San Francisco Police Department
| San Francisco Police Department | |
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| Abbreviation | SFPD |
The current patch of the San Francisco Police Department.
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Vehicle Door Decal San Francisco Police Department
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The current Officer's badge of the San Francisco Police Department.
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Commemorative Decal of the San Francisco Police Department
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| Motto |
Oro en paz, fierro en guerra Gold in peace, iron in war |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1849 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of California, USA |
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| Jurisdiction of the San Francisco Police Department, | |
| Legal jurisdiction | San Francisco, California |
| Governing body | San Francisco Police Commission |
| General nature |
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| Operational structure | |
| Overviewed by Board | San Francisco Police Commission |
| Headquarters | Police Headquarters 1245 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94158 |
| Officers | 2,108 |
| Patrol Specials | 30+ |
| Commissioners responsible |
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| Agency executive | William Scott, Chief of Police |
| Bureaus |
6
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| Divisions |
2
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| Facilities | |
| Stations | 10 |
| Airbases | 1 |
| Patrol cars | 338 |
| Boats | 5 |
| Planes | none |
| Dogs | 25+ |
| Website | |
| www |
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| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the city police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California. The department's motto is the same as that of the city and county: Oro en paz, fierro en guerra, archaic Spanish for Gold in peace, iron in war.
The SFPD should not be confused with the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, which is another, county, law enforcement agency within San Francisco. The SFPD (along with the San Francisco Fire Department and the San Francisco Sheriff's Department) serves an estimated population of 1.2 million, including the daytime-commuter population and the thousands of other tourists and visitors, in the second most densely populated large city in North America. It is the 11th largest police department in the United States.
The SFPD began operations on August 13, 1849, during the Gold Rush under the command of Captain Malachi Fallon. At the time, Chief Fallon had a force of one deputy captain, three sergeants and thirty officers.
In 1851, Albert Bernard de Russailh wrote about the nascent San Francisco police force:
As for the police, I have only one thing to say. The police force is largely made up of ex-bandits, and naturally the members are interested above all in saving their old friends from punishment. Policemen here are quite as much to be feared as the robbers; if they know you have money, they will be the first to knock you on the head. You pay them well to watch over your house, and they set it on fire. In short, I think that all the people concerned with justice or the police are in league with the criminals. The city is in a hopeless chaos, and many years must pass before order can be established. In a country where so many races are mingled, a severe and inflexible justice is desirable, which would govern with an iron hand.
On October 28, 1853, the Board of Aldermen passed Ordinance No. 466, which provided for the reorganization of the police department. Sections one and two provided as follows:
The People of the City of San Francisco do ordain as follows:
Sec. 1. The Police Department of the City of San Francisco, shall be composed of a day and night police, consisting of 56 men (including a Captain and assistant Captain), each to be recommended by at least ten tax-paying citizens.
In July 1856, the "Consolidation Act" went into effect. This act abolished the office of City Marshal and created in its stead the office of Chief of Police. The first Chief of Police elected in 1856 was James F. Curtis a former member of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance.
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Wikipedia