Episode 2: Public Safety

On this Episode, Richie Greenberg discusses Public Safety, unveils his plan to unequivocally support resources and funding for the SFPD police department as well as the Sheriff's Office. He will pressure members of the Police Commission to resign; he will review and work to cancel certain rules and mandates the commission has enacted, and will work to reform the Commission altogether. He supports the city's county jail and will work to build new if required.

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Transcript

EPISODE 2           

Welcome to Episode 2, of What would Richie Greenberg Do As Mayor? The Podcast.
April 7th, 2024

Quick recap: Episode 1, You were introduced to me yours truly RG, I moved here to San Francisco 22 years ago, I’ve experienced the multiple cycles, the boom-bust roller-coaster. In 2018 I ran for mayor of SF along with London Breed, Jane Kim, Mark Leno, Angela Alioto, and though I didn’t win, I remained active in political issues advocacy, ballot measures, the Chesa Boudin recall, and opposition to the Reparations Plan. If you haven't listened to episode 1, go have a listen.

So, here we are, its 2024, and campaign season is under way, with the deadline for mayoral candidates to file required forms and documents and pay filing fees is this June 11th. A few prominent names have already made themselves known, and current, incumbent mayor London Breed is running for reelection, in a tough battle, as she's polling low and exhibiting frustration that voters disapprove of her admiration.

I’ve been asked my top priorities if I were to run and win this year’s mayoral race this November.

Well, there's just so much, there's a long list of issues, and the issues vary depending on who you ask, what neighborhood.

 And my answer, though straightforward, is actually complex. I know, people just want an easy explanation, a simple, easy answer, but the reality is the issues are very intertwined, heavily influencing many aspects of city hall governance.  This podcast series will delve into the interrelated details in later episodes, But for now, what would I do as mayor? my top two priorities are: Public Safety, and the Budget.

[PAUSE]

Public Safety encompasses a range of aspects, from law enforcement, to fighting fires, emergency medical professionals, and more. Public Safety has been defined as a core of a functioning and productive society and necessary to attract and retain a competitive workforce.

I not only support our police department and the extremely hard work they do under oppressive oversight commission, I would demand restoration to the nearly 2,000 officers, along with the latest technology, vehicles, equipment. I demand resignation and removal of members of the Police Commission. I also equally support the Sheriff's department, as they are often overlooked and misunderstood, they guard city hall, the courts, the jails, and have been underfunded. 

We have lived under a radical District Attorney, Chesa Boudin from January 2020 to July 2022. He imposed a horribly anti-public safety, anti law enforcement, anti-law-abiding citizen agenda that is still showing detrimental effects today, even with him being thrown out of office nearly two years ago.  He was (or should I say still is), a horribly misguided, sick individual that should have never been anywhere near the offices of DA, and should never be permitted to control law enforcement nor our office of public safety and criminal justice - ever again. His policies decimated the police department's morale and encouraged and motivated allies of his to act against the best interests of hard-working taxpayers and law-abiding San Franciscans. That’s why we threw him out of office. But current mayor Breed, though she's often referred to as a "Moderate" democrat, acted like a leftist radical and defunded our police department in 2020 in the amount of $120 million. Breed had no reason to do this. San Francisco is not Minneapolis, and George Floyd tragedy did not occur here, and our police department is not the Minneapolis police department. She, unjustified, radically, set in motion a scapegoating of law enforcement in San Francisco, vilifying our front line in protection of life and property. Mayor Breed cannot be forgiven nor shall we forget.

 Again, I will realign funding to the SFPD and Sheriff's Departments, for hiring of personnel, training, recruiting with bonuses, academies, new technology, equipment and patrol cars. Tasers and nonlethal alternatives must be  a regular part of the equipment SFPD has available to them in any situation.

Public Safety includes being secure in our homes, when out on the street, shopping at stores, eating at restaurants, and commuting on public transportation like BART and Muni. It includes patrols, emergency services and response, as well as overall response to crimes, to fires and natural disasters. I believe the current reliance on "Community Ambassadors" has only limited application, and we need to focus much more on law enforcement. This means I would cut back on use of ambassadors.

