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The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California. The department's motto is the same as that of the city and county: Oro en paz, fierro en guerra, archaic Spanish for Gold in peace, iron in war. The SFPD should not be confused with the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, which is another law enforcement agency within San Francisco. The SFPD (along with the San Francisco Fire Department and the San Francisco Sheriff's Department) serves an estimated population of 1.2 million people (which includes the approximately 808,976 people residing in the 47.5 sq mi (123 km2) of San Francisco, the daytime-commuter population, and the thousands of other visitors, tourists, and others, present in the City every day. It is the 11th largest Police Department in the United States. [1] [edit] History The SFPD began operations on August 13, 1849, during the Gold Rush, under the command of Captain Malachi Fallon. At the time, Chief Fallon had a force of one deputy captain, three sergeants and thirty officers.[2] In 1851, Albert Bernard de Russailh wrote about the nascent San Francisco police force:
On October 28, 1853, the Board of Aldermen passed Ordinance No. 466, which provided for the reorganization of the police department. Sections one and two provided as follows: "The People of the City of San Francisco do ordain as follows:" Sec. 1. The Police Department of the City of San Francisco, shall be composed of a day and night police, consisting of 56 men (including a Captain and assistant Captain), each to be recommended by at least ten tax-paying citizens. Sec. 2. There shall be one Captain and one assistant Captain of Police, who shall be elected in joint convention of the Board of Aldermen and assistant Aldermen. The remainder of the force, viz., 54 men, shall be appointed as follows: By the Mayor, 2; by the City Marshal, 2; by the City Recorder, 2; and by the Aldermen and assistant Aldermen,3 each. In July, 1856, the "Consolidation Act" went into effect. This act abolished the office of City Marshal and created in its stead the office of Chief of Police. In 1997, the San Francisco International Airport Police merged with SFPD, becoming the SFPD Airport Bureau.[4] The SFPD currently has over 2000 sworn officers.[5]  The SFPD have been known to be some of the toughest on crime cops on the West Coast, but lenient for small offenses, and are known as an "East Coast Department on the West Coast in regards to customs and history. They also have adapted and are known for their protest and riot control history, dating back to the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike riots, their beatings of persons involved in segregation protests in the 1950s, protests of the HUAC hearings at City Hall, and military style sweeps of the Haight-Ashbury district in the late 1960s.[citation needed] and marches against US Foreign Policy in the financial district. There have been few unjustified shootings and use-of-force cases against the department compared to other large cities. The SFPD is known for being one of the pioneering forces for modern Law Enforcement, beginning in the early 1900s. As of early 2009, the SFPD is beginning a sort of resurgence, with a new headquarters being built by 2010[6] which is to encompass an area twice the size of the current operational headquarters, the Hall Of Justice and a new outside Police Chief. [edit] OrganizationThe head of the SFPD is the Chief of Police. The current Chief is George Gascon. The Chief works with six deputy chiefs directing the four bureaus: Administration, Airport, Field Operations, and Investigations, as well as the Municipal Transportation Authority, and the Public Utilities Commission. With the exception of the bureau of Investigations, three commanders are assigned to each bureau to assist the deputy chiefs. [edit] Administration BureauThe Administration Bureau is responsible for providing support to other bureaus of SFPD, as well as other city agencies. The bureau is split into seven units or divisions:
 [edit] Airport BureauThe Airport Bureau of the San Francisco Police Department was established on July 1, 1997, as the successor to the San Francisco International Airport Police.[7]The Airport Bureau is responsible for the security and safety of San Francisco International Airport. Besides providing basic police services, this bureau also oversees the airport's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security plans and plays a critical role in the airport's emergency response capabilities.[citation needed] [edit] Field Operations BureauThe Field Operations Bureau (FOB) is responsible for the reduction of crime around the city. The bureau is split into several different units:
[edit] Investigations Bureau The Investigations Bureau is split into five divisions:
[edit] Crime Prevention CompanyThe Crime Prevention Company, known as the (TAC) Unit, is the operator in charge of the various specialty units of the SFPD. This includes SFPD SWAT, the SFPD Honda-Bike Unit, Anti-Gang Units, and special security details for celebrities, politicians, and foreign dignitaries. It also includes the on-call Police dog K-9 Units. The officers that fall under this unit, or company, have specialized training and roles in addition to being regular Patrol Officers. [edit] Ranking structure
