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Committee trims police command staffing and seeks confidential briefing on mayoral security costs
Summary
The committee voted to achieve attrition savings equal to 0.75 of a commander position in the Police Department and accepted several budget-analyst recommendations; supervisors also pressed police leadership for budget detail about protection/security allocations and the department offered confidential briefings for sensitive operational information.
The Budget & Finance Committee approved attrition savings equivalent to 0.75 of a Police Department commander position and accepted a set of budget-analyst recommendations after extended discussion of command staffing, public-safety priorities and transparency.
Assistant Chief Jim Lynch told the committee the department concurred with three budget-analyst items (about $3.04 million in adjustments for specialized services, materials and attrition-related salary savings) but said it was not prepared to accept a recommendation to delay hiring of 30 lateral officers. On the question of command staffing, supervisors debated whether trimming or restructuring the upper ranks was appropriate during an incoming-chief transition.
Supervisor Dufty moved and the committee approved an attrition-based reduction equivalent to 0.75 of a commander position (approximate annual savings near $200,000), with a roll-call vote of 4'to'1. Several supervisors said they expect the incoming chief to perform a sweeping review of command staffing and that the attrition-directed reduction would provide flexibility for restructuring.
Separately, several supervisors sought more information about apparent budget allocations for security/protection details associated with the mayor (and other potentially protected parties). The police department and city attorney said detailed operational threat assessments may be sensitive; the city attorney and department suggested confidential one-on-one briefings for supervisors who require specifics. The controller indicated that the Board has inquiry powers, but disclosure can be limited for legitimate operational-security reasons.
Supervisors also raised a staffing and backlog issue in the investigations bureau, particularly fraud and property cases. The committee asked the department to propose a targeted reserve or reallocations and to return with a plan to reduce the backlog.
Next steps: The department will work with supervisors to provide appropriate confidential briefings on security-resource questions, return specifics on the investigations backlog and proceed with implementation of the attrition savings.
