Thread by @IndivisibleSF

Here's @DefundSFPDnow's playbook for today's hearing - they are providing talking points and instructions for calling in with public comment: docs.google.com/document/d/12q… #SFBudgetAppsCom

@DefundSFPDnow is even offering to text you when public comment starts so you don't have to stream the hearing all day. Use their Google form here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… (or you can read our live tweet thread all day long!) #SFBudgetAppsCom

What's this all about anyway? We've been working to bring awareness to the deeply-rooted problems w/ police accountability and racist policing in San Francisco, and fix them through our local legislature and in our budget! This hearing is crucial to that effort. #SFBudgetAppsCom

We're waiting for the #SFBudgetAppsCom hearing to get back in session. Hope in and live stream here. Right now it's just jazzy elevator music but the politics will return shortly! sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.ph…

Still jamming to some cheerful Muzak while waiting for the hearing to get back in session. Check out our event page for more information on the #SFBudgetAppsCom hearing! indivisiblesf.org/events/2020/8/…

#SFBudgetAppsCom is 20 minutes late to come back from recess at this point. Must be one heck of a good lunch. Check out the livestream here: sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.ph…

#SFBudgetAppsCom back in session after their "brief" (sic) recess for lunch! Because of technical difficulties, they are currently proceeding with audio only.

We are now hearing from San Francisco Sheriff Miyamoto. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sheriff Miyamoto is talking about their work removing telephone fees for inmates. Is saying that body camera access is transparent, unlike what Dir. Henderson said. Says Sheriff's Dept is supporting state's Racial Identity Profiling Act. #SFBudgetAppsComm

NOTE: we won't be able to provide the slides they are showing right now because we can't see them. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sheriff Miyamoto says they have met the Mayor's request with a 10% reduction in budget. Adding money to body cameras, jail management system improvements. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sheriff's Dept budget is also adding money for PPE in light of COVID. Sheriff's Dept is looking to close County Jail 4 before November 1st. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sheriff Miyamoto says they're doing "more with less". Highlights partnership with Pretrial Diversion, an org aimed at alternatives to incarceration (sfpretrial.org) #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sheriff says Dep't is committed to training, but that the challenge is staffing and hours needed for training. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sheriff Miyamoto highlights SAFE program (Sheriff's Alliance For Equity) which would support an inclusive workplace culture accessible to all. Says "we already reflect the community that we serve". #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Walton asking about referrals to DPA (Dept of Police Accountability). Sheriff's Miyamoto says DPA should accept complaints from the public so that it doesn't have to go thru Sheriff's office. Says 120 referrals so far. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Walton asks what's the investigation process when an incarcerating person files a complaint. Sheriff Miyamoto: we have a complaint process built in to our system (apparently a phone number). Says ppl will be able to file complaints to DPA directly. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sheriff Miyamoto: internal units investigate complaints. No cost to family of complainant. Some of those get forwarded to DPA. Walton says reports show that it costs $20 million for investigations and doesn't see it in Miyamoto's budget presentation. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Actually, Walton was asking about how much County 4 Jail cost to operate. It's around $20 million, Miyamoto says closing the jail helped meet the budget reduction request of 10% #SFBudgetAppsCom

Walton: do you think the community organizations like Pretrial Diversions belong with the law enforcement entity? Sheriff Miyamoto: yes. Talks about some of their other community programs. Says its important to bring community together with law enforcement. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton says that he heard groups and advocates that speak out against Sheriff's dept policies are being silenced, defunded or cut. Sheriff Miyamoto says the dept allows orgs to advocate outside of dept policies. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton asks about gladiator fights and custody deaths in jails. Sheriff Miyamoto says that the gladiator fights were "a few administrations ago". Says body cameras in jails help with issues like this. Says they're behind on equipping staff w bodycams #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sheriff Miyamoto regarding increased Sheriff's overtime: we're working to reduce our overtime. Walton: is this change because of issues you identified, or because of the articles? #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sheriff Miyamoto says part of the reason of overtime is chronic understaffing and attrition. Challenging to fill positions in both Sheriff's dept and police dept bc of feelings of the community towards the profession. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Walton says that the overtime is extremely excessive, asks how many vacancies they have. Sheriff Miyamoto estimates around 100 for sworn officers. Fewer: 128 vacancies as of June 30. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Yee asks about justice reform project. Sheriff says the staffing on the project is not adequate, but last year's budget allowed them to add staff. Now they want to improve the technlogy side. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Yee asks about assessment of progress of justice project. Sheriff Miyamoto: we have moved forward. Highlights technology challenges. Trying to get wifi in jails and expanded video visitation. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Fewer asks about stopping charging for phone calls from jails. Sheriff said there was a slight spike of 30% usage since implementation, which they can sustain. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Fewer says supplies and materials allocation increased even though jail population has decreased. Sheriff says it's due to COVID challenges, such as PPE supplies. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Fewer presses on supplies/materials increase. Another speaker explains it with a "technical adjustment". #SFBudgetAppsCom

