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Origially posted by sf.gov<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n San\u00a0Francisco, CA\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Today\u00a0Mayor London N. Breed<\/span>\u00a0joined members of the Board of Supervisors and City officials to announce an expansion of community ambassadors and civilian police department personnel to help improve public safety in San\u00a0Francisco.<\/p>\n In total, the expansion will add up to 150 new ambassadors and attendants, which are expected to be a mix of Mid-Market\/Tenderloin Safety Ambassadors, orange jacketed SF Welcome Ambassadors, BART service attendants, and SFPD Community Ambassadors, which are retired police officers that serve in a supportive role to offer an added layer of safety. The new Ambassador and attendant deployment will expand coverage in and around the Downtown area, including at BART and Muni Metro Stations and city operated parking garages, as well as in city neighborhoods, including the Mission.<\/p>\n As part of\u00a0Mayor Breed<\/span>\u2019s plans to ramp up public safety efforts to aid the City\u2019s economic recovery, ambassadors have already been deployed in the Mid-Market and Tenderloin, Downtown and tourist areas. Currently, the City has allocated funding for over 250 ambassadors.<\/p>\n The expansion will phase in as hiring and deployment allows, with the first ambassadors and transit station attendants expected to be deployed within the next six weeks.<\/p>\n “We are working every day to improve safety in this City,\u201d said\u00a0Mayor London Breed<\/span>.\u00a0\u201cSan\u00a0Francisco has a significant police staffing shortage, so we need to be more creative in ways that deliver a positive and welcoming experience on our street and while also ensuring our sworn officers can do their jobs. By deploying more ambassadors and hiring more staff who can do support work for our officers out in the field, we can better respond to residents, workers, and visitors who want our city to be cleaner and safer.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the expansion of ambassadors and attendants, the Mayor\u2019s Plan calls for a significant expansion of SFPD Police Service Aides (PSAs), which are civilian positions that provide supportive duties to police officers, but do not hold peace officer powers such as carrying a firearm. PSAs allow sworn officers to focus on responding to calls for services, investigating crimes, and conducting community policing efforts like walking foot beats.<\/p>\n “The SFPD\u00a0is committed to public safety. Our public safety\u00a0commitment goes beyond enforcing laws and making arrests. It also means creative solutions\u00a0that most effectively and efficiently reduce community harms while\u00a0engaging with, and\u00a0building\u00a0relationships with, our diverse communities,\u201d said\u00a0Police Chief Bill Scott. \u201cThe ambassador program is a great example of how we have taken community input and collaborated with\u00a0Mayor Breed<\/span>\u00a0to implement innovative, non-traditional policing solutions\u00a0and strategies to enhance the safety of San\u00a0Francisco and reduce community harms. While ambassadors are not meant to replace sworn police officers, they act as a force multiplier to enhance the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of the sworn police resources we do have.\u201d<\/p>\n The increased presence at BART and Muni Metro stations is a part of a long partnership between the City, SFMTA and BART, which includes the commitment in providing the safest ridership experience as riders make key transfers between the two system\u2019s stations.<\/p>\n BART has a successful model of contracting with restroom and elevator attendants to provide a welcoming environment for transit riders. BART began using elevator attendants in 2018 and restroom attendants earlier this year, with data showcasing the effectiveness of staff presence in keeping areas clean and free of unwanted behavior. This plan funds additional attendants for downtown San\u00a0Francisco transit stations to provide a presence during all operating hours.<\/p>\n \u201cThese extra attendants will help welcome families, workers, tourists, and all types of riders as they arrive downtown,\u201d said\u00a0BART General Manager Bob Powers.\u201cHaving a dedicated attendant to welcome riders and chat with families while they wait for a train will boost our visible presence and enhance our team approach to connecting people in need with public services. More attendants will allow BART safety staff such as our police officers, Transit Ambassadors, and Crisis Intervention Specialist to focus on their work walking trains and stations responding to calls for service and the needs of vulnerable populations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike our regional transit partners and city agencies, safety is also our top priority and we look forward to this bold expansion of more community ambassadors and public safety presence deployed at some of the city\u2019s most busy and visited areas,\u201d said\u00a0Jeffrey Tumlin, Director of Transportation. \u201cThis new expansion will enhance the public safety for all San Franciscans and visitors to feel safer while walking on our city\u2019s streets, parking at our garages and traveling through the various shared Muni and BART transit platforms and stations.