The San Francisco Police Department may not be hiring officers any time soon, but new personnel still will be joining The City’s 10 district stations.
Though the police union had originally opposed allowing civilians to investigate petty crimes and other cold cases, that opposition has now turned to support as the executive board has asked union representatives to approve the plan.
In a letter from union President Gary Delagnes to the department’s head of human resources, Alice Villa-Gomez, we learn some interesting information about the new civilian investigators:
(Q) Will FTO’s be utilized in the training of new PSA classification?
(A) Yes, the amount of time necessary to train them will be approximately 8 weeks. FTO pay will be honored.
(Q) Where will they be assigned?
(A) At each district station and they will fall under the supervision of all sergeants, lieutenants, and captains just as police officers currently do.
(Q) What patch will they wear?
(A) They will wear light blue uniforms with the patch currently worn by other PSA’s.
(Q) How will they be assigned?
(A) All district stations will most likely receive at least one and they will be available to be assigned to all watches. Will not effect seniority signup.
(Q) Will they carry mace?
(A) Yes, they will be trained and if used supervisors will deal with it as they would any other officer that utilized chemical spray.
(Q) What vehicles will they drive?
(A) They will utilize the fleet of cars currently available at each district station.
The representatives will complete their vote by March 4. If they reject the offer, the San Francisco Police Officers Association will reject the proposal and “proceed to possible ‘arbitration’ to stop it.”
