Tracy McCray - SFPOA President

Well, it happened again, another establishment refused service to an officer in uniform. I guess wanting a cup of coffee while working your shift in uniform is just too much for people. You would think if that were the company policy that the establishment would have the guts to post it so everyone can see it. Simply put it out there that you refuse service to any uniformed armed law enforcement officer that comes into your establishment so that we can spend our money elsewhere.

Often, people that I know and many that I don’t know personally, send all kinds of information to me. Some of this communication is in the form of a funny text, meme, video, or tweet from social media. Full disclosure, I have no social media accounts, none in my name or a fake name. We have a public relations firm that handles our social media accounts for the SFPOA. I coordinate with them on things to push out and of course I have final approval on all official communications that are sent by the SFPOA.

As many people know, the end of June is the end of the City’s fiscal year. While most people are making plans to celebrate our country’s birthday, those of us at the SFPOA office are watching to see how many officers are saying their goodbyes to the Department.

“The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them knows anything about the subject.”
— Marcus Aurelius

Last month our new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was approved by a 10-1 vote from the Board of Supervisors. Active and retired members had been following this contract drama as it played out in the media, the local newspapers, and videos of the board meetings that had been held to discuss the contract up to the vote on it. There were many back and forth discussions whether this contract could help to keep our current officers here in the City and attract new recruits.

By now, everyone has seen the videos from the Board of Supervisors’ supplemental budget hearing. In what for some was a complete about face, they implored Chief Scott to send officers to their districts and to value lives over Versace and Louis Vuitton purses, so that the people in their districts can feel safe walking down the street and not get shot, robbed, or assaulted.

This month’s lead article is written by Sean Perdomo, who served the POA in many capacities from starting as a defense representative to being our treasurer. I am honored for him to write this month’s President’s column.

As I briefly wrote last month, the SFPOA and the city are involved in contract negotiations. Much like the last time we went into a negotiation for our contract in 2018, the road to getting something fair and equitable is just as hard if not harder than 2018 when the POA got an arbitration ruling. In 2018 we were battling several things. It was the beginning of our staffing issues, and the detractors of our profession began to be more vocal, even as the men and women wearing the uniform were going out everyday to do the job.

Killer robots, contracts, traffic stops, ah the list is endless when it comes to what 2023 has to offer us. For union business, there is never a shortage of “things” on our plate. From the continual meet and confer circuit, to an election for POA board positions, and even recovering from all those holiday parties! There is never any shortage of work to be done.

This year-end article is somewhat daunting for me. It feels like 2022 went by with lightning speed. As I try to remember all the things that happened during the past year, I don’t want to miss any details. It has been a very eventful year in San Francisco.