\u201d<\/p>\n The San\u00a0Francisco Department of Emergency Management will plan and coordinate activities and deployments of ambassadors. Deployments are expected to be dynamic based on need, pedestrian traffic, and community feedback. Ambassadors are part of a citywide network of resources focused on connecting people to services and promoting healthy street conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunity ambassadors have demonstrated that they are helpful in keeping streets welcoming and accessible,\u201d said\u00a0Mary Ellen Carroll, Executive Director, San\u00a0Francisco Department of Emergency Management.\u00a0\u201cSan\u00a0Francisco intends to utilize ambassadors in concert with public safety and street crisis resources to promote healthy and safe streets for all who live, work or visit our City.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are excited to expand the ambassador program \u2013 vital in providing a visible presence and point of contact for people and visitors navigating our downtown and core, and in supporting our employees as they return to the office,\u201d said\u00a0Kate Sofis, Executive Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.\u00a0\u201cAs San\u00a0Francisco\u2019s shopping and dining scene picks up and with the many public activations coming online, we want people to have a warm and welcoming experience wherever they go in our beautiful city.\u201d<\/p>\n These initiatives will help to benefit San\u00a0Francisco\u2019s economic recovery both by supporting Downtown and tourist areas, as well as the City\u2019s neighborhood corridors.<\/p>\n \u201cVisitors from around the country and the world are flocking to San\u00a0Francisco\u2019s amazing destinations, and this is yet another step the City is taking to welcome visitors to an enhanced experience in this incredible City,\u201d said\u00a0District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin,who represents the neighborhoods of Chinatown, North Beach, Fisherman\u2019s Wharf and Downtown.<\/p>\n \u201cDistrict 6 residents have been demanding for more safety protocols and I applaud\u00a0Mayor Breed<\/span>\u2019s decision to increase the presence of community and safety ambassadors during this unprecedented time of staffing shortages,\u201d said\u00a0District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey.\u00a0\u201cBy bringing on these new ambassadors, the City\u2019s police officers will be able to better respond to crimes and our high-traffic and frequently visited locations will have an added layer of public safety.\u00a0I look forward to seeing the positive change these workers will bring to our communities and hope we can continue to hire more so that all of San\u00a0Francisco\u2019s neighborhoods can benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n “San\u00a0Francisco is experiencing a dire police staffing shortage at a time of increasing public concern about safety,\u201d said\u00a0District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. \u201cIt will take years to build back the police department need, but in the meantime the Mayor and her team are to be commended for finding creative ways to get more officers out into the field and more eyes on the street.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cConditions in the Mission have been unacceptable for quite some time. We have been working to restore a healthy atmosphere in the neighborhood while working hard not to further punish people for being poor,\u201d said\u00a0District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen.\u00a0\u201cStriking this right balance isn\u2019t always easy. I believe community ambassadors will help us accomplish both goals and am so excited we will shortly have dozens of ambassadors walking the streets to help people feel safe and restore some vibrancy to the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI support the investment in creative and innovative ways to keep communities safe and better served, such as the Community Ambassadors\u00a0and Police Service Aides. They\u00a0can provide merchants and the public the sense of safety and welcoming environment that will support community and economic activities that this season brings. Our neighborhood commercial corridors in District 7 need this kind of support as they recover from the last couple of years,\u201d said\u00a0District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar.<\/p>\n \u201cHere in the heart of the city, Union Square, we understand that there are many pieces of the puzzle when it comes to ensuring a successful recovery, post COVID,\u201d said\u00a0Marisa Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Union Square Alliance. \u201cThe Mayor\u2019s efforts to support the Tourism Ambassadors, Police Ambassadors, and Urban Alchemy serve San\u00a0Francisco\u2019s collective goal to create a healthy and safe downtown for everyone to enjoy, which in turn will allow our entire city to thrive for years to come.\u00a0 We are better when we work together.\u201d<\/p>\n Plan includes increase in street ambassadors throughout Downtown and neighborhoods, additional attendant presence in transit stations, and civilian police personnel to free up Police Officers Origially posted by sf.gov San\u00a0Francisco, CA\u00a0\u2013 Today\u00a0Mayor London N. Breed\u00a0joined members of the Board of Supervisors and City officials to announce an expansion of community ambassadors and civilian police department …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2415"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2421,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2415\/revisions\/2421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.blockbyblock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Picture1-300x300.jpg\")
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