The Operations Bureau manages the Patrol Division / Airport / Investigations / Homeland Security of the Police Department. The Patrol Division is divided into two groups: the Metro Division and the Golden Gate Division, both supported by Operations Bureau Headquarters staff. The Metro and Golden Gate Divisions oversee the ten district stations.
Recently, the Special Operations & Security Division which previously has operated as a SFPD bureau by the same name has joined the Field Operations Bureau to better serve our community.
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Deputy Chief
John Loftus
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Message from the Deputy Chief
The suppression of crime through community policing continues to be our primary mission. The daily contact that our officers enjoy with everyone who chooses to frequent this beautiful city serves as evidence that community policing does provide a sense of security and reduce crime. It is truly my pleasure and honor to be able to work with the uniformed and non-uniformed members of the Operations Bureau in furthering the goals of this Department.
Operations Bureau Headquarters
The Headquarters staff is comprised of four night supervising Captains, one lieutenant, two sergeants, three non-sworn employees, and a police cadet. The functions of the staff cover a wide variety of tasks, and reach beyond the Police Department borders. The sergeants assists the district station event coordinators with large scale City events like the Halloween and New Year’s Eve celebrations and the San Francisco Grand Prix Bicycle Program, which are all administered through FOB. Liaisons with local and state law enforcement agencies are maintained by FOB, including the State and San Francisco Offices of Emergency Services and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Mutual Aid Coordinator. FOB staff is also tasked with preparing and maintaining overtime summaries and reports and cost of service reports for all events in the City requiring police services.
Fugitive Recovery Enforcement Team (F.R.E.T.)
F.R.E.T. focuses on the apprehension of fugitives from justice. They work closely with local, state, and federal agencies tracking down parolees at large, fugitives from other jurisdictions, and those wanted on outstanding warrants. Their actions serve to bring to justice those who may otherwise “slip through the cracks” in the Criminal Justice System.
Homeