SF Supervisors Advance Plan to Thin the Ranks of Police Department Top Brass

Two top-brass positions in the San Francisco Police Department may soon be eliminated in a bid to thin the department’s highest-paid administrative ranks, and slow the revolving door of station captains who abandon their posts to climb the ladder.

Legislation to cut the department’s command staff from 16 to 14 was approved by the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on Wednesday, and now heads to the full board for a final vote.

There are currently 16 sworn members of SFPD’s command staff, including the chief, two assistant chiefs, five deputy chiefs and eight commanders. The proposal, introduced by board President Aaron Peskin, would eliminate an assistant chief and a commander position.

Speaking at Wednesday’s committee hearing, Peskin said the move was a “step in the right direction.”

“The emphasis here also is on trying to retain district captains at the captain level for longer periods of time,” he said.

Peskin had initially called for the elimination of four command staff positions, but that target was later halved as part of a compromise with Police Chief Bill Scott, who opposed the cuts. Additionally, under the current proposal, the positions would be cut only after two of the current command staff retire.

The eventual savings from those cuts would then be reallocated to fund four additional police officer positions.

Police captains are a vital link to the neighborhoods and communities they serve, Peskin said. But the department’s large command staff, which Peskin said has doubled since he first took office in 2001, has created ample opportunities for advancement, increasingly luring police captains away from their districts, he said.

Peskin points to Central Station, which serves the Chinatown and North Beach neighborhoods in his district, and which he said has had eight different captains in the last 11 years, making it challenging for communities to form strong bonds with the station’s leadership.

Supervisor Ahsha Safaí underscored that concern during a hearing on the issue last month, arguing that such turnover “undermines confidence” communities have in the police.

“I’ve had some great captains over the course of time,” he said. “But the fact that they stay for a very short period of time doesn’t allow for there to be consistency.”

And as the department’s command staff has grown, so too has its pension liabilities. According to SFPD data, the command staff’s total salary was just over $3 million in 2016, but is projected to grow to $7.5 million by 2025. Eliminating two of those positions would save the city as much as $8 million in pension liability over time, according to the board’s Budget and Legislative Analyst.

Peskin on Wednesday told KQED that the move to trim from the top “sets the tone and gives policy direction to the mayor and Board of Supervisors going forward as we enter a period of more fiscal stringency.”

But Chief Scott has argued that cutting too many command staff members will impede the department’s ability to institute comprehensive police reforms called for by the U.S. Department of Justice (PDF), and to effectively manage the burgeoning fentanyl crisis.

“I know a lot has been said on costs and pensions and all that, but we have to talk about the work that has been thrust upon this department, and we are glad to do it. But we need the people to do it,” Scott said at last month’s hearing.

Speaking to those concerns, Diana Oliva-Aroche, SFPD’s policy and public affairs director, told the budget committee on Wednesday that having additional time to prepare for the cuts, as this current proposal offers, will make for a smoother transition.

“Those are two large positions that end up carrying a lot of responsibilities,” she said. “And so the time will allow us to be able to figure out the duties and responsibilities in a responsible way for the organization.”