Next up: the Fire Department with Chief Nicholson. (Apologies for any misspelled names, btw). #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson is saying that the majority of their budget is for fire suppression, medical emergencies. SFFD is primarily funded by the general fund. Budget is decreasing by $11.5 million #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson is talking about their preventative work such as Slow Streets. Highlighted a concern that putting Slow Streets in the tenderloin will block EMS traffic thru one of the most high volume emergency corridors in the country. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson highlighting budget reduction. Says limited budgetary flexibility based on legislative mandates. Thus, frontline emergency services are preserved. Call volume continues to rise. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Some impacts of the budget cuts will be on the infrastructure supporting frontline emergency services, such as vehicle replacement. These will be on hold by a decreasing budget. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson discussing inequities within SFFD. Hired a racial equity officer and running racial equity action committee. Highlights partnership with SFUSD at Mission Highschool w/ fire and ems classes for college credit. Wants to expand this. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson discussing some other equity initiatives within the dept. Highlights EMSCorp in the East Bay for at-risk kids. Gives trauma counseling, literacy assistance, stipend, EMT course. This program is successful. Budget cuts prevent its funding in SF. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson addresses low numbers of POC emergency workers. Says EMT license test to get into the job has adverse effects on women and POC. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson explains that call volume has been going up despite COVID-19. "We provide service to everyone". Only 11.3% of callers have private health insurance. Only 34% have an address. These numbers are a significant increase in recent years. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson highlights EMS-6 community paramedics. This wildly succesful and popular program helped w testing and housingf or COVID-19(hsh.sfgov.org/services/outre…) #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson is making EMS-6 part of the city crisis response team for $2 million a year. Appears to want to broaden their focus from high-call-volume callers. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Nicholson says she is having a really good hair day! And is also committed to making sure SFFD is meeting its operational demands in this tough time. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Mandelman is asking about additional hires for Crisis Response Team. They're looking for 6 people. Mandelman asking if funds for EMS-6 were fully used. Chief Nicholson: yes. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Mandelman says last year EMS-6 was targeted at people who called 911 most often, is this how EMS-6 is still functioning? Nicholson says yes and no - if EMS-6 sees an issue on the street, they'll act on that as well. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Mandelman asking about the goal of the additional $2 million - is that a large or small impact in our street crisis response. How is success of EMS-6 measured? (It's by fewer 911 calls and access to services). #SFBudgetAppsCom

Another speaker for SFFD: last year we trained 11 paramedics, and put everybody to work on pandemic. Doing a lot of work for COVID testing, , locating COVID-positive ppl and convincing them to isolate, aiding skilled nursing facilities to prevent mass deaths. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Same speaker: going forward, Crisis Response Team is looking to also inheriting mental health crisis and suicidal calls so the police aren't the only agency responding to them. Planning system of coodinated care for repeat patients #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Mandelman asks about logistics to transport callers and personnel. Speaker: planning to get vans that support wheelchairs with 3 emergency workers in each. Modeled on CAHOOTS (find out about that here: whitebirdclinic.org/cahoots/) #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Mandelman: how many of the 21,000 mental health crisis calls will you be able to pick up? Speaker: with four 12 hour units 24/7, will handle 20,000 calls. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton asking about resources for disaster preparation, funds for NERT (National Emergency Response Team) (sf-fire.org/neighborhood-e…). Chief: NERT has not gotten funding because of COVID-19 but stable. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton asking about NERT programs for high schools. Chief Nicholson: still looking at this. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton asking about discrimination lawsuits against SFFD, asks about what in budget will address diversity. Chief Nicholson: racial equity committee is working to bring recommendations, budget is paying them for their time. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton presses on racial equity initiatives. Chief Nicholson describes some including trainings. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Yee compliments Chief Nicholson for her work. Highlights giving people from the City a pathway to SFFD for increased diversity. Says they should look at increased funding for this. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Safai joins the hearing. Asks if equity officer is a new position. Is this officer going to be working with recruitment unit. Chief: We're prioritizing our budget to meet operational demands. But committed to diversity in recruitment #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Safai worries that we're going into economic recession without investing in racial equity, then SFFD will get less and less diverse. #SFBudgetAppsCom

#SFBudgetAppsCom is recessing for 5 minutes to fix their technical issues. People calling in or livestreaming, just hang out - you don't have to do anything.

Time to enjoy some more elevator music courtesy of SFGovTV. Coming up we have presentations from
- Emergency Management
- SFPD
- Adult Probation and Juvenile Probation Dept
- Public Defender
- District Attorney

Tune in here: sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.ph…

#SFBudgetAppsCom

What's this all about anyway? We've been working to bring awareness to the deeply-rooted problems w/ police accountability and racist policing in San Francisco, and fix them through our local legislature and in our budget! This hearing is crucial to that effort. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Here's @DefundSFPDnow's playbook for today's hearing - they are providing talking points and instructions for calling in with public comment: docs.google.com/document/d/12q… #SFBudgetAppsCom

@DefundSFPDnow is even offering to text you when public comment starts so you don't have to stream the hearing all day. Use their Google form here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… (or you can read our live tweet thread all day long!) #SFBudgetAppsCom

#SFBudgetAppsCom is back in session with the Emergency Services Dept with Executive Director Mary Ellen Carroll. This Dept includes the city's COVID command center.

Emergency Management Department*, is the actual name. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Dir Carroll: Emergency Management Department is funded primarily by the general fund, other funding provided by DHS grants. Got additional funding for COVID-19 response. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Dir Carroll is saying that in order to meet budget reduction benchmarks from the mayor, they're cancelling all their academies, reviewed all vacancies, reducing all travel. Not laying anyone off. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Dir Carroll: it's important that all people have access to 9-1-1 services. This includes language support for those who don't speak English, which means translators and certified bilingual dispatchers. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Dir. Carroll: Emergency Management workforce is diverse. Working on equity in emergency response. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Mandelman and Yee thank Dir. Carroll. Yee asks about 20 people that Dir. Carroll wants to bring in. Dir. Carroll: these are temporary positions to get thru COVID-19 response #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Walton: are you getting the resources you need from HSHS/HSOC for working with homeless people? Dir. Carroll: yes. Sup Walton: is the work FEMA-reimbursible? Carroll: no. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton asks about impacts of work with unhoused people on budget. Carroll: everything we are doing is under the umbrella of COVID and resources are distributed appropriately. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Missed the question from Sup. Fewer. Carroll is describing a few vacant positions. Sup. Ronen is now in the meeting. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Next up we have Adult Probation Dept with Chief Karen Fletcher and Acting CFO Veronica Martinez. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Fletcher: the dept has remained open during the pandemic, including housing opportunities, programming and client contacts. Many employees have been deployed in staffing the hotels for COVID-19 response, 19 of them for long term assignments. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Fletcher says the dept is anticipating increased funding from grants. Rents are also increasing due to departments pending relocation. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Fletcher: Due to the increased grant fundings, they were able to make some savings. Here's their reductions slide. They're reducing their work with Department of Public Health (not sure what that means) #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Fletcher says they are prioritizing housing and behavioral health services. Reduced programs that aren't COVID safe, like those that include gatherings. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Fletcher says despite reductions, APD will be able to provide adequate services. They are holding some vacant positions to save money. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Fletcher says the Adult Probation Department workforce is very diverse with formerly incarcerated employees, including in leadership. This includes many ppl who are bilingual. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Fletcher: "the people served by Adult Probation are among the most vulnerable". They're working on new funding opportunities and practices to help them. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Fletcher highlights transitional housing programs which are so essential to people who were previously incarcerated, including permanent housing support and rent subsidy #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Fletcher says that APD housing programs reduced 48,825 days of homelessness in FY 19/20 and placed 113 clients in permanent housing. Also providing hotels for pretrial clients for COVID-19 #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Fewer thanks Chief Fletcher for doing an excellent job. (Sup Fewer is a member on the Re-entry Council, which is run by APD Staff). Asks about 17 vacancies. Fletcher says the hires were derailed by COVID-19, they're trying to fill that gap. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Walton: are housing facility contracts going to be getting any reductions? Fletcher: a couple small reductions in one contracts to do with their administrative services. Clients will not be impacted in any way, rooms will still be available. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Walton: how many staff oversee a contract at any given time? Fletcher: it's a very small group. Walton: are they civilian or sworn? Fletcher: re-entry and fiscal personnel are all non-sworn. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Walton on CBO contracts - do these belong in law enforcement? Fletcher: we have to have law enforcement piece so we can enforce court orders. Work in partnership with CBOs is appropriate. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Walton asks about cost for supervision of cases? Fletcher will provide that information later. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Next is Chief Miller of Juvenile Probation. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Miller starts right in on racial equity in JPD's budget. Talks about the racial disparities in the juvenile justice system. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Miller calls back to ADP and Chief Fletcher's work. Miller has been on the job for about six months, so she's been learning a lot from Chief Fletcher about their racial equity work. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Miller says 86% of JPD is people of color, 40% Black. They've had conversations about what it's like to be in those communities and also in law enforcement. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Budget time! Chief Miller says they were able to meet the mayor's budget instructions. #SFBudgetAppsCom

JPD cut OT, work orders, some but not all of the costs of “Log Cabin Ranch,” and 30 positions. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Slide for JPD's headcount reductions. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Almost $10 million being reinvested by the mayor from JPD to a couple of programs: the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families, and a “community-based, community-operated” program the slide calls “Juvenile Hall Placement Alternative”. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Another slide. Chief Miller talks about that one slice of this money that's still in JPD but isn't actually being used for juvenile probation, because it's being spent on an alternative. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Talking about how small the budget is now, and how they're part of moving money into “reimagining juvenile diversion, supervision, and detention.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Slides are done. Sup. Ronen has questions about staffing levels.

Asks the average number of youth in Juvenile Hall at any given moment. Chief Miller says 11–14, but down since SIP started. It was ~30 back then, and now it's ~9 and has gone back up. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen asks about staff in the Hall.

78; 52 Counselors and 7 Senior Counselors, plus foodservice, laundry, Director and Assistant Director, and some staff who are on leave. #SFBudgetAppsCom

“So you need 59 counselors for 10–11 kids at a time?”

They apparently have to be grouped somehow. #SFBudgetAppsCom

At least three units operating: intake/quarantine for up to 14 days; then if they still are in JPD then they move to another unit. Sometimes they have a unit only for girls; sometimes they have kids that cannot be together and must be in separate units. #SFBudgetAppsCom

(It's not clear what a “unit” is in this context.) #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen does division: “We would need 46 counselors, right?”

“Potentially. Some of the counselors are assigned to units, and some have positions throughout the facility, so it's not as simple as dividing the number by the number of units.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen: “How many cooks do you think you need? And food delivery workers?”

Chief Miller: “I don't know the answer right now without speaking to my staff about it. But it's a conversation I'm happy to bring back to you next week, if that's possible.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen asks about “250 kids in pre-adjudication and 350 in post-adjudication” who are not on probation. 34 probation officers serving them.

Sup. Ronen: “Is that the right number? How long does a kid stay on probation, or on the caseload?” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Miller: “There's incredible variety in that number.” Kids stay on probation different lengths of time; some get put on multiple probations. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Miller is talking about the range of caseloads of probation officers. One's a training officer; one handles federal grant. #SFBudgetAppsCom

They've been having audio problems so Sup. Ronen is going to pass to her colleagues, but she has more questions. Chair Fewer asks her to compile more questions in writing for the Chief to answer next week.

Sup. Walton is next. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton notes that Log Cabin Ranch has been closed for some time, but still has positions.

Chief Miller says they were transferred to Juvenile Hall, and also that some positions are unfunded. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton asks what the cost is per youth detained. Chief Miller doesn't have an answer right now. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Here's an article about the Log Cabin Ranch, which closed in 2018: sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier… #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton asks about staffing reductions.

Chief Miller says some folks left voluntarily, and also talks about the Close Juvenile Hall Workgroup process. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Yee asks about funding for DCYF. Chief Miller says it's not reflected in the budget.

Sup. Yee asks about money transferred out of DCYF. Chief Miller says that this is a technical adjustment.

#SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Fewer thanks Chief Miller for allocating $7 million to DCYF. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Now up: SF Public Defender Mano Raju and his colleagues. Highlights his commitment to high level litigation and racial justice. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Raju highlights the lean budget. Public Defender's office does a wide range of activities, including immigration and legal integrity units.

Raju highlights the Public Defender's Office's commitment to racial justice. Talking about MAGIC programs to reduce juvenile contact with criminal legal system, Clean Slate Program, Legal System Integrity Unit to hold police accountables and Immigration Unit. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Raju highlight's effort to prevent youths to come in contact with police unit that labels them as gang members. Highlights immigration unit to prevent people from ICE and release them from prisons including San Quentin which are suffering COVID outbreaks. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Raju says that 90% of the office budget is salaries, making it hard to cut the budget. Most clients are indigent, homeless or mentally ill. Public defender trials are backed up in courts. Public defenders are often first responders with vulnerable populations #SFBudgetAppsCom

For these and more reasons, Raju says that the job positions he has been asked to hold vacant to cut the budget, should be filled immediately. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Raju is talking about the Public Defender's office's first jury trial in time of COVID-19, got not guilty verdict. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Mano Raju: "COVID has made every aspect of our work more challenging and more vital right now, because every day in custody increasing the risk of spreading the virus to
back to community." #SFBudgetAppsCom

Raju: our office will be the engine that delivers equity. Is arguing to fill the vacant positions as soon as possible. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Raju: every dime spent on our office is an exponential investment in the values of San Francisco. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton: will your budget eliminate the pretrial division?

Raju: it was a 2 year division and it's ending next year.

Walton is concerned because pretrial unit is what gives people legal representation #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton: how does your budget compare to DA, police budgets?

Raju: our budget is about half of DA, and can't compare to police budget because Public Defender uses entire budget for investigation while police uses only part of their budget. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Supervisor Preston is now here. He's asking for the Police Investigations budget + DA budget comparison.

Raju: it's at least quadruple our budget.

#SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston says he is concerned about the vacancies. Asks to give detail on the jobs of the vacant positions.

Raju: These roles try cases at a very high level, supervise pretrial release unit, appear in specialty courts, etc. We need multiple ppl to do it.
#SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Preston: what's the total cost of the vacant positions that your'e being asked not to fill?

