SFPD Chief Bill Scott announces resignation

Police Chief Bill Scott is resigning after eight years. Paul Yep, who serves as Mayor Lurie's Chief of Public Safety, will serve as the interim police chief. The Police Commission will now begin the process to find a new chief.

The Facts

Police Chief Bill Scott announced on Wednesday that he will resign after more than eight years in charge of the San Francisco Police Department. Over the next six weeks he will transition the role of Police Chief to the new interim chief, Paul Yep, who currently serves as Mayor Lurie's Chief of Public Safety.

Now the search for a new chief begins. Unlike most other cities, however, the Mayor does not get to pick the new chief. Instead, that responsibility falls to the Police Commission, which is made up of seven members - four picked by the Mayor and three by the Board of Supervisors, though all seats are confirmed or rejected by the Board.

The Context

Scott was hired in 2017 by Mayor Ed Lee after the police shooting of Mario Woods and the resignation of his predecessor, Greg Suhr. Over his tenure, Scott oversaw significant reforms—including body cameras and use-of-force policy updates—while also facing criticism for the department’s declining arrest rate and rising street disorder.

Opinions are mixed on Scott's handling of the George Floyd protests in 2020. The city saw little violence, but plenty of property destruction, and Scott was criticized for not doing enough to protect businesses. And Scott has never explained the cratering of traffic enforcement, which neared just one ticket per day in 2021 and 2022.

The process for picking a new police chief is unusual in San Francisco. Instead of the Mayor getting to pick the chief, as one would expect for a so-called "strong mayor" system, the Police Commission is actually responsible for the selection. The commission is made up of seven members, four of whom are nominated by the Mayor and confirmed by the Board of Supervisors, and three appointed directly by the Board of Supervisors. In effect, this gives the Board of Supervisors control over the selection of the new chief. Luckily, though, the Board of Supervisors has flipped to a pro-safety majority as of the November 2024 election, and has helped reshape the Police Commission to be more pro-safety as well.

The Police Commission is required to present three or more names for a new police chief to the Mayor, who can then confirm one of those candidates.

The GrowSF Take

We've been sometimes critical and sometimes supportive of Chief Scott's tenure. He has made some good changes to the department, but he also stood by while police stopped doing their jobs in protest of Chesa Boudin and let the traffic division stop enforcing any traffic laws. We deserve a police chief who holds cops to a high standard of performance and accountability. We hope the Police Commission finds a highly competent candidate who can restore the department's effectiveness.