DPA outlines budget priorities and staffing needs as complaint volume rises
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Summary
The Department of Police Accountability told the commission it has received roughly 899 complaints (a year-over-year increase) and is requesting staff growth aligned to SFPD staffing; DPA seeks stability and efficiency and reported no required cuts from the mayor's office.
Department of Police Accountability Executive Director Paul Henderson and CFO Nicole Armstrong presented DPA's budget priorities for fiscal year 2027–28, focusing on investigations, audits, legal support, policy and community engagement.
Armstrong said the office has seen an increase in workload: "This year alone, for the last, year, we closed we received 8 99 complaints at DPA, which is actually a 22% increase in complaints that we've had year over year," and noted DPA closed 938 cases so far this year. She said the mayor's office approved replacement of a policy director and backfilling four positions (three investigative, one administrative) and that DPA currently has no mandated budget cuts from the mayor.
Armstrong described DPA's budget composition: roughly 77% of the total budget is salary and fringe; the investigation division remains the largest team at about 16.5 FTEs. She said DPA is working with the mayor's office to align investigator staffing with SFPD sworn growth and that the mayor's office is discussing adding 1.5 investigators in the coming fiscal year.
Commissioners asked how much of DPA's work is dedicated to the Sheriff's Office oversight; staff said two administrative positions are paid via sheriff work orders and that investigative work for the sheriff is covered by separate work orders or will migrate once an inspector general for the sheriff is established. DPA said it is also modernizing records and digitizing legacy files and is seeking grants to support projects.
The commission did not vote on DPA's budget at this meeting; staff said the full DPA budget package is available in the meeting notes and that further discussion will continue.