Raju: 740,000 in FY2021, $1.1 million in FY2022.

#SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup Preston asks for clarification on 1170d issue. (We believe that's the Sentence Review Unit sfdistrictattorney.org/justice-innova…)

Raju: this allows DA to bring a motion to modify a sentence. The public defender's office has to review the case before bringing to judge.

#SFBudgetAppsCom

As for the San Quentin issue, Raju says the Legal Integrity team is doing habeas work and shouldering that additionally. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Comptroller says: attrition is budgeted in every budget in the city to acknowledge natural turnover. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen: Asking about DA Gascogne's cut to pretrial unit, process of getting ppl released.

Raju: Rebooking was taken away from DA budget last year, not sure about police dept. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Raju: When someone is booked, arraignment is 2-3 days away. Speed of public defenders response is crucial to how long someone remains in jail. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Ashely Groffenberger from Public Defender's office clarifies that pretrial funds were not cut from budget, it was a pilot through the upcoming fiscal year. #SFBudgetAppsCom

They're talking about the DA and police departments budgets on rebooking and pretrial. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Yee asking where the funding for the pretrial unit came from

Raju: general fund. Yee expresses support for continuing to fund this.

Fewer: Mayor's budget director just said she's willing to re-look at it.

#SFBudgetAppsCom

Next: SFPD! Chief Scott presenting. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott talks about the “balance of accountability along with support that gets us through these times” such as the protests following George Floyd's murder (which he calls an “incident” in which Floyd “died at the hands of” Minneapolis PD). #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott talking about differences in the SFPD budget. Rows are funding sources, including slices of the General Fund (GF).

FY21 Orig is the FY2019–2020 budget's second year, which is FY2020–2021. FY21 MYR is what the mayor proposed in the FY2020–2021 budget. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Rows in the first slide, rather. Second slide is categories of expenditures. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott talking about staffing cuts.

Worth noting: 1,896 full-duty sworn officers is below the City's Charter-mandated minimum of 1,971.

The Chief talks about that directly on the next slide. We haven't met the minimum in actual (not just budgeted) officers in over ten years. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott urges the Board to not let police staffing “get smaller at this point.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief talking about reductions in crime. He's just discovered that a slide has gone missing. #SFBudgetAppsCom

More slides about crime rate over time. Says 2017 was “a particularly bad time” for car break-ins; they're way down since then. (Steeply this year, for reasons we can all guess.) #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief talking about a foot beat deployment. They commissioned a study that agrees with their taking credit for the break-in reduction.

(No mention of the pandemic, though the Chief has mentioned it as a cause of crime reduction before.) #SFBudgetAppsCom

Graph of calls for service volume by hour and weekday. This is based on the Matrix staffing report. #SFBudgetAppsCom

The graph on the right is response times by call priority. The Chief expounded on what the call priorities are. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Another slide from the Matrix report, which recommended that the SFPD hire a whole whack of officers—they recommended 2,176, though that was over a year ago.

The Chief makes the argument that all those calls that the two-year-old Matrix staffing report documented “still exist” here in mid-2020 (in spite of the declines in crime rates), therefore it's important for SFPD staffing to “not go backwards”. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Breakdown of overtime categories. One is “1st Amendment gatherings” (a.k.a. protests). Most “if not all of it” was June–July.

Another includes hospital watch, which is normally handled (more cheaply) by Sheriff's: sfchronicle.com/bayarea/articl…

#SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief now talking about how expensive it is to reform the police. Technology, personnel, data reporting, Professional Standards Bureau, training (including implicit bias, use-of-force training), and body-worn cameras. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief: “Reform also takes time.” Says we're in year 4 of the Collaborative Reform Initiatives, and it takes at least five years to see results. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Timeline of the Collaborative Reform Initiatives. #SFBudgetAppsCom

“Reform is not a right-now thing. We need to get better right now, but we need to build the vision and infrastructure to sustain reform over the coming five years.”

Says they're building a five-year cycle specifically. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Talking about how many command staff SFPD has. For some time he's been advocating for more command staff within the Department, including at the #SFPoliceCommission. #SFBudgetAppsCom

They used to have assistant chiefs before the recession; haven't had them since due to those cuts. Chief Scott says that “this has hurt us structurally.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Now talking about “outcomes” of reform. Makes special mention that SFPD sought out the Collaborative Reform Initiatives.

Anyway, 53% fewer total uses of force, and 67% less pointing of firearms. The former graph includes a breakdown by race.

Both of those are since the start of 2016, we should mention. #SFBudgetAppsCom

The next two slides are about the SFPD's “equity action plan,” which they are “laying the foundation” to present on December 31, apparently as required by some piece of legislation. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Talking about local “academic equity partners” such as Stanford and UC Berkeley, and the “Center for Policing Equity.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Pres. Yee goes first, asking about body cameras and DPA's lack of direct access to that footage.

