Free Republic

The San Francisco Police Department is running far short of its mandated force strength, and Chief Heather Fong said Wednesday she wants the city to hire 250 recruits a year for the next three years to shore up the dwindling ranks. Police officials say the department has a total of 2,190 sworn officers but only 1,707 are available for field duty -- 264 short of the 1,971 that city voters set as a minimum in 1994. The officers unavailable for field duty are either still in the academy undergoing recruit training, assigned to the airport or on disability. "It's critical...

Chief Heather Fong has put the weight of the San Francisco Police Department's leadership behind a rank-and-file push to force District Attorney Kamala Harris to change her mind and seek the death penalty in the killing of a police officer. Fong, named full-time chief by Mayor Gavin Newsom last week, raised tensions between police and the district attorney to a new high late Monday when she sent a memo to the department labeling the April 10 killing of Officer Isaac Espinoza as a "blatant attack on our system of law" that merits the death penalty. "We, the command staff of...