Major shifts if S.F. redirects police funding

Hiring, spending spree likely to end as focus moves to public protection

The San Francisco Police Department’s annual budget rose by an inflationadjusted $170 million over the past decade as the city added more than 500 new officers and staff.

On a per capita basis, the city has more police officers than Los Angeles or Oakland.

But that spending and hiring spree appears to be over, and likely will be reversed, as city leaders look to direct money away from policing and into other city services and they respond to declining tax revenues from the coronavirus pandemic.

San Francisco’s $700 million police budget is under scrutiny amid a nationwide movement calling to “defund” the police. But as city leaders lay out bold promises to reimagine policing and divert public dollars, it remains unclear exactly which areas — or which positions — are on the chopping block.

“It’s very fluid,” said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott, who has been asked to cut tens of millions in spending next year. “We want this process to be as thought out as much as time will allow, so it makes sense and that it’s a decision we don’t regret down the line.”

Police commissioners last week rejected the department’s initial proposal, which would have cut $23 million in general fund spending, mostly from vacant positions. The unanimous vote came during a national uprising following the police killing of George Floyd — a black man who died when a Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine min

utes.

And on Thursday, Mayor London Breed unveiled a fourpoint road map for police reforms, one of which would involve diverting funding from law enforcement and instead investing in minority communities. A review of spending is under way, though no timeline has been announced.

In question is the role and vision for policing: Instead of the traditional “us against them” mentality, city leaders hope to focus on how to keep people safe through communitybased crime prevention strategies, said San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton.

Minneapolis voters may soon decide whether to dismantle and rebuild its Police Department amid the growing protest movement. “I’m hopeful, but I hate that it has taken the continued killings of unarmed black people and people of color to get to this point,” Walton said.

Between fiscal years 201011 and 201920, the total Police Department budget rose from $524 million to $692 million when adjusted for inflation, according to a Chronicle review from an opendata portal and budget documents from the city controller’s website. Spending on police claimed about 10% of the general fund coffer during the past few years.

Most of the increases were driven by the addition of fulltime employees and negotiated salary and benefit increases over the years, according to Andy Lynch, a spokesman for Breed’s office.

Lynch said the budget process is still ongoing and that Breed’s proposed budget will be submitted on Aug. 1.

“We have a $1.5 billion budget deficit that needs to be closed, which will require a number of sacrifices across different departments,” Lynch

Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle The San Francisco Police Department has 33 officers for every 10,000 residents. That’s two more than Los Angeles has, and nine more than Oakland.