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San Francisco Chronicle
27-05-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Mayor Lurie to avoid big cuts to S.F. public safety agencies in upcoming budget
Mayor Daniel Lurie will not cut funding for San Francisco's police officers, prosecutors, firefighters and other core public safety workers as part of his upcoming budget, carving out exceptions from the 15% cuts requested across all city departments, according to sources familiar with the matter. The decision comes as Lurie grapples with a roughly $800 million, two-year budget deficit that he must close in his budget proposal due June 1. In the final days of her term last year, then-Mayor London Breed ordered all departments to find a way to cut 15% from their budget proposals to help close the gap. But a few departments ignored those instructions when presenting their plans to Lurie, arguing that they were already operating as frugally as possible. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins was among the department heads who balked at the requested cuts, telling supervisors this month that it would force her to let go of 25 attorneys. The prosecutors who remained, she said, would have 'unmanageable caseloads.' In a statement, Lurie said continuing to drive down crime was crucial 'to bring our city back.' 'A difficult budget requires difficult choices, but we must always prioritize the safety of San Franciscans—that's why our budget will support the men and women in uniform keeping our city safe with absolutely zero cuts to sworn officers,' Lurie said. 'No matter what comes our way, we must keep our residents safe and bring our economy back, and that's what this budget is going to accomplish.' 'We have made tremendous strides over the last three years to make our city safer, and I look forward to continue making progress in partnership with Mayor Lurie and the San Francisco Police Department going forward,' she said in a statement. Supervisor Matt Dorsey, whose district includes the city's long-troubled SoMa neighborhood, said he was briefed on Lurie's plans to maintain public safety funding was grateful. 'I know that's not going to be easy in a very difficult budget year,' Dorsey said. 'But I think it's essential.' Dorsey, a former police spokesman who has long pushed to boost the ranks of the city's force, said his district's residents and employers are consistently calling for fully funded public safety agencies. 'It's a problem we can't afford not to solve,' he said. While many of the finer points of the budget proposal remain unclear, two city sources who the Chronicle agreed not to name since they were not authorized to speak to the press said the plan would both spare cuts to certain public safety functions and allow for boosts in pay for some positions. Police officers and firefighters and others would receive the raises secured in their contracts, and the Department of Emergency Management would receive more money to fund classes for 911 operators. Other agencies spared from certain budget cuts would include the sheriff's office, the fire department, the district attorney's office and public defenders. It was not clear, however, whether there would be proposed cuts to some of the agencies' non-sworn or administrative functions. In a statement, officials with the Public Defender's office said they had received preliminary indications that their budget would remain intact, and that they would 'welcome the decision.' 'It's important to recognize the broader context: year after year, law enforcement agencies continue to receive substantial increases in funding —resources that are often used to expand arrests and prosecutions, even as crime rates decline,' the statement said. 'Meanwhile, our office faces mounting challenges without a corresponding increase in resources. … Now more than ever, funding public defense is essential to upholding due process and a just legal system.'
