SFPD presents $481.2 million budget as supervisors press for hiring plan, civilianization and follow-up

The San Francisco Police Department presented a proposed $481,171,917 budget to the Board of Supervisors' Budget & Finance Committee, saying roughly 89 percent of that total is salary and fringe and warning of significant sworn staffing losses linked to the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP).

The department's presentation outlined a two-year staffing reduction plan that would remove 36 sworn positions in the first year and an additional 36 the following year and said a roughly 5 percent cut equals about $5,800,000 per year. The chief told the committee the department is down roughly 200 officers now and that continuing retirements and attrition could produce much larger deficits without an aggressive hiring program.

Why it matters: Supervisors and the department framed the budget as a tradeoff between paying current salaries and benefits and the cost of recruitment and training. Committee members pressed for clarity on how many academy classes the city must fund to avoid deep staffing shortfalls and on how civilianizing certain functions could free sworn officers for patrol.

Key details and disputes

- Staffing projections and the DROP program: The chief said DROP retirements and normal attrition could reduce net sworn staffing by “somewhere around 400 officers” unless hiring increases; the department emphasized its…