Statement: Police Staffing Charter Amendment Not What It Appears to Be

Statement by Supervisor Joel Engardio
San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting
November 28, 2023

Police Staffing Charter Amendment Not What It Appears to Be

San Francisco is short hundreds of police officers for a city our size and I’m a strong advocate for funding and hiring more officers.

Why did I oppose a police staffing measure that looks like it will fund police? The measure is not what it appears to be.

I voted no because the police staffing charter measure for the March 2024 ballot does nothing concrete to fund and hire police. It is merely aspirational. It does not set aside funds in the budget. It only suggests reallocating money from some current taxes that have volatile and inconsistent income.

This measure is merely aspirational because it is not a new, dedicated tax. It refers to the possibility of using an unnamed tax in the future to pay for more police. And that raises some legal concerns for me. Taxes that pay for specific things require a two-thirds majority. Simple majority general taxes are easier to pass. But can the next one pay for something specific like police? Our city has been sued in the past over these very questions.

In short, this measure is messy. And it doesn’t do anything to immediately fund and hire police. We need to scrap this measure, start over, take the politics out of it, and work together to give San Francisco residents what they’re begging for: better public safety.

Better public safety starts with funding and hiring more police officers. It also includes more sheriff’s deputies and first responders like paramedics and 911 operators. 

Let’s talk about 911 operators. They are woefully underpaid and stressed to the max. They are leaving in droves. We can have all the police officers in the world, but what’s the point if we don’t have essential workers answering the phone when residents have an emergency?

This measure is messy because it started as one thing, a dedicated budget set aside for police funding. Then it became another thing, which doesn’t dedicate any definitive funding. 

A lot of politics happened and this measure has become the political football for the upcoming election year, which promises to be one of the most consequential and contentious in recent memory.

Some politicians will win and some will lose as a result. But for the residents of San Francisco, it’s all a loss. We can’t play politics with public safety.

That’s why we need to scrap this measure and start over. Include 911 operators along with police officers and other first responders to create a comprehensive public safety budget set aside for the November ballot. 

There are basic functions of local government like filling potholes and cleaning the streets that residents expect City Hall to cover with existing revenue. A fully staffed police department and 911 call center is as basic as it gets. Without public safety nothing else matters.

Let’s put the politics aside and do the work our constituents are demanding.