CBS News
14-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
San Francisco unveils new "ReadySF" emergency preparedness portal
SAN FRANCISCO — In a move officials say will make the city more resilient in the face of mounting climate threats and overdue disasters, Mayor Daniel Lurie and the Department of Emergency Management are launching "ReadySF," a revamped emergency preparedness portal built to help San Franciscans — and anyone visiting or working in the city — get ready before the next big emergency hits. The new portal, went live Wednesday morning, replacing the decade-old It's the digital centerpiece of a broader campaign to equip residents with real-time data about emergencies and climate hazards. CBS News Bay Area obtained an exclusive first look ahead of the official release. "We are, very many people say, overdue for an earthquake," Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Mary Ellen Carroll tells CBS News Bay Area. "We live in a seismically risky area of the country, as we know and we are encountering a lot more risks based on climate change and extreme weather so and we know that statistically, we are seeing that we didn't used to need a heat plan, and now we do." The update comes on the heels of climate-induced shifts that have made the city rethink its readiness for a range of modern threats. From deadly heat waves and wildfire smoke to tsunami warnings and aging infrastructure, San Francisco's risk profile has changed dramatically in the last decade. "A safe San Francisco needs a reliable, secure, and effective emergency preparedness system," said Mayor Daniel Lurie. "While our first responders are always ready to respond to a crisis, ReadySF will give San Franciscans the tools to prepare and keep themselves and their families safe." Carroll says no one likes to think about the next disaster but spending the time to prepare now can save pain later. "We really want to make it so that it's super helpful and that they feel a place that they can feel good about, that's easy to navigate, gives them the tools that they need so that they'll be more prepared and resilient when an emergency happens," she explained. The new site includes a five-step preparedness plan: Sign up for alerts, make a disaster plan, gather supplies, connect with neighbors, and get trained. It also provides access to interactive hazard maps showing the current data on areas at risk for heatwave, flood, storm, and tsunami. The maps show everything from power outages and cooling centers to sandbag distribution points and air quality data. Though designed for San Francisco's unique geography and demographics, Carroll says ReadySF is a resource that could help anyone living in earthquake and climate-prone regions. "Over the last 10 years, we actually have new kinds of emergencies that we're dealing with in San Francisco and California, including heat emergencies, including air quality from the fires that we've seen over the last few years, we've had a couple of tsunami scares, and so we've learned a lot from that," said Carroll. "We've taken the time worked with all of our partners, to come up with a step-by-step guide for how to get prepared, and it is for San Franciscans, but honestly, it would be helpful to anybody who wants to make sure that they're ready when an emergency happens." The urgency for the new site comes in part by public confusion after a tsunami warning in December sent people across coastal Bay Area cities scrambling. Though the threat was minor, the alert sowed panic across the region and sounded a wake-up call for officials. "I think one of the events for me that just resonated about how clearly, people are not thinking about the average person is not thinking about emergencies, is the tsunami warning that we had in which the National Weather Service set out a WEA that went really broadly throughout the region and caused a lot of panic, including from the majority of people that didn't need to be they weren't close to the water anyway," said Carroll. "That was one of the things that I was just like, you know, we have to try to push out more information and make it easily available to the public before the event happens." To get prepared, visit or sign up for alerts by texting your ZIP code to 888-777.
CBC
05-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Nova Scotia Guard deployed for 1st time to support search for missing children
The new Nova Scotia Guard program has been activated for the first time to support the search for two Pictou County children. The guard is a group of volunteers with various skills who can be called upon in times of emergencies or natural disasters like floods, blizzards and hurricanes. Police and search and rescue teams have been searching for Lily Sullivan, 6, and Jack Sullivan, 4, since they were last seen Friday morning at their home in Lansdowne Station, about 20 kilometres southwest of New Glasgow. The RCMP requested help from the Nova Scotia Guard on Friday, provincial spokesperson Patricia Jreige said in an email. The Department of Emergency Management sent out a request for volunteers immediately. Those volunteers have been working in shifts to help with food distribution, overnight protection of equipment, parking, and giving directions to the large number of first responders in the area. "This assignment for the guard has done what we envisioned for the program," said Jreige on Monday. "It's allowing first responders and ground search and rescue to focus their efforts on the search, while the guard members provided support in a very carefully co-ordinated approach." Jreige did not have the exact number of volunteers deployed so far, but said the province had "received many positive responses back." Last week, provincial staff said about 2,000 people had signed up to be part of the guard and 900 had gone through orientation and were deployable. Meredith Cowan, executive director of the planning and preparedness branch of the Department of Emergency Management, gave an update about the guard during the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities conference in Truro last Thursday. "Nova Scotians want to help and we want to make sure that when they help, that their help is useful and that we have the right people in the right spots," Cowan said during a presentation. Cowan said all volunteers go through a criminal records check, and are sorted into three levels based on their credentials and experience. People in Level 1 might be called upon to work in a comfort centre, complete a wellness check, go grocery shopping for a senior or someone else with limited mobility, or even walk a dog, Cowan said. Level 2 would include volunteers who have special credentials, like using a chainsaw safely, Cowan said. She said Level 3 would be volunteers with "advanced skills" like incident command, and would lead other volunteers. Sandra McKenzie, deputy minister of emergency management, said the guard is meant to support first responders — not compete for duties. "If you're involved in a search, there are people [who] can show up and make sure that you're fed, you have a warm place to sit down and have a cup of coffee, and then you're off to do the important work that you're doing," said McKenzie. Cowan said the province is signing agreements with non-governmental organizations like the Salvation Army, Red Cross or Team Rubicon to have a better understanding of their work and where any gaps could be filled by guard volunteers. The guard network also allows closer connections with community groups, Cowan said, like ATV and snowmobile organizations. McKenzie said guard volunteers have three types of insurance coverage: liability, death and dismemberment, and a type of workers' compensation that is a partnership with the federal government. The workers' compensation insurance is the same policy that covers ground search and rescue teams.
