LGBTQs discuss wishes for new SF police chief

With San Francisco Police Chief William Scott announcing his resignation last week, LGBTQ stakeholders have some ideas of what they’d like to see in a new leader for the department. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie made the announcement May 7 at a hastily called news conference. 

The mayor said that he’ll be replaced on an interim basis by Paul Yep, a former police commander who is currently the city’s public safety czar.

Community stakeholders are already discussing what they want in a new permanent chief, with an emphasis on staffing and a continued commitment to the city’s diverse population. 

In the selection of a new chief, gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey – who before then-mayor London Breed appointed him to the Board of Supervisors in 2022 was the SFPD’s head of communications and worked under Scott – told the Bay Area Reporter that, “The top priority for our new police chief must be to fully fund SFPD.” 

Dorsey pointed out that the department has had a staffing shortage in recent years. While Proposition E recommends 2,074 officers, the total number of all city sworn officers is 1,728, of whom 1,466 are full-duty officers, according to statistics cited by Dorsey.

“We can’t afford to postpone fully staffing our public safety agencies any longer,” Dorsey stated, saying he wants a fully-funded force in “the next three years – four tops.”

“We simply can’t sustain this level of short-staffing,” he continued. “The overtime alone is killing us.”

Lurie announced his Rebuilding the Ranks plan May 13, saying he wants to do just that. The plan “outlines short-term actions to ease the burden on the current officer ranks and long-term strategies to build a sustainable pipeline of qualified officers,” according to a news release. 

The plan includes streamlining the hiring process in coordination with the Department of Human Resources to minimize administrative steps and eliminate bottlenecks, partnering with the private sector for outreach to potential new recruits, further collaboration between the police and sheriff’s departments, and finding ways to encourage lateral hiring from other law enforcement agencies. 

Greg Carey, a gay man who is chair of Castro Community on Patrol, also had some thoughts about the next chief.

“We hope the next chief is as responsive to the safety needs of all neighborhoods and groups representing various racial, ethnic, religious and sexual communities,” he stated.

The most recent meeting of the Castro Merchants Association on May 2 was focused largely on safety issues in the LGBTQ neighborhood, where police are ramping up a presence. President Nate Bourg, a gay man, told the B.A.R. that, “I’d like to see a police chief who can restore SFPD to full strength, improve street conditions and low-level crime, and prioritize safety in a way that changes both reality and perception. Any act of violence in the Castro is one too many.”

Andrea Aiello, a lesbian who is executive director of the Castro Community Benefit District, sees a lot of those street conditions in her day-to-day work. The CBD has community ambassadors – a grant for which is under threat of being cut – who maintain a presence in the area. Asked what she wants in a new chief, Aiello told the B.A.R. that, “I would like to see a police chief who prioritizes community policing.”

“Studies have repeatedly shown that when police officers know the merchants, residents, and those who might cause trouble in a community, they are the most effective and efficient,” Aiello stated. “Regular beat cops in a neighborhood is the best way to build trusting relationships between all parties, which makes us safer.”

Those officers walk the beat during the daylight hours, a practice Scott defended in a phone interview with the B.A.R. two weeks ago, saying it was based on research. 

“The waking hours most people are out … even in the Castro, where there’s a thriving nightlife, the daytime, is the swing watch hours of 12 to 8 [p.m.], 11 [a.m. to 7 [p.m.], those are the hours when most people are out,” Scott had said. 

Asked if the Castro could benefit from officers at night, Aiello stated, “Absolutely. All the bad stuff seems to happen between 2 to 4 a.m.”

The San Francisco Police Commission will vet potential new chiefs and send a list of three finalists to Lurie, who has the final decision.

Scott to build out new LA agency
Scott has another job lined up. He has been tapped to lead the new, in-house Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority public safety department. LA Metro’s board of directors approved its creation last June; once he starts this June, Scott will have until 2029 to bring it online.

“This is an incredible opportunity at this point in my career,” Scott stated in an LA Metro news release.

"How many people can say they have built a public safety operation from the very beginning?" Scott asked. "I’m honored to be back in L.A., but even more honored to have this chance to lead this next chapter for LA Metro. Together, we have an opportunity to create something that reflects the values of this region, supports our frontline teams and earns the trust of the public we serve."

Lurie said that there would be a smooth transition.

“Over roughly the next six weeks, Chief Scott and I will work closely to ensure a close transition that allows the great work of the department to continue,” Lurie said. “In the coming days, we will work with the police commission to kick off the search for a new permanent chief. I won’t get ahead of their work but I have full confidence that we will find a leader who shares their values and commitment to public safety.”

Scott first became chief in January 2017, appointed by the late then-mayor Ed Lee. He had previously served as a longtime deputy chief with the Los Angeles Police Department. Scott recalled that when he was chosen, the department had just been placed under oversight by the state Department of Justice to help it implement 272 reforms recommended by the federal Department of Justice. This followed a series of controversial officer-involved shootings, including that of Mario Woods in 2015 (the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability found that there’d been unnecessary force in that case), among others, and reports officers exchanged racist and homophobic text messages.

At the height of the police reform movement, Scott was hired to build bridges.

