Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
SFPD budget hearing highlights hiring gains, vehicle replacement shortfall and overtime pressure
Summary
SFPD presented a $582.7 million all-funds budget, described progress toward a 1,971 sworn-officer charter target, requested major vehicle replacements (roughly 138 annually) and flagged overtime trends; committee requested further detail and filed the hearing.
Chief Bill Scott and the SFPD budget manager presented an all-funds budget for fiscal year 2017'18 totaling approximately $582.7 million and outlined revenue streams, full-time-equivalent (FTE) targets and program priorities.
Chief Scott described a four-year sworn hiring plan that has moved the department toward the charter target of 1,971 officers and said the department expects to reach that full-duty staffing level by December 2017. The presentation explained why the budget funds more positions than the charter minimum (to account for academy recruits, training and temporary non-full-duty status) and summarized a multi-year recruitment and retirement projection.
The department identified vehicle replacement as a major capital priority. A needs assessment recommended replacing roughly 138 vehicles per year to maintain the fleet; the department reported more than 340 vehicles with over 100,000 miles and nearly 480 vehicles older than 10 years, driving escalating repair and maintenance costs and higher average maintenance spend. SFPD projected that more regular replacement could reduce maintenance spending significantly and recommended buys across marked patrol cars, unmarked vehicles, motorcycles, prisoner transport vans and K9 SUVs.
Chief Scott and staff also outlined community-partnership work: a Special Victims Unit coordinating with the District Attorney, Public Health and Human Services for a Child Advocacy Center; outreach to Muslim and Arabic communities; hip-hop chess clubs and youth mentoring in partnership with Rec and Parks; and work to implement DOJ and blue-ribbon panel recommendations. Overtime trends were shown as an average of roughly two hours per officer per week for general fund overtime in the most recent fiscal year; the department said events and unpredictable scheduling drive much of the overtime.
Supervisors pressed for a breakdown between vehicles and motorcycles, and for consideration of electrification options. SFPD indicated hybrids with police packages may be worth evaluating but cautioned that fully electric vehicles may present charging and battery concerns for 24/7 response roles and equipment loads. Public commenters raised concerns about tasers and police reform; the committee filed the hearing and requested a more detailed overtime presentation for a later date.