The SFPD does not have supplemental rankings, like the LAPD (which consist of Corporal, Police Officer II, Senior Lead Officer, etc.) which were added later in the 1960's. The department is also among the few departments in the nation to call their detectives "Inspectors" rather than the traditional title. Tenured officers will have blue gold hash-marks on the lower left sleeve of their long-sleeved shirts. Each mark represents five years of service. [edit] Patrol Specials San Francisco Police also has a unique off-shoot known as the San Francisco Patrol Special police. These are privately funded, armed security guards who work the beat as paid for by local businesses. They are not part of, or regulated by the Police Department. Formed in 1847, a full two years before the official Police Department[8] by Official City Charter, and are the only community policing force allowed in the City and County of San Francisco. San Francisco is known for these patrol specials, as they are one of the only security guards of the like in the nation. They are affectionately known as "door-shakers" for it was a common practice for them to walk up and down a beat making sure the doors and windows of local business were locked and closed shut. They wear the six-pointed Star of David badge, rather than the traditional seven-pointed badge, which symbolizes the seven commandments of Law Enforcement. Recently the SFPD Patrol Specials have been under fire for abuse of force and activities "amounting to the job of a peace officer but not fully authorized to do such". In January 2009 they were ordered to change their uniforms to look more like security or civilian patrol officers, and less like actual San Francisco Police officers. Because of this, the SFPD recently created a web page that deals with what exactly the Patrol Specials do.[9] The webpage also makes the prime distinctions between the Patrol Special and Police Officer, as it says:
[edit] Reserve officers SFPD Reserve officers are completely authorized Peace officers which volunteer their time to patrolling the streets of San Francisco. They need to devote at least 16 hours each month to the department to maintain their "Reserve Officer" status. They are occasionally called upon for regular patrol, aid during demonstrations and other public events where police presence is integral. They work in many other roles, such as security details for diplomats, juvenile dealings, Muni Bus details, and posts at sporting events, such at AT&T Park and at Candlestick Park. [edit] SWAT San Francisco has been known for their elite SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team, composed of volunteer and selected officers from the entire agency. Most training is done in-house, with occasional and required training by FBI instructors, other Federal Agencies and private Military instruction. The SWAT division participates in planned and coordinated raids with agencies such as the FBI, DEA, and the ATF. As of recently (2007) it is mandatory that SWAT team members are together, sometimes during routine patrol, and can be seen among the streets of San Francisco in BDU and traveling in a marked SUV, to ensure a quick and timely response to calls. They were under political fire in the highly publicized 1998 Western Addition Raid, in which more than 90 SFPD SWAT and Federal Agents raided a Western Addition housing project[10]. The SWAT also execute high-risk warrants in the City and County of San Francisco. They are also among one of the oldest serving agencies doing city crime suppression (the act of saturating high-crime areas with large amounts of officers and police presence-a more proactive approach) along with LAPD SWAT and NYPD Emergency Service Units.[11] [edit] Housing Authority PoliceThe San Francisco Housing Authority Police was formed as an off-shoot of the department in 1938 to patrol the various housing projects of the city[12]. In the 1980's they were absorbed into the main Police Department, along with the Airport Police during the organizational restructuring of the Department.  [edit] C.R.U.S.H.In the Mid 90's, San Francisco was experiencing the explosion of narcotic related homicides, [13] which escalated to around forty murders. Now retired Chief Tony Ribera, sought the expertise of his veteran homicide Inspectors, now retired and deceased late great Napolean Hendrix, and Prentice Sanders (also later Chief of Police), to put together a "topnotch" Task Force to solve and suppress the murders and investigate violent illegal narcotics cell groups and numerous other violent crimes. Officer Nash Balinton and his partners Officer Paul Lozada. [14], Inspector Bob Mcmillan, Officer Mike Bolte, Officer Michael Philpott, Sgt's, John Monroe, Maurice Edwards and Kervin Silas, were personally selected to the unit by the Inspectors. They were the original members of the infamous Task Force, called C.R.U.S.H, acronym for crime response unit to suppress homicides. Under the direction of Hendrix and Sanders, these highly skilled and motivated Officer's were able to augment and support the Homicide Detail, in solving well of 25 murders, several hundred felony arrest and convictions for violent crimes, scores of seized narcotics/illicit funds, and well over 250 assorted handgun and assault weapons. This group received several unit citations for their bravery and dedicated work for two years. This unit was surely the best detail every assembled in SFPD's history, but due to the politics of the day and much controversy surrounded by the departments internal turmoil, envy and jealousy, the unit was disbanded in 1997, and there has not been such an impact upon crime since or a unit of it's caliber. [edit] Motor DivisionThe SFPD was one of the founding departments in the field of utilizing Police motorcycles, (along with their counterparts across the bay in Berkeley). The unit was founded in 1909, and has grown ever since. They are officially under the command of the SFPD Traffic Division. They participate in many duties such as traffic-enforcement, patrol, riot control, and special events and escorts. The only full functional department that utilizes the entire traffic fleet for escorts in the nation. No other metropolitan city utilizes all its motor bikes for escorts but SFPD. The entire 85 man unit is based at the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant Street. Unlike most cities (which are tentatively smaller), they patrol as solo officers (hence the name SOLOS). They can frequently be seen throughout the city.The bulk of the unit is composed