“The mission was clear,” Scott said. “He [Lee] wanted the department to enter a new era of policing and had called upon me to lead the department to do just that. The city had just agreed to engage in an ambitious collaborative reform initiative with the United States Department of Justice that included implementing 272 recommendations.”

In January, the state Justice Department ended its oversight after finding the SFPD was in “substantial compliance.”

Scott has been San Francisco’s longest-serving chief in decades; interim former mayor Mark Farrell and then Breed kept him on during their administrations. After Lurie was sworn in January 8, speculation began that he wanted a new police chief.

In Scott’s eight years at the helm, the focus of public conversation shifted from reform to increased demands for police presence, particularly after the COVID pandemic lockdowns in 2020. This led not only to the ouster of former district attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022, but also to Lurie’s election last year.

“We accomplished what we set out to do, and made the department better and helped this great city to become safer in the process,” Scott said.

The city oversaw the lowest homicide rate in over 60 years last year, and that trend is continuing this year, and gun violence “has been reduced by approximately 50% in the southeast part of our city where gun violence is the most prevalent," Scott said.

Lurie said Scott had helped bring city departments together in the shared goal of fighting crime.

“The collaboration between our public departments has never been stronger thanks to the partnership between the police department, fire department, the Department of Emergency Management, the sheriff’s office, and the district attorney’s office,” Lurie said. “Chief Scott has been a valuable partner in forging this culture, and we look forward to carrying it on.”

Indeed, Scott called District Attorney Brooke Jenkins his “partner in crime-fighting.”

Jenkins, who was appointed in 2022 after Boudin was recalled, and subsequently elected and reelected in her own right, stated, "Chief Scott’s departure is an overwhelming loss to our city. … We have worked together closely for the last three years in the trenches, doing everything we can to turn this city around. Working together, we achieved historic crime reductions, which did not happen overnight but came as a result of years of partnership and hard work between our agencies.”

Gay Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman stated Scott "never lost his cool nor his commitment to implementing meaningful reform" despite "a period of unprecedented turbulence for policing in the United States and locally."

"Just yesterday, the Board of Supervisors held a hearing to review the substantial progress the department has made on its Collaborative Reform Initiative, even as we have seen significant decreases in crime in the city and a renewed departmental commitment to making our public spaces safe and usable for all residents and visitors," Mandelman stated May 7. "San Francisco has been fortunate to have Bill Scott leading SFPD during a uniquely challenging time. I wish him the very, very best in his future endeavors."

Carey stated to the B.A.R. his thanks for Scott’s tenure.

“Shortly after Chief Scott was sworn in, the city and especially the LGBTQ+ community was threatened with an armed invasion by Patriot Prayer, a white suprematist group from Washington state,” Carey recalled. “He brought several of the SFPD’s highest ranking officers together to meet with Castro Patrol at the new police headquarters building on Third Street and worked with us and other threatened groups to develop a defensive strategy. By the time they arrived on August 27, thousands of San Francisco residents gathered in the Castro and other neighborhoods to show resistance to the threat with the help of SFPD. 

“We have worked frequently with Chief Scott to help keep the queer community safe,” Carey added. “His participation in the September 2024 Hate Crime workshop displayed his true passion for protecting those targeted by hate threats and violence.”

As his remarks ended at the news conference, Scott teared up and thanked his wife. Born in Alabama and a longtime veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, Scott said when the job opportunity came up, she reminded him he’d always wanted to live in the City by the Bay.

Yep installed as interim chief
Yep returned to the SFPD May 12 to begin working side by side with Scott. Yep has been the mayor’s chief of public safety since January, when Lurie restructured the mayor’s office to have four policy chiefs. (The other three areas are housing and economic development; infrastructure, climate and mobility; and public health and wellbeing.)

Yep, born and raised in San Francisco and a former SFPD commander, has in the past served as the commanding officer for Richmond, Central and Northern stations, and the staff services division.

Lurie did not say who would be replacing Yep as his public safety chief.

Yep said of Scott, “I can personally testify to the strength of his character and the depth of his dedication to his department.”

“I have always worked to build bridges between law enforcement and our communities,” Yep continued. “My north star has always been the safety of our neighborhoods. That remains true as I step into this role.”

The San Francisco Standard reported January 6 that Yep was abruptly reassigned from central station to an internal police headquarters job after he was accused in a San Mateo County civil lawsuit of driving under the influence in a city-owned vehicle, rear-ending a car in Burlingame, and attempting to intimidate another motorist. The case ended in a settlement in 2020. The department claimed Yep was moved due to a “periodical rotation among district captains,” and denied it was for disciplinary reasons. This was not addressed at the May 7 City Hall announcement.

Yep said that it’s an “honor to serve as interim police chief at such an exciting time for this department and for this city,” and that his goal will be to implement “Lurie’s vision for a safe and thriving city.”

District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton recognized Scott for his tenure at the April 15 Board of Supervisors meeting.

Walton honored Scott “for his extraordinary service, courageous leadership, and unwavering commitment to building a safer, more just San Francisco,” a news release from his office stated.

“I want to thank Chief Scott for his service to our city and for staying committed to the hard work of reform,” stated Walton. “Even when the national conversation shifted, Chief Scott remained focused on building a department that is more accountable to the people it serves. That work isn’t finished, but it matters that we’ve made progress—and that he's helped lay the foundation.”