San Francisco Sightseeing Articles

The Police Department must close a $6 million shortage before the end of the fiscal year in June. It also has as much as $47 million in cuts to contract with next fiscal year, when The City faces a $522.2 million deficit. To do so, police Chief George Gascon is axing the overtime. He says he can cut half of that mid-year budget shortage through reducing overtime.

"We have to look at places where we can cut and overtime is one of the areas where we've been insistently concentrating our efforts," Gascon said. "We surely do not have the money to set public on overtime to patrol."

Police have consistently been second only to the Municipal Transportation Agency in overtime spending. In fiscal year 2007-2008, police overtime cost $41.7 million, and last fiscal year it was about $34 million.

One confront that the police will be facing is patrolling special events and rallies without using overtime hours, Assistant Chief Kevin Cashman said. It's very potential that enforcement will be "creative" in the future, he said.

Officers and detectives have been transfer from the Hall of Justice to neighborhood stations already as a way to put officers on the streets without using overtime, according to Cashman.

One neighborhood that has already been affected by the overtime crackdown is North Beach.

After three years of increased police attendance along Broadway, Gascon has pulled the plug on overtime to patrol weekends on one of San Francisco's rowdiest strips.

Mayor Gavin Newsom and then-police Chief Heather Fong announced a crackdown on the corridor during 2006. Dozens of police officers were called in to work obligatory overtime. The Sheriff’s division brought out mobile jails. Tow trucks waited for nightfall before clearing the street of cars.

But now police will have to influence officers at Central Station to cool the violence, causing several in the neighborhood to worry crime will seep back into the area. Rico Reyes has worked in North Beach as a bartender and as safety for strip clubs.

"When you see cops position everywhere on Broadway, it can be a little intimidating," Reyes said. "But I think people like it. It makes them feel safer."

In 2006, police foot patrols became a heated issue at City Hall as the Board of Supervisors mandated officers at several stations to walk a beat during most of the day. Mayor Gavin Newsom opposed the legislation, saying law enforcement official should determine police staffing issues, not lawmakers.

Though people may see smaller number officers along Broadway, Central Station still plans to staff foot beats. How the overtime crackdown affect patrol in the rest of The City may become clearer in the coming months.