(Previously:

https://twitter.com/IndivisibleSF/status/1294361344318164993

)

Sheriff Miyamoto says DPA has an agreement with Sheriff's for that access.

So why does SFPD not provide that access to DPA? #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott says they do provide access to DPA but there are legal requirements. The Chief says Dir. Henderson has “challenged those….”

Brings up what Dir. Henderson mentioned, “CLETS data.” “We cannot let a non-law-enforcement agency have access to that data.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott says they used to release footage to DPA more freely and were told by state authorities to not do that. Suggests other police departments in the state might be running afoul of the law. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Walton is up next. “How many Academy classes in this proposed budget, and what's the next Academy?”

Chief Scott starts by noting they're trying to hire through attrition (i.e., maintain steady staffing). #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chair Fewer jumps in and says there were three Academy classes of 50 officers each, one specifically for the Airport. Asks if those classes have all gone through.

Chief says that the class size was reduced in 2019 to 35, with one class of 20. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott says hiring through attrition would be three-and-a-half classes per year (or, Chair Fewer clarifies, seven classes per two-year budget). #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Mandelman: “Part of fixing policing involves having folks who are part of the community and… are regularly engaging with officers.” Asking about diversity in the Academy classes.

Chief Scott says he'll answer but also email his answer to the #SFBudgetAppsCom.

The Chief shows another slide with the racial breakdown of several years of SFPD Academy classes, starting in 2007. Trending toward more people of color. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Mandelman adds that it would be nice to see statistics about how well this distribution holds up as officers enter and work on the force—i.e., are there racial disparities in attrition. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott notes that recruiting in communities of color comes with challenges because families and friends of possible recruits may try to talk them out of it. That happened to him before he joined the force. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Mandelman asks about “the project of getting rid of bad cops.”

Notes that this is a problem all over the country and asks what the Chief is doing about it. #SFBudgetAppsCom

The Chief talks first about accountability for individual officers. He has authority up to a 10-day suspension; #SFPoliceCommission has authority above that, up to and including termination.

Then makes a case for command staff to review subordinates and policy. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief: “Accountability does not need or should not be adversarial.” One of the CRI recommendations is a better working relationship with DPA.

Says he has a great working relationship with DPA Dir. Henderson. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott: “Are we hiring officers that we should not be hiring? Sup. Walton's resolution, or at least part of it, tried to get at that issue.” Talks about looking at the records of “lateral hirees”; if they see a pattern of violence, “we don't hire 'em.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Mandelman asks where foot beat patrols are on page 11 of the slide deck (overtime).

Chair Fewer offers an answer involving patrols at BART stations.

Chief says that was previous FY. Tags in the SFPD CFO.

SFPD CFO Patrick Leung says they might be under “Crime Response, Critical Incidents, Hospital Watch, etc.” or the annual project fund. Promises to provide more info to more solidly answer Sup. Mandelman's question. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Mandelman asks about meth and “how to disrupt the… commerce that's going on.”

“I completely agree with taking the police out of homelessness response,” but asserts a relationship between encampments and illegal drug sales. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott talks about “several strategies that we have employed.” Says there are parts of the City where there are “open-air sales.”

Says we're doing a combination of police presence/patrols, narc unit, and longer-term investigations to bust suppliers. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott also says they deployed cops to patrol around the safe sleeping sites.

Also trying to identify repeat offenders. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Talks about the “nuance” of where unhoused communities and meth and heroin use overlap. “We want to make sure that when we're doing enforcement to keep drug dealers out of safe sleeping sites and encampments where people are sleeping,” they focus on the dealers. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston: “I admit to being a little confused to information I've gotten from BLA, information in the media, information in your presentation, as to what the cuts are.” Brings up the national movement to #DefundThePolice. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston brings up the $120 million and one of the Chief's earlier slides and ask whether that's the $120 million.

Chief says no, and Acting Budget Director Ashley Groffenberger tags back in. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston notes that other departments say they spent X last year, and now they're spending Y this year, so they claim Y-X in cuts, and what Groffenberger is suggesting is different.

Groffenberger agrees. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston says this is the number one question his office has gotten.

Groffenberger shows a slide of net General Fund support (the money that can be moved around) for DAT, JPD, POL, and SHF. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston says “no-one in the public cares what was proposed for next year” “that we're actually not spending.”

Says the public cares what the difference is between what was spent last year and what will be spent this year, only. #SFBudgetAppsCom

“Those are the relevant numbers to me and I don't see those in any of these presentations.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Pres. Yee holds up an unidentified booklet and says the answer is in that. Sup. Preston says it isn't. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston: “My understanding is the actual decrease from last fiscal year to what is proposed is $18 million in the POL budget. Do I have that right?”

Pres. Yee says no.

Sup. Preston is suggesting that the Budget Book says one thing and the presentation and “the characterization of some of these cuts” say another. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston notes that $18 million is a 3% reduction in the POL budget.

