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Budget committee hears public‑safety briefing; BLA flags staffing gaps, rising larceny and vehicle break‑ins
Summary
The Budget & Finance Committee heard BLA, SFPD, DA and MTA presentations on public‑safety priorities. BLA reported 1,886 sworn officers vs. a 1,971 charter target, rising larceny driven by vehicle thefts, and recommended targeted reporting and increased funding for community programs.
The Board of Supervisors’ Budget & Finance Committee met for an issue hearing on public safety, receiving briefings from the city Budget Legislative Analyst (BLA), the San Francisco Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office and SFMTA. Chair Sandra Lee Fuhrer opened the session and asked presenters to focus on staffing, crime trends and gaps in services that the board may address in the mayor’s budget process.
Linden Berry of the BLA told the committee the San Francisco Police Department currently has 1,886 full‑duty sworn officers, short of the charter figure of 1,971. The analyst noted the department was funded for three academy classes of 50 recruits but one or more classes fell short because candidates did not complete background checks in time. “As of a few days ago, the department has 1,886 full duty sworn officers,” Berry said.
The BLA highlighted trends showing violent crime declined between 2011 and 2017 while property crime has increased, driven primarily by larceny. Berry said larceny rose about 58 percent from 2012 to 2017. Auto burglaries remain a major component: the BLA cited an average of roughly 67 vehicle break‑ins per day in 2018 and noted data from the District Attorney’s Office indicating fewer than 2 percent of reported auto burglary incidents led to an arrest.
As part of a set of policy considerations, the BLA recommended the board ask SFPD to present plans to respond to a forthcoming controller’s civilianization study; to identify causes and remedies for low property‑crime clearance rates and missed response‑time goals; and to report on neighborhood‑level vehicle break‑ins and new tactics to address them. The BLA also suggested the mayor increase funding for community programs such as SF SAFE and the city’s community ambassador program, and asked MTA to report annually on its goal to reduce employee‑related security incidents by 5 percent.
Supervisors used the question period to press for more granular outcome data — for example, violent‑crime counts rather than percentages, traffic citations tied directly to Vision Zero priorities, and before/after comparisons for Tenderloin foot‑patrol deployments. The committee asked staff to return with those datasets as part of June budget deliberations.
At the meeting’s conclusion the committee voted to file the item and adjourned. The committee did not adopt new budget allocations during the session; follow‑up hearings were planned on jails (May 22) and mental health/substance use budgets.
