Study topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission backs in principle Supervisor Yee's task force to study police staffing levels, with wording change
Summary
The commission voted to support 'the spirit' of Supervisor Norman Yee's resolution to form a multidisciplinary police staffing study task force, agreeing to strike the word 'deployment' and have the chief work with Yee's office on final wording; commissioners and the controller discussed resources and prior consultant work.
Supervisor Norman Yee presented a resolution asking the Police Commission to convene a Strategic Police Staffing and Deployment Task Force to study staffing needs using calls-for-service data, officer workload, deployment patterns and other evidence.
Yee said the 1,971-officer figure in the city charter needs reexamination and proposed a cross-disciplinary task force including community stakeholders, SFPD command staff, the controller's office and outside experts to produce recommendations. "Rather than us trying to figure it out or the mayor's office, I decided...the task force should be parked in the police commission," he said.
Commissioners debated the origin of the 1,971 number and whether the term "deployment" could be misconstrued to move into operational management of the department. Commissioner Marshall and others urged that the chief retain operational control and favored refining the language. Peg Stevenson of the controller's office said her staff can help run RFPs and set deliverables and cautioned that a robust community process requires substantial staff time.
The commission voted to support the "spirit" of the resolution while striking the word "deployment" and directing the chief to work with Supervisor Yee on final wording and operational details. A motion recorded in the meeting "support[ed] the spirit of this resolution...striking the word deployment and ensuring that the chief work with Supervisor Yee's office," and the motion passed unanimously.
The commission asked the controller's office to help estimate budgets for consultant support and community engagement; Supervisor Yee said he had already asked the controller to produce numbers to inform funding requests.
Ending: The commission's vote was a policy-level endorsement in principle; final language, funding sources and formal task-force charter were left to be developed collaboratively before formal adoption.
