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Does the City Really Want the Best of the Best in the SFPD? It certainly does not appear to be the case

February 1, 2018
Tony Montoya - SFPOA President

The POA and the City share a common goal of significantly increasing the number of cops in our Department. But based on the proposals put forward at the bargaining table for a new MOU, it appears that only the POA is committed to reaching that goal.

The POA has hired the top salary comparability expert in the country, Will Aitchison. As our profession remains under attack by detractors, most of whom seek cheap political points rather than solutions, qualified candidate applications are plummeting nationwide. The City seems to think that any live body will do to police our streets. We disagree. The most diverse, cutting-edge and eccentric big city in America needs the best and the brightest policing our streets, like most other major cities. That has led to some major increases for police officers who are trying to hire from this dwindling pool. Our brothers and sisters in San Jose POA saw a 20% increase; in San Diego a 30% increase; and in Sacramento a near 40% increase.

Will Aitchison estimates that we have fallen about 6% behind comparable Bay Area cities in our compensation. We need to attract the best cops, and we’ve made a salary proposal commensurate with that. We have also sought to make multiple quality of life proposals, designed to allow our increasingly youthful department to raise families and be involved in the community.

The City’s approach has been the polar opposite. They have loaded our POA negotiators with takeaways. Take a look at just a few of the anti-labor proposals put forward by the city:

Don’t get injured. In a move from the playbook of former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, the city will take away your premiums if you get injured in the line of duty.

Don’t stay healthy. The City wants to dramatically cut back on our longstanding Physical Fitness Program and end our Wellness Program.

Don’t try to get time off. The City wants to gut your scheduled watch off, and give SFPD even more latitude than they already have to call you back to work outside of your regular work hours.

Reduce the number of hours that qualify for overtime. If you take a vacation day, even if it was granted, and the City orders you into work within the same pay period, the extra work will be at straight time.

Limit your ability to work 10B if you take any type of leave in that period.

Don’t let the POA meet with its members. Like something North Korean Kim Jong Un might impose, the Department does not want the POA addressing members at line-up. Is the Department that afraid of what the POA says?

Bargaining is both a collaborative and adversary process. But the City seems to have lost track of the former and become inebriated in the latter. It is also sending a message that it does not value you or what you do, despite the platitudes we hear from certain elected and appointed officials. We will work at the table on educating the City about why quality of life issues are importance for cops, too.

The City just lost one of its chief negotiators to another Bay Area municipal employer, lured, no doubt, by significantly better pay and working conditions. Cities like Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, and San Diego have recognized the value and the importance of maintaining and recruiting the best of the best for their law enforcement agencies is critical for overall public safety. Those cities have demonstrated, through contract negotiations, their appreciation for the men and women who protect their communities. The City that “knows how” seems to have forgotten that.

Without some drastic changes in proposals from the City, the SFPD is poised to not only have a tremendous recruiting and retention problem, in the very near future, but there potentially could be a huge number of active members seeking early retirement by June 30th, of this year, rather than face these draconian working conditions.

SFPD officers love doing this job but there appears to be no love or appreciation coming from our employer, the City and County of San Francisco. Our residents and visitors deserve the best and the brightest in this honorable profession. Why can’t the City see that?