Groffenberger says that “if you do the math that way,” yes, that's what that works out to. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston also notes that the proposed second year in the proposed budget has a small *increase* in the police budget.

Groffenberger: “That math is accurate.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston: “We're talking about defunding the police; we have to talk about the actual reductions.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston moves on to a new question: whether the proposed cuts would reduce policing in the City or attempt to maintain policing efforts with “greater efficiency.”

Chief Scott says they're going for the latter. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston notes the distinction between not buying new cars (which the Chief brought up), which the public wouldn't necessarily notice, and reducing police presence. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston: “What I see being proposed doesn't pose any changes.” Says it isn't clear “programmatically what's being cut.”

Uses police involvement in HSOC as an example. “Is that reduced, is that cut,“ or is it staying the same? #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott says, to the example, that some of that is transferred to the Fire Department.

“The caution is to cut the budget and pull the plug on … things before you're ready on the other end leaves a void.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston wants to cite examples and ask about whether things are cut. Doesn't want to talk about policy, just whether things are cut from the budget.

Chair Fewer suggests that if we're going to reimagine safety, then we need to build up alternatives. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chair Fewer: “I think we all agree, I think the Chief agrees, that police shouldn't be responding to these calls.”

“I look at public safety as a much larger umbrella than just law enforcement.” Brings up early education, CBOs, and other things. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chair Fewer suggests that “the law enforcement part of public safety has overreached” things that should be done by other bodies. Implying that those things should be moved out from under police. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chair Fewer suggests that “if you would like the mayor's budget director to produce another chart that displays more of what you're saying, we can request her to do that.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chair Fewer is concerned about the attrition that won't be replaced by Academy classes.

Notes that it's just after 7 PM and DAT is still yet to speak, and then there will be public comment. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston: “I look at a much broader list.” Plugs @DefundSFPDnow's list. “As a policymaker engaging colleagues around these different aspects of policing, I don't know what's been cut and what's not been cut, and that's what I intended to ask about today.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston asks: Should we cut police involvement in HSOC and save $9 million, whether or not we have a replacement? Should we cut cops from schools for $3 million?

Wants “to challenge the premise that we always have to have the replacement lined up”. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Plugs @DefundSFPDnow again, noting that it's an outside-the-City website.

Says “we owe them a response” as members of the public when they come up with proposed cuts.

“There may be a defense of those expenditures” but suggests they should be considered. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chair Fewer supports the Chief's assessment that we need a replacement for anything we cut from police. Goes back to the HSOC example, says that they've told her a replacement would be needed there. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chair Fewer is concerned that Sup. Preston's questioning, if kept up in this meeting, would take too long and drag on the meeting when DAT and public comment are still to come.

Asks Sup. Preston to wrap up his questions in 10 minutes. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston says that “the building block for that conversation is to know what is or is not fully funded in the police budget.”

Wants to know whether POL's contribution in HSOC is going up, down, or staying the same. In schools, up, down or the same. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Preston acknowledges that there's a longer conversation that will outlast this meeting.

Offers to send the Chief the @DefundSFPDnow list and ask whether any of those cuts are included in either year of the budget proposal. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief says he's seen @DefundSFPDnow's list and is willing to provide those answers.

Sup. Ronen is up next. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen says “I think we are ready today to get police out of HSOC for the most part and out of the HOT team for the most part.”

“If there's criminal activity happening, then it's appropriate for the police to be there.” But not just for homelessness. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen also notes that the existing approach of throwing police at unhoused people hasn't helped with homelessness.

“It's not police work. It's work of social workers, of mental health professionals, of doctors, of peer counselors.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen brings up a concern that if they remove police from some functions, it won't mean “a reduction of the department”; they'll just move officers around. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief: “I'm not disagreeing that some of these calls could be handled better by other entities.” Notes that some of those entities don't exist or don't respond 24/7. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott says they took officers off of patrol to put them in HSOC.

Says the other part of HSOC was working collaboratively with DPH, DPW, DEM. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott says “we are 265 officers short department-wide, we are 207 short in field operations.”

Suggests that if officers were removed from HSOC, they would be used to staff up the shortfall he described. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott says “taking officers out of schools, doesn't translate to a budget cut, it's a reallocation to make up a deficit.”

There's sort of an assumption of a fixed, immutable level of need for policing. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott characterizes calls to #DefundThePolice as seeking a “punishment,” like taking a child's allowance away. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen disagrees that the “unprecedented demands for tangible, material change” constitute a demand for “punishment.”

Says some communities don't feel safe not because there aren't enough police but because they're overpoliced.

Pres. Yee claps on camera. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen is objecting to Chair Fewer rolling her eyes at Ronen's questions. Calls it “rude.”

