Southside residents are concerned that law enforcement will be less robust in their neighborhoods if newly proposed police district station boundaries are adopted. Under SFPD’s 2024 district boundary report, submitted to the San Francisco Police Commission last month, five significant changes would be made to eight police districts, including moving an area bounded by Utah and Mariposa streets from the Bayview to the Mission district.
SFPD claimed the adjustments would better balance enforcement workloads among stations and increase efficiency. The proposed map maintains Mission Bay in the Southern District, centered at the Southern Station at 1251 Third Street. Potrero Hill and Dogpatch would remain in the Bayview District, with the Bayview Station at 201 Williams Avenue.
“The detail in the report paints a sobering picture of challenges for the SFPD as it faces San Francisco’s budget shortfall,” said Margaret Keane, a South-of-Market resident. “The report reflected a shortfall of 475 officers in the patrol area, with deficits by district ranging from 20 percent to 42 percent, measured as a percentage of existing staff. Every district had a shortfall. The [2023] SFPD Staffing Analysis Report recommended 122 officers on foot beat, with only 45 foot beat officers in place as of January 2024. Filling these spots takes more than budget as the Department faces upcoming retirements and recruiting challenges abound.”
Potrero Hill residents are concerned that the plan adds territory to Bayview District, leaving merchants in Dogpatch, Potrero Hill, and along Third Street with less security. They’re worried that the revised map would intensify confusion about district boundaries, reducing coordinated SFPD response. And they’re frustrated that the proposal hasn’t received widespread community support, which could cause a backlash down the road.
The plan is dead on arrival, said Keith Goldstein, a Bayview Station Community Police Advisory Board member and Potrero Hill Dogpatch Merchant Association president.
“This was due to opposition from community groups and from the officers themselves. Increasing service areas for stations that are radically understaffed is being met with resistance,” said Goldstein.
“We’re simply hoping to keep more of the neighborhood together in a single station district. By moving the boundary a couple of blocks north to 16th and by picking up the little enclave around Mariposa and Utah, the neighborhood would get much more consistent service, despite the challenging staffing levels. The current boundaries create unnecessary confusion, as we’re split among three districts,” said J.R. Eppler, Potrero Boosters president.
“As is, we have been told repeatedly by San Francisco Police Department command staff that we are short on resources and Bayview Station continues to be chronically understaffed. In addition, our Bayview Station officers are pulled too frequently to cover sporting events in Mission Bay, festivals throughout the City and security for high end retailers in Union Square. I would be deeply concerned that we simply do not have the available resources to expand the boundaries of the Bayview Station,” said Earl Shaddix, co-founder and executive director of Economic Development on Third.
SFPD asserts that the proposed changes would balance existing resources with demand for policing. In fiscal year (FY) 2024, SFPD had approximately 2,950 full-time-equivalent (FTE) employees, slightly more than the 2,888 in the previous year, but a considerable decline from the roughly 3,233 FTEs in FY 2020.
Over the last 10 years, the population of the southeastern neighborhoods has substantially increased, with elevated criminal activity directed at commercial businesses. SFPD considered these factors and existing station facilities capabilities in developing its plan. The Department believes that an insufficient number of officers prompts the need for “strategic resource deployment.”
SFPD reevaluates district boundaries at least once every 10 years. The 2024 process began last fall. SFPD performed the analysis internally, working with ARCBridge, a Virginia-based contractor, to help implement specialized geographic information system software.
“ARCBridge has conducted many similar assessments across the country. This company has worked with law enforcement, the national government, and school districts,” said Maria Cownan, SFPD lead project manager of professional standards and principled policing.
SFPD’s analysis was based on real estate and population changes, as well as call volumes, incident data, and response times between 2019 and 2023. The Department collected comments from more than 50 community survey respondents, two public hearings and multiple focus groups. It developed multiple boundary options, with the goals of minimal changes, community cohesion – keeping residents of distinct communities in one police station district – and prioritizing proximity to significant needs and district stations.
The report detailed challenges SFPD district captains are facing. The Southern District handles intermittent large waves of visitors due to the area’s public event venues and new housing developments. The Bayview District sprawls across a large geographic area, with a concentration of industrial areas and the City’s highest incidence of domestic violence calls. The Mission District has numerous street events, such as Dia de los Muertos and Carnival. It serves multiple neighborhoods, including Outer Mission and Diamond Heights.
Community members called for greater resources in the Mission District and more foot patrols. They asserted that residents located on district boundary lines feel underserved. Portola residents said they had good relations with the Bayview Station.
Keane was pleased that the plan didn’t incorporate earlier proposals to substantially increase Southern District’s workload.
“I participated in a focus group for the 2024 police district border analysis and offered comments at one of the public hearings. My concern then was a proposal to move Mission and Market from Fourth to Van Ness from the Tenderloin District to the Southern District. That would have added a huge call burden to the Southern District,” said Keane.
She said the Southern District has significant crime and drug challenges. The area serves a growing residential population as well as Moscone Center, Oracle Park, Chase Center, and the University of California, San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus.
“The Mission to Market Street corridor between Fifth and Van Ness is among the worst areas in the City. Adding its call burden would have limited Southern’s ability to serve the existing district,” said Keane.
Andrew Robin, a South Beach resident, is concerned about the fall closure of Bayside Market at 120 Brannan Street.
“This market had been open for 35 years but couldn’t continue because of the high rate of theft,” said Robin.
Robin doesn’t want to see the Fourth and King streets Safeway join the Fillmore outlet in closing.
“Then we’d have a food desert in the middle of the City. After reviewing the proposed maps, I’d like to see the Southern Station take care of what it has before being handed a big chunk of Market Street. I walk around South Beach a lot and feel safe. I want to keep it that way,” said Robin.
Edward Hatter, Potrero Hill Neighborhood House executive director, said he’s worried about how the stations will be staffed. And he’s unclear why Potrero Hill wouldn’t be served by the Southern Station, which houses SFPD’s Public Safety Building and Police Headquarters and administrative offices.
“It’s bizarre that this is back up for consideration and it is still not serving Potrero Hill,” said Hatter. “In 2024, response time was not an issue for us at the Neighborhood House. I remember making a call regarding some individuals who showed up and were unwelcome. SFPD came within 15 minutes. What was a concern was the first thing that SFPD asked: “What color were the suspects?” That can change.”
“My takeaway was that [the proposed map is] pretty similar to the past boundaries. The question businesses in our area have is: when SFPD has limited resources, how does it prioritize and support businesses that are essential to the economic health of the City?” said Marisa Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer of the Union Square Alliance.
Union Square Alliance members offer more than 12,000 hotel rooms, as well as retail, theaters and museums, attracting “…visitors and residents. They are vitally important for the City’s economy,” said Rodriguez. “Union Square feels very supported by SFPD. But as we have stated in the past, we need more police officers. A higher deployment will make the area safer and encourage small businesses to open shops here.”
“The Commission and the SFPD will work together to plan and execute implementation of the new district station boundaries no later than July 2026,” said Cownan.
The Commission will accept comments on the proposal until at least the end of April, after which it’ll adopt new boundaries.
Danny Pham 
Chaitanya Tondepu