SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed introduced a proposal to allocate $27.6 million to help fund police overtime due to staffing shortages.

Additionally, Mayor Breed proposed $200,000 be allocated to the District Attorney’s Office for three extra prosecutors to focus on open-air drug dealing.

“We have been working hard to address serious public safety challenges in San Francisco, but we need our officers out on the street,” said Mayor Breed. “We need officers responding to break-ins, breaking up the open-air drug dealing in the Tenderloin, and addressing the shootings and violent crimes in our neighborhoods. This funding is essential for keeping our City safe.”  

Not only will the funding help ensure work gets done to help keep San Francisco safe, it will also prevent mandated service cuts and a hiring freeze, according to a news release. If the budget supplemental does not pass, officials said the city will be forced to implement an overtime and hiring freeze through June.

The San Francisco Police Department reported a 121 percent increase in police overtime year over year due to staffing shortages, increased police presence in areas like Union Square, the Tenderloin and Downtown to investigate drug dealing and illegal use, gun violence, homicides and violent crime throughout the city. Additionally, with more officers at retirement age, the police department has had to use overtime to fill the gaps, according to the release.

“The SFPD–and police agencies nationwide–are facing a staffing crisis that does not relieve us of our duty to protect the people of San Francisco,” said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott in the news release. “While the Department actively plans for long-term hiring solutions, overtime is a necessary short-term intervention that will better meet calls for service workload demands, and the multifaceted service needs of public safety in our city.”

KRON On is streaming live news now

Local leaders say a clean and safe San Francisco is essential for not only resident safety, but the city’s economic recovery and growth.

The Budget Funding Supplemental will go before the Budget Committee of the Board of Supervisors, after which it would head to the full Board of Supervisors for a vote.