Says to Chief Scott she's not coming from a place of “punishment *at all*.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Ronen is dismayed that “exactly what Sup. Preston said, we don't know what's been cut” and concerned that “if we make a strong statement in the Budget committee or through legislation, that doesn't … meet the community demands of reducing the Department.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chief Scott clarifies that he was not directing the point about “punishment” to Sup. Ronen; says it's “some sites” calling for defunding that “are coming from a place of punishment.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Pres. Yee is now talking. Questioning whether SFPD should be doing security at the Airport.

(They took that on in 1996, shortly after Prop D passed.)

“When it's only 30 officers,” then yeah, maybe you're just going to reassign them. But maybe we have too many. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chair Fewer brings up Pres. Yee's measure, Prop E, to repeal the police staffing minimum from the Charter.

Apologizes for rolling her eyes but notes that that's been done a lot to her as the only woman of color on the Board. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DAT is next. They're looking to get the District Attorney on to present. #SFBudgetAppsCom

The District Attorney has logged on. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA Boudin can't hear the Supervisors at all, though we can all hear him. Operations is working on it. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Chair Fewer is crying following her conflict with Sup. Ronen, and has handed off to Vice Chair Walton.

And the DA has sorted out his technical difficulties and is now presenting. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA Boudin talking about the expenditures of his department. Says most of it is real estate costs, which are fixed. There's also divisions like the independent investigation bureau, which has personnel costs. Not much room for cuts. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA Boudin talks about the budget changes in the proposed years.

They've cut things like periodical subscriptions and law books and the shuttle between their office and the Hall of Justice, but these things have costs in effectiveness. #SFBudgetAppsCom

The DA is cutting 3% of attorneys in the first year of the budget. No further FTE changes in the second year.

Notes that a speedy trial is a Constitutional right, so DAT needs adequate staffing to make that happen. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA says over 90% of their expenditures are locked in by contracts and other requirements. “We had to be extremely creative” to make cuts happen. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA says they're looking to prevent crime as much as possible “because that's much more effective and efficient.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA adds that they have achieved these savings without laying off staff; they've been cutting vacancies.

They're leaving the HoJ but still have to work there, hence the shuttle, which they've cut back frequency of.

DA seems to have been paying attention during earlier presentations in this segment about racial equity. Starts with info on external racial equity and will then talk about intra-department racial equity.

Notes a rise in hate crimes as a result of Trumpian “vitriol”.

DA has been talking about his work ending cash bail (by DA policy) within the City, and creating a Primary Caregiver Diversion Program. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA talking about racially disproportionate uses of force or non-consensual searches by police. “San Francisco, according to a 2020 report, is actually the most disproportionate…” #SFBudgetAppsCom

In order to prevent the DA's office being complicit in racist policing practices, they decline to prosecute cases based on pretextual searches brought by cops with a history of racist policing. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA followed up with the internal-facing racial equity efforts. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA “wanted to respond to some of the important and robust conversations” that the Supes had with Public Defender Raju. Boudin notes that he used to work in that office before he became DA.

“Some of the things we do require counterparts.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Mentions the 1170(d) resentencing program. Only a prosecutor can make those resentencing motions under state law, so (the DA says) they need to have enough staff to do that work.

“Life-saving work in the context of COVID.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Sup. Mandelman asks about “issues that are described as ‘quality-of-life’ but I think that understates their impact.” Cites drug use and dealing, nuisance, noise, weapons, assaults as an example, people “trying to get money related to their evictions.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Actually he might have said “addictions”? Your friendly live-tweeter has moved over to the phone line and the audio quality is significantly worse than the internet stream. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA notes that there are some who would have his office “use every tool at our disposal to incarcerate unhoused people. Sit-lie laws, possession of knives—which all of us possess in our homes, and unhoused people possess in their homes.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA says “San Francisco wants and deserves a solution to the problem, but a solution does not come through handcuffs and” jails. You can't incarcerate your way out of this.

Says he won't use his office against “disadvantaged individuals.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA advocates “treating every arrest as an opportunity for intervention. Finding the root causes of criminal behavior and finding ways to address those, usually with things that are far more nearly-tailored, humane, and cost-effective than lengthy incarceration.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA laments LEAD SF getting cut.

Notes “even short periods of incarcerations are … destabilizing.” Even “a day or two” “can increase the likelihood of future crime and the severity of future crime.”

DA needs staff to prevent that, or it “makes us less safe”. #SFBudgetAppsCom

DA: “We need more investment in housing, emergency mental health and substance abuse response, and alternatives to incarceration that get at the root causes of crime and hold people accountable for their behavior.” #SFBudgetAppsCom

Pres. Yee says DA made his arguments pretty well. Notes that a lot of this was stuff Boudin talked about during the campaign. Thanks him for his work. #SFBudgetAppsCom

That's the last department. So public comment should come next. #SFBudgetAppsCom

Vice Chair Walton calls for a five-minute recess. We'll resume with public comment at 8:35 PM. #SFBudgetAppsCom