CBC
05-05-2025
- CBC
Nova Scotians will be able to text 911 by 2026
Nova Scotia will soon roll out a new 911 system based on modern technology, which the province says will give first responders more information to help people in need. The province has been testing and preparing for next-generation 911 (NG911) for the past few years. The new 911 system will be digital and will allow for quicker and more accessible communication during emergencies. Dave Wilson, director of 911 for the Department of Emergency Management, said the new 911 system will be able to accept text messages and pinpoint a caller's location using global positioning system technology. The current system can track calls from landlines, but it's more difficult to pinpoint an exact location from cellphone calls. "The more accurate we can be to relay that information on to those responding units is extremely important in times of emergencies," Wilson said Friday. Wilson said people with speech or hearing impairments have been able to register to text 911 under the current system, but this removes that extra step and opens it up for all Nova Scotians. Texting might also help someone in a dangerous situation where they must remain silent. In 2017, the CRTC mandated all phone and cell service companies across the country to update their networks. The deadline for completion was originally March 2025 but was extended to March 2027. Nova Scotia is ahead of the curve and expects to switch late this year or early in 2026. Wilson said the second phase of the system will accept photos and video within "the next few years." This could save vital time in situations like a house fire, Wilson said. Sending a video of the blaze to 911, which would then share it with a fire service, could help crews figure out what equipment and personnel are required before they even arrive on the scene. Wilson said technological upgrades to the dispatch models for some rural fire departments will be needed for them to fully benefit from the new system. The dispatch system is part of the upcoming review of fire service in Nova Scotia. Wilson said whatever the outcome of that process, they will work with those groups to "ensure that they get all the information they need." Terry Canning, former first vice-president of the Fire Service Association of Nova Scotia, said it's important to improve the patchwork of "less than stellar" fire dispatch services that simply don't have the resources to tap into the new system. "I think the greatest benefit will be the consolidation … of fire dispatch into a much more robust and resilient, reliable service across the province," Canning said. The province will roll out a public education campaign in the coming months about the new 911 system, Wilson said. He said the department won't tolerate "any kind of abuse" of the service, and people sending fake emergency texts could be fined. NG911 is already being used in some areas of the United States.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
City to proclaim May 3 as Wildfire Preparedness Day
HONOLULU (KHON2) — With wildfire risks on the rise across Hawaii, Honolulu leaders are coming together to raise awareness and promote community action. Kauai councilmember sounding 'emergency alarm' on coconut rhinoceros beetles On Tuesday, April 29, city officials will officially proclaim May 3 as Wildfire Community Preparedness Day. The announcement will take place at 11 a.m. and will include remarks from Mayor Rick Blangiardi's Chief of Staff Andy Sugg, along with representatives from the Honolulu Fire Department, the Department of Emergency Management, and the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news The proclamation aims to encourage residents to work together in reducing wildfire risks in neighborhoods across the island. Officials said it's a timely reminder as dry conditions and warmer weather increase the potential for dangerous information on wildfire safety and preparedness efforts can be found on the HFD website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