 Criminals preying on San Franciscans are bolder, more heavily armed, more violent and we need our police officers to be able to meet this challenge.  Having more officers walking the beat or available to patrol our streets also has a benefit through traffic stops, moving violations, which directly affect street safety and other vehicles on the road, pedestrians and bicyclists.  Tents blocking sidewalks forcing pedestrians and bicyclists into the streets is a public safety issue.  We need more cops on city streets. Period. San Franciscans complain incessantly about unsafe neighborhoods and streets, so we can make a big difference by having deterrence and monitoring by actual sworn officers, police officers with real enforcement abilities, investigative and arrest powers. Not to merely observe but to enforce. And quickly. Community Ambassadors are not the answer and cannot be relied upon to deter crime.

I believe we need to ensure a jail in San Francisco exists. There is a movement to close and eliminate a jail. That movement is misguided and is completely unacceptable. We cannot pretend our city can be free of criminals and the answer is to not prosecute. It was tried and failed miserably, much to our city's detriment.  I will ensure resources, funding to jails remains. And as I said before, we need sheriff's department deputies.

 Some people have the radical idea that a bad apple in the police department means the entire concept of a police department must be disbanded and removed. This is an idiotic, revolution-minded and unserious view. We do have bad school teachers, who are exposed and disciplined. . Does this mean the entire concept of school teachers must be defunded and disbanded? When a plumber makes an error in repairing pipes, all plumbers should be banned? A dentist is found unscrupulous, do the city ban dentists? Of course, no. I will tell any activists who demand defunding and abolishing the police department they need to get a grip on how insane their view is, in the grand scheme of public safety. I will not support anarchy. [6:30 til here]

 I mentioned the Police Commission earlier. For listened who aren’t aware, a seven member panel of individuals appointed by the mayor and board of supervisors has oversight and disciplinary powers over our SFPD. There is also a Department of Police Accountability which investigates when accusations are levied against a police officer. I find the existence of the Police Commission in its current form to be extremely troubling, as their powers are overtaken by the leftist radical members of the board of supervisors which control the approval process of appointments to the police commission. Its a process that's too influenced by a radical anti-cop agenda and aligned with the ousted DA Chesa Boudin’s ideology. 

As mayor, not only would I review and address the many rules that have been placed upon the SFPD whether they are lawful under California state law, I'd have them challenged and canceled. Even further, The powers and policies of the police commission can be challenged, changed, restricted, and that's what I'd do as mayor. Anti-cop, anti-law-abiding panel of commissioners cannot continue to detrimentally affect the citizens of San Francisco as they have, just because they have a gripe with cops, or affinity to defunding of police departments mentality.  They abuse their power to the detriment of San Francisco.

 The Police Commission has bullied the San Francisco Police Department. They’ve passed jaw-droppingly ridiculous rules like not allowing police officers to pursue criminals fleeing the scene of the crime, or officers cannot pull over cars missing license plates. These are examples of what’s called "Pretextual Stops", and are at times, falsely labeled to be racially based. This is false. There are mountains of excuses the commission members make for why they oppose law enforcement, and with every detrimental decision and rule, they make our streets less safe, the job of police officer more difficult, and damage public safety, our communities, our retail shops, cafes, public transportation, and public gatherings become much less secure.

 My focus will be squarely on the reforming the Police Commission itself. In case you didn’t know, several members of the police commission are very active on social media and have regularly insult and berate law abiding citizens when criticized. These commissioners are empowered to effectively cripple our city's law enforcement. They should not be emboldened to bully, chastise, berate and insult the public.  I want that to be absolutely clear, the Police Commission is in dire need of reform.

 We must turn this around. We need to build trust, community relationships and security between our city's citizens. Our homes, our businesses, our cars, our lives, our city's shopping centers, tourism, conventions, are all affected by Breed's inconceivably terrible decision. There is no such thing as "victimless crimes". 

Summary:

 I support returning SFPD to 2,000 officers , prioritizing funding to return to the 2,000 plus updating equipment, technology patrol cars. 

I also support the San Francisco sheriff's department need to increase staffing by 50% , 300 more deputies.

I will remove members of the Police Commission, and will work to reform the commission itself. It cannot continue to operate as it does today.

I oppose the rules banning Pretextual Stop, which are falsely label as racially-motivated. 

I support continued county jail operations, renovations, and building of a new jail if warranted. 

By regaining control of the law and order in San Francisco, and only then, can we expect a slow return of retail, cafes, offices and conventions.