S.F. police chief possible candidate to be L.A.’s top cop
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott is reportedly interviewing for the job of top cop at the Los Angeles Police Department.
Scott — a former deputy chief in Los Angeles who left to take the police chief job in San Francisco in January 2017 — could be looking to go back, according to the Los Angeles Times, which cited an anonymous source.
In San Francisco, Scott is overseeing hundreds of police reforms, implementing new use-of-force policies and preparing to arm his officers with Taser stun guns.
Los Angeles is conducting a wide-ranging search for a new police chief after current Chief Charlie Beck announced his retirement in January. Beck will officially retire next month.
Contacted by The Chronicle on Wednesday, San Francisco police officials did not deny the report.
“Chief Scott is focused on this city and its Police Department,” department officials said in a statement. “He is specifically focused on reducing crimes, carrying out the recommendations by the U.S. Department of Justice and ensuring that the men and women of the SFPD have the resources they need to provide safety for the people of San Francisco.”
Scott was hired after the ousting of former Chief Greg
Suhr and was tasked with implementing 272 reforms recommended by the Department of Justice’s community policing division, following several controversial police shootings and growing tensions between the force and communities it’s assigned to protect.
Scott sits at the department helm as the San Francisco Police Officers Association and the city continue tense negotiations over a new contract. The police union is in arbitration with the city Department of Human Resources as a June 30 deadline for a new contract looms.
San Francisco police officers are preparing to be armed with Tasers starting at the end of the year. Scott worked with the Police Commission in implementing a policy for the weapons that was approved last month.
Scott is only the third outside chief hired to run the San Francisco force in its 168-year-old history. He has won support from some law enforcement watchdogs and San Francisco Police Commission members for his measured management style and dedication to reform after the Justice Department pulled out of the cooperative effort.
The state attorney general has since taken charge of overseeing the reforms in an agreement with Scott.
Petra DeJesus, a member of the Police Commission who voted against Tasers but in favor of a restrictive policy on their use, was unsettled by the report that Scott was interviewing elsewhere.
“It would be very concerning if he just resigned in the middle of the DOJ reforms and union negotiations and arbitration,” she said. “There’s a lot going on. It would take a lot to come up to speed. To bring someone in and start over would be difficult.”