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Committee accepts federal COPS grant but places most funds on reserve until SFPD reports on deployment
Summary
The committee approved forwarding acceptance of a $16.56 million COPS hiring-recovery grant that funds 50 officer positions for 36 months, but directed a Budget & Finance reserve that holds back all but $2.45 million (to cover academy costs) until the police department returns with a plan within four weeks.
The committee considered an ordinance allowing the City and County of San Francisco Police Department to retroactively accept and expend $16,562,750 in ARRA funds from the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Hiring Recovery Program to create 50 officer positions for 36 months. "The city of San Francisco received the maximum award possible of 50 officer positions," SFPD representative said in presenting the grant.
Budget analyst Harvey Rose and Controller Ben Rosenfield warned that the grant creates future general-fund obligations once the three-year federal funding ends. Rose's office estimated an approximate general-fund cost of $6,346,400 for salaries and benefits after the grant expires. Rose also noted the department had already started academy classes (officers were on payroll as of Oct. 19) before Board approval and recommended the Board treat retroactivity and continued funding as a policy decision.
Controller Rosenfield proposed a procedural compromise: allow expenditures to cover the academy period while placing the balance of the grant on reserve until deployment questions are resolved. After extended questioning about staffing baselines, deployment for community policing, and accountability measures, the committee adopted a motion to forward the acceptance to the full Board with a Budget & Finance reserve equal to the full grant amount less $2,450,000 (an amount intended to fund academy costs through training). The committee also directed SFPD to return within four weeks with senior leadership and a deployment plan that aligns with the grant's community-policing objectives.
The committee took the motion without objection. The full Board will receive the ordinance and the committee's recommended reserve conditions for final action.
