December 16, 2006
Gavin Vetoes Foot Patrol Legislation Part II
How much does Gavin not like all those foot patrol resolutions the Board of Supes keep throwing at him? Not very much. So much so he vetoed it again. This resolution was an add-on to the previous legislation that would have added Central and Richmond station districts to areas already covered by the new foot patrol legislation. And yes, this veto came on a late Friday afternoon, the traditional dump-off of stuff everyone knows is politically bad. Like your chief of staff leaving. We see him signing this thing while unbuttoning his blue tie to rush out the door for some more drunken make-out sessions with Jennifer.
Gavin's main bone of contention is that he thinks the police chiefs should get discretion to do what they want to do. The Board of Supes main bone of contention is they've had the discretion and it ain't working. In response, winner of SFist's Mayoral poll, Supervisor Mirkadreamy accused Gavin of playing politics to all of this, to which Gavin replied that no, Mirkarimi is the one playing politics to all of this, to which Mirkarimi accused Gavin of being a poopyhead which brought Gavin's response of "I'm rubber, you're glue, bounces off of me and sticks to you."
As always, the Supes have a chance to override the veto and considering they did last time and considering Mr. Swing Vote Bevan Dufty is no longer getting along with the Mayor, expect this sucker to get over-ridden too.


Sorry, but I have to side with Gavin and the PD on this one - how often do those two agree? Foot patrols look good on paper, but they're just one of those populist concepts that achieve nothing but a fake sense of security. They're inefficient in the neighborhoods where police presence is most needed.
That doesn't mean the status quo is any better, but foot patrols in SF just aren't a good idea.
However foot patrols are effective. One good example that on Thanksgiving day there was a shooting at Jones and Turk and the perps where caught because there was two officers on foot patrol.
foot patrols do work in new york, boston, chicago; what the sfpd and mayor newsreel don't comprehend is making the police accountable to neighborhood needs.