The Facts

The City and the police union have agreed to recruit an estimated 50 to 100 recently retired officers---working part-time without benefits and paid hourly---to staff concerts, parades, festivals, navigation centers and homeless shelters beginning this fall, reports the Chronicle.

The idea is to free up current officers for patrol and investigative duties and reduce reliance on overtime, which has been surging amid a roughly 500-officer staffing shortfall.

The Context

SFPD still faces a shortage of officers, with just 1,466 sworn officers against a 2,074 goal. Special events and dedicated patrols take officers off of normal duty and rack up expensive overtime pay.

The GrowSF Take

It's a nice idea, and we're glad it'll cut down on the massive overtime spending while freeing up police to do police work. We've heard SFPD is also working on recruitment improvements, too, and hopefully we'll have more to share on that soon.