We’re Not in a Staffing Crisis…SHHHHH!!!

A Piece For Wayback Wednesday That's Even More Relevant Today

I decided to do a special midweek post about an article I wrote wayback in 2019.

The staffing crisis is not a new phenomenon. Hundreds of cops did not just walk off the job and leave the city lawless, it’s been reported on for years now. I wrote this article and published it in the POA Journal in November 2019. I even quoted a couple articles already written on at the subject at the time.

More articles were written about it through 2020, including one by SF Chronicle Reporter Phil Matier. In his article, San Francisco Cops Leaving In Record Numbers, Officials Say, Matier spoke to members that left the department and quoted them in the piece on why they chose to leave.

Management must have been blindfolded to not see it. The problem has been discussed for years, and nothing has been done to try and address it.

I also heard there was a meeting of high level management the other day to discuss potential fixes. Now that we are at our lowest numbers in over a decade, and we can not attract anyone, panic must finally be setting in.

Sorry to tell you, but this should have happened two years ago. The damage that indecision has caused is finally showing. Indecision and a lack of courage to stand up for the members of the department has led to this point, and we are out of options. We no longer have the ability to make big long term plans to fix things, because by then we will be out of people.

If any decision-makers would like ideas, I am available. I also wrote about it on this Substack in What Happens As The Number of San Francisco Police Officers Dwindle and for the Epoch Times in The SFPD is Dying and No One Cares.

Feel free to reach out anytime. Until then, enjoy this article I wrote over 2 years ago!

We’re Not in a Staffing Crisis…SHHHHH!!!

First published in the POA Journal November 2019

Do not worry…we are not in the midst of a staffing crisis. If we were, I’m sure the exalted members of the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor would be working tirelessly to help recruit new faces to join our ranks. They would not be dumping more on us in the press. I’m also sure our command staff would know of the issue and be addressing it head on.

Never mind, it’s rumored that somewhere between 65-140 cops are actively applying for other departments. Of course we can afford to lose 5-10% of patrol, or even more when people retire.

Even ABC 7 News reported on the matter back in July in a piece entitled, “By the Numbers: How Many Police Officers Are There in San Francisco.” In this piece, Liz Kreutz found there were 1,869 full duty SFPD officers assigned to the City. These officers police San Francisco’s current population, reported by the U.S. Census, of 883,305 people. However, looking back to 2010 we had 1,920 full duty sworn officers for a population of 805,235, or 1 officer per 419 people.

Meaning that over the past 10 years while the City has been growing, our department has been contracting, unable to keep up with population growth. We now stand at 473 people per officer. But that figure, does not account for the large influx of workers during the week that swell the city population to well over 1,000,000, and do not forget our city’s life blood, the tourists.

In 2015, our staffing fell to a decade’s low of 1,659 full duty officers. With our current Academy classes turning out maybe 10-15 officers, we cannot even keep up with attrition and retirements, let alone grow our department to, what should be, its proper staffing.

RECRUITMENT

Our contract was a hard-fought battle to get what we did. During negotiations the POA told the city, and called witnesses to attest to, the lack of viable candidates applying for the SFPD. The argument fell on deaf ears.

Now we are seeing the results of the city’s frugalness and lack of foresight. The most recent academy class began with 25 members. 15 new hires, 5 recycles, and 5 Sheriff’s Department Recruits. It was budgeted for 55. That means 30 seats for were left unfilled. The next class, scheduled for December 2019, has only 9 people selected for it so far. Heck, we cannot even attract people to come and take the written exam, let alone commit to the academy and continual harassment by DPA and the Public Defender’s Office.

Mayor London Breed in the above article stated, “The police department is understaffed” and speaking about two big crimes at the time, said “Ultimately police presence is what’s going to make the difference.” She also added that “…more academy classes are also needed.” And while I could not agree more, she fails to recognize the raises offered by the city are no longer competitive in the Bay Area police market. The outrageous amount of “accountability” and the high administrative burden placed on officers, all drive away potential applicants. Our accountability has turned into the infamous “TPS Reports” from the movie, Office Space. No matter what we do, we end up having to hear about it from eight different bosses and were probably always wrong.

AS OUR RECRUITMENT WOES CONTINUE…

San Francisco is on course, or destined, to become the training station for the entire state. Join the SFPD, get modestly good benefits, pretty good pay, in a horrible work environment. Then after your two years are done, go to a place that pays better, with a lesser workload, fewer dangerous calls, and widespread community support. The suburbs will be snatching up SFPD trained cops with big city experience, and paying a fraction to train them. Meanwhile, San Francisco will be putting up the $100,000+ cost per recruit, and letting these new, highly trained cops, slip away to other jurisdictions once they can lateral.

The flyer from Redwood City PD is posted at every station I have visited. In case you have somehow not seen it, $178,714 is the yearly salary for a senior patrol officer. In addition to better pay, they offer free on-site uniform cleaning, a gym, a sleeping area, and better court compensation. I know smaller departments can offer much more in money and benefits than some larger departments, but the outrageous amount over our current deal, is what is shocking.

But even with the extra money and the better benefits, I think the one line on the poster that draws the most attention from all of us, is “Strong Community Support.” The support for the police in Redwood City is so high, that they advertise it to help recruit or draw officers from other departments.

San Francisco has almost no visible community support. I still have a feeling the silent majority is on our side, but they are vastly overshadowed, by the exceedingly vocal groups, that control the conversation. It’s difficult to draw candidates when we are dumped on consistently by elected city officials and the news media. Our accomplishments, and great uplifting stories, are frequently eclipsed by narrative driven pieces printed to discredit us.

Meanwhile, as staffing continues to decline, and our members go running for greener pastures, say hello to mandatory overtime. So maybe we end up with that extra money anyhow? Until then, we’re not in a staffing crisis so…shh…don’t tell anyone.