of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and a sub-division exists that is composed of Honda dirt bikes (which is under the command of the Tactical Unit and not the same as Traffic), for city patrol and patrol in and around the area of Golden Gate Park. Otherwise, every one of the 10 main police stations in the city have 2 motorcycles under their command, used for patrol around their districts exclusively. [edit] Areo DivisionThe SFPD "Areo" Squadron was at its peak in the mid-1970s, with helicopter and small plane flights rivaling the amount of frequency of the Los Angeles Police Department. After several accidents (one of which a helicopter crashed in Lake Merced, killing Officer Charles Logasa in 1971) and complaints about the "Eye In The Sky" program, the unit was disbanded. The helicopter unit was featured prominently in the first Dirty Harry film, identifying a sniper on a roof top before committing a murder. The unit was reactivated in the late-1990s, but after another fatal crash (which killed two SFPD officers, Kirk Bradley Brookbush and James Francis Dougherty) the Areo unit was put into an "inactive" status indefinitely. In times where it needs air support, the SFPD contacts the California Highway Patrol who has a downtown San Francisco air base. [edit] Police AcademyThe original San Francisco Police Academy was built in 1895 and was located on the West End adjacent to Golden Gate Park. The building, no longer in use, had the facilities to accommodate 25 trainees. In the 1960s, the San Francisco Police Academy Complex was built in the virtual center of the city in between the scenic hill range surrounding Twin Peaks, San Francisco, California and Glen Canyon Park. It is surrounded by a heavily wooded forest area and is near a shopping mall and apartment complex. As of recently (2008), there are three academy classes in session annually, with applicants beginning in January and the Academy taking place for 31 to 32 weeks, year round. The Presidio of San Francisco at the Northern tip of the peninsula, (located underneath the Golden Gate Bridge) is the location of the "proving grounds," where recruits periodically and toward the end of the academy spend time doing an entire 10-hour shift answering calls and dealing with mock situations in and around the massive former military complex. Pier 94 is also used for vehicle training exercises and mock police car chases, and Lake Merced is the location of the Academy's firing range. The Academy has been the subject of debates within San Francisco City Government, and as of December 2008, due to funding cuts by Mayor Gavin Newsom, two of the three academy classes have been effectively canceled.  [edit] Hall of JusticeThe San Francisco Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St. serves as the head court and all court and county jail facilities for the city and county, as well as "Southern Station" and operational headquarters of the SFPD, Headquarters of the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, and as of 2003 the San Francisco Headquarters of the California Highway Patrol. The motorcycle division is quartered here, as well as the rest of the traffic division (Parking enforcement officers and such) and the garage for the dozens of unused police vehicles (various vans, trucks, and cars that are not used on a daily basis, also housed here is the San Francisco Police Mobile command center). [edit] Uniform
[edit] StationsThe SFPD currently has 10 main police stations throughout the city in addition to a number of police substations. Metro Division:
Golden Gate Division:
Sub Station and Special Division
[edit] Fallen officersSince the establishment of the San Francisco Police Department, 99 officers have died in the line of duty. [15] The cause of deaths are as follows:
[edit] Demographics
 The diversity of the department has increased significantly since 1972, when only 150 of the department's 2000 officers were of a non-white background.[19] [edit] SFPD chiefs of policeSource: [20]
[edit] The SFPD in popular mediaThe SFPD has been portrayed in films such as Metro, Bullitt and the Dirty Harry film series as well as television series such as Trauma,The Streets of San Francisco, Ironside, Nash Bridges, and Monk. The Dirty Harry film series is known for shaping the popular view of the department, with a hard nose stance on crime and often using "cowboy" tactics (shoot first, stakeouts, and preemptive raids). [edit] ControversiesThe SFPD has been frequently met with criticism, unavoidable due to problems of accountability and corruption that plagued the department early in its inception. In 1937, an investigation by District Attorney Matthew Brady found that more than $1 million per year was being pocketed by the officer class from regular payoffs by prostitution, gambling and other criminal interests. It has also dealt with attacks such as the Preparedness Day Bombing in 1916 and the San Francisco Police Department Park Station bombing in the 1960's by leftist radicals. Recent examples of controversy include police shootings, the reaction to Critical Mass bicycle rides and protests in the Financial District against U.S. foreign policy. Surprisingly the rate of complaints against officers and "excessive force" cases are lower relative to other big-city departments, such as the LAPD, the NYPD, or CPD. Nevertheless, the city retains one of the highest complaint rates; particularly when analyzed on a per-capita basis, factoring in the relatively small population of San Francisco compared to Los Angeles or New York. Notable incidents and events include the Golden Dragon massacre, a deadly shooting between Chinese gang members in the city's Chinatown district, and the 101 California Street shootings in 1993. Further information: List of events in the history of the San Francisco Police Department [edit] Trivia
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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