Here's how SFPD is proposing to cut down on overtime
Yep, who recently took over from Chief Bill Scott, told the Board of Supervisors during a special budget meeting on Friday that he wants to start using retired police officers to staff a police reserve unit and special event officer program. The program would supplement police staffing and potentially cut down on the need for as much overtime as the department deals with what it says is a shortage of hundreds of officers.
The number of police officers earning more than $100,000 in overtime more than tripled from 2021 to 2023, fueling concerns about officer performance, burnout and unsustainable taxpayer expenses.
The chief's proposal comes as city officials pour over Mayor Daniel Lurie's proposed budget, which must close a roughly $800 million deficit. The plan calls for laying off over 100 workers, eliminating hundreds of vacant positions and cutting nearly $200 million in grant funds and contracts. The mayor's budget retains funding for police, fire and other public safety agencies as part of his pledge to revitalize the city by focusing on safety and the economy.
The Board of Supervisors will hear from every city department throughout June and propose changes for the mayor to consider. The mayor must sign the budget by Aug. 1.
Yep said retired officers in the new reserve unit will have full police powers and be assigned based on experience, whether that's working a foot beat or doing behind-the-scenes investigative work for the department.
Meanwhile, retirees in the special events officer program would be assigned to specific events, such as Super Bowl celebrations, protests or festivals, and also have full police powers. The plan also calls for retaining the department's existing community ambassador program staffed by unarmed retirees on foot patrols in neighborhoods the department struggles to staff.
Yep admitted he's still working on the details, but that the programs 'would give our current officers a break from mandatory overtime.'
The department said the move would mean increasing the temporary salary budget from $3.4 million to $8.1 million. As a result, the department's proposed overtime budget would grow from $71 million to about $80 million. But Yep explained that by paying retirees a flat rate that is less than the overtime rate, the move will eventually yield savings.
In May, San Francisco supervisors lambasted the department over its apparent inability to rein in public safety costs but ultimately approved $61 million in funds for overtime spending.
A recent audit found that SFPD's overtime spending more than doubled from $52.9 million in 2018 to $108.4 million in 2023. The audit also found that about 12% of the cops who worked overtime were responsible for nearly a third of all SFPD overtime spending in the last year of the review.
The department is also trying to save money by laying off six people in its civilian workforce and will eliminate 25 vacant civilian positions.
Still, Supervisor Connie Chan, who chairs the Board of Supervisors budget committee, said that the department needs to do more to help close budget gaps. Chan is worried about social services funding that's on the chopping block in Lurie's proposed budget.
Chan said the department should lower overtime spending and asked Yep to consider eliminating civilian management positions to find more savings.
'It's regrettable to hear about layoffs of some of the police department staff, particularly civilians,' Chan said. 'But I'm saying this to every department. I'd really like for you to work with us to evaluate the need for certain management positions. I know it's tough… but consider… are those necessary?'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Michael Irvin takes you inside cocaine arrest that threatened Cowboys dynasty in ‘America's Team'
Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin recalled the heart-wrenching conversation he had with his wife, Sandy Harrell, when he was indicted on felony cocaine possession in March 1996. In the seventh episode of 'America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys' — the Netflix documentary premiering Tuesday that delves into the history of Jerry Jones' ownership in the 1990s — Irvin explains how he handled facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted. 'My wife, she looked at me and she said, 'Don't say a word, God has already told me I am your wife and I am not going anywhere. But you have to make your peace with God,'' Irvin says in the documentary. 'I don't think I ever felt worse in my life.' Irvin and Harrell married in June 1990, the same year he welcomed his daughter Myesha from a previous relationship. They have three kids: a daughter Chelsea and sons Michael Jr. and Elijah. 5 Michael Irvin arrives to court for his 1996 court hearing over drug possession. AFP via Getty Images 'I had a routine, after you win the Super Bowl [which the Cowboys did in '96], before the next season starts, you get about a month — and that month, you cut loose and have a good time,' Irvin says in the documentary, adding that the festivities were slated to culminated with his March 5 birthday. Irvin pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession in exchange for four years of deferred probation, a $10,000 fine and dismissal of misdemeanor marijuana possession charges after police found the All-Pro wideout with a few others in a Texas hotel room littered with cocaine and marijuana. Irvin ultimately took a deal and got probation with restrictions and conditions. He was also suspended the first five games of the 1996 season. The doc also mentions there was a murder-for-hire plot against Irvin by a Dallas cop at the time, who was arrested and pleaded guilty and sentenced to six years in prison. Hidden camera video tape shows Irvin discussing doing cocaine while in the passenger's seat of car. 5 Michael Irvin scores a touchdown against the Eagles in 1998. AP On the night of March 4, 1996, police found Irvin, his former Cowboys teammate Alfredo Roberts and two females in a Texas hotel room, where police found drug paraphernalia, sex toys and substantial amounts of marijuana and cocaine. Police said one bag contained the largest chunk of crack cocaine they had ever seen. Irvin says Mike Gilette, the assistant DA of Dallas County at the time, was trying to prove he brought the drugs to the Residence Inn he was busted at, which Irvin denied. Jones, whose close relationship with Irvin was emphasized in the doc, set up a meeting with Irvin, his attorney and Gilette, who ripped him apart. 5 Michael Irvin and Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, pose with Irvin's bust during the Class of 2007 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement. Getty Images 'He said, 'Let me tell ya what the truth is, the truth is what I make it in the courtroom, and personally I think you're a piece of s–t and you use your fame and your money to take advantage of these poor white girls and I'm going to filet you like a fish and leave you in an alley,'' Irvin says of his conversation with Gilette. 'I said Gilette when you get finished with this, somebody's gonna pay me millions of dollars to catch a football and your lil sharp ass is gonna be broke and stuck down here no matter what.' And then I said, 'I'll show you tomorrow what it is when you get here.' 5 Michael Irvin and wife Sandy Harrell in 2005. Getty Images 'And that's why I put on a mink coat and the shades [to his first court appearance]. You want to show me up, let me show you. It was 95 degrees but the coat was needed.' Irvin showed up to his court date at the time in a floor-length fur coat and sunglasses. His wife was with him. 'Michael is very well my favorite player of my time,' Jones says. 'What makes him be as substantive as he is, is the fact that he plays and lives at the level he lives … Because of some of his decisions, he had become vulnerable. 'He has my back and I have his back — certainly that was the case in a dicey situation like this where you know the eye was on him.' 5 Michael Irvin celebrates for the Cowboys in 1993. AP Irvin won three Super Bowls in four years with the Cowboys as part of a dynastic offense that included quarterback Troy Aikman and running back Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher. 'I knew that we had a lot of players that weren't choir boys but I didn't know some of the activity that ended up getting him in trouble,' says Aikman, who supported Irvin at his first court date. 'I was concerned for my buddy, my friend, my brother,' Smith adds. 'What does this mean for him and his career?' In June 2001, a year following his NFL retirement due to injury, Irvin was arrested for felony cocaine possession in Dallas. The charges were later dropped.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
New Orleans mayor indicted on federal corruption charges
The New Orleans mayor, LaToya Cantrell, was indicted on Friday on federal corruption charges after spending roughly three years under investigation. The indictment against Cantrell came after the September 2024 indictment of local businessman Randy Farrell, who was charged with exchanging gifts with the mayor so that she would allegedly fire a municipal employee who was investigating Farrell's building inspection company. Among the alleged gifts were tickets to a January 2019 New Orleans Saints football game, which was being played with an appearance at the Super Bowl on the line, a cellphone and lunch at an upscale Ruth's Chris Steak House in the city. Cantrell had also drawn scrutiny for an alleged affair with a now retired New Orleans police officer who had served as her bodyguard. The bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, allegedly claimed he was at work while he was actually engaging in 'a personal and romantic relationship' with the mayor. Vappie was charged as a co-defendant in Friday's indictment against Cantrell, full details of which were not immediately available, as Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana reported. He had previously been charged with wire fraud and lying to FBI agents in July 2024, shortly after he retired from New Orleans' police force. The allegations called to mind the 2018 scandal that cost the Nashville mayor, Megan Barry, her job and centered on an affair with her bodyguard, Robert Forrest. Prosecutors who had obtained the 2024 charges against Vappie have alleged he researched that case online two years earlier. Both Vappie and Farrell have pleaded not guilty to the charges previously filed against them. While the Donald Trump-led US justice department obtained the indictment against Cantrell about seven months into the Republican's second presidency, the federal investigation into the mayor began while Joe Biden – her fellow Democrat – was in his second full year in the Oval Office. Cantrell's lawyer, Eddie Castaing, confirmed to the Associated Press on Friday that an indictment was returned against his client. He also said her name was read aloud by a federal magistrate judge as a defendant. Cantrell, a native of Compton, California, had been a New Orleans city council member before winning election as its mayor in November 2017. She thus became New Orleans's first female mayor and was re-elected four years later. Her second term – which saw the unexpected death of her husband in August 2023 – is due to end in January 2026. Cantrell was term-limited from seeking another stint as mayor, and several candidates have signed up to run to replace her in a primary election set for October. Cantrell on Friday became the first New Orleans mayor charged with federal crimes while still in office. The federal investigation into her began with 2022 subpoenas issued with respect to an image consultant that she employed. Only one other person who has served as New Orleans mayor has been indicted by the US government on federal corruption charges during the city's 307-year history: Ray Nagin. Nagin was New Orleans's mayor when the failure of federal levees there during Hurricane Katrina on 29 August 2005 destroyed the city and caused about 1,400 deaths. He was convicted in 2014 on charges of bribery, honest services wire fraud, money laundering, filing false tax returns and conspiracy, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The Associated Press contributed reporting Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
4 days ago
- New York Times
Mayor of New Orleans Is Indicted, Her Lawyer Says
Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans was indicted on Friday, her lawyer said, following a yearslong federal investigation into corruption that has cast a shadow over her final term as mayor. It was not immediately clear which specific charges Ms. Cantrell faces. Edward Castaing, her lawyer, said that government officials had informed him of the indictment, but that he had not yet seen it. The indictment adds fresh turbulence to what has been a busy, if complicated, year for New Orleans that began with a deadly terrorist attack on New Year's Day. But the city also successfully hosted a Super Bowl for the first time in a decade, and has experienced a continuing steep decline in its murder rate.
