Smarter approach to policing
Adog barking nonstop and a homeless tent sprouting on a sidewalk are neighborhood experiences often tossed to police to handle. Except officers aren’t eager to take on such issues or suited to solving them. These lowlevel, nonviolent situations can end up ignored and unsettled, helping no one.
After a long look, San Francisco is plotting a response that’s both humane and practical. Trained and unarmed civilians will shoulder these callouts, freeing police for more serious work. The Police Officers Association and city officials announced the plan amid labor talks on a new contract.
The idea of tapping nonsworn personnel to handle such tasks is neither new nor surprising. But it’s taken forever to get under way, given fresh urgency by a public outcry over police conduct. Even with this week’s announcement there may be a long wait until a new crew of mental health professionals and social workers hits the streets given the city’s pandemic caused budget hole. So far there’s no budget and no timeline for the mini force whose size is unknown.
There’s plenty of work to handle. In the agreement reached between Mayor London Breed and the police union, there are 17 categories of everyday complaints to be funneled to the new crew of dispute resolvers.
The trouble list includes traffic and parking beefs, noisy juveniles, barking dogs and the biggest area wrapping in mental health disturbances and homelessness complaints. That’s a fairsized summary of San Francisco’s everyday headaches and street life, but the possible responses don’t call for red-light-and-siren police treatment. Ideally, police calls would be routed to the civilian teams who take on the instances the badged and armed police now tackle.
On one level, the plan prioritizes police time and energy, saving officers for more dangerous crimefighting and complex investigations. There are other factors such as a November ballot measure endorsed by voters that allows for a smaller force and budget pressures to keep a lid on hiring. Police work faces an uncertain future, and trimming away the less essential tasks makes sense.
There’s also an acknowledgment of the limits on policing. Sending a squad car and two officers to resolve a street corner complaint isn’t always the answer. A uniformed patrolman may not be the right person to handle a delusional mental case or nudge a homeless camper to head to a shelter.
The plan heeds another message that the public is better off with less police pressure in everyday encounters. Calling the cops for help may escalate an argument. There’s a chance for community trust to build if police play a more limited role. Public confidence and law enforcement morale could improve.
The idea of trained civilians took shape in June when Breed unveiled a set of police changes. That package aimed at easing the national furor over racism and police violence that had its own echoes here. Her wish list was also brought on by a withering federal review of the police department in the wake of a fatal officerinvolved shooting that concluded with 272 suggested improvements. Progress has been slow with only 15% of the points answered as of March.
That record has brought on a fight with progressive city supervisors who want a shot at negotiating the next labor contract with the police union, a task normally handled by the mayor. For now that battle has subsided with the board approving a contract that postpones pay and fringe raises for two years to give the city a chance to recover from a shattered public budget.
The civilian teams offer an opportunity to buy peace in this political standoff. But more important, San Francisco residents could expect a more adaptable and successful form of public safety. The city needs to get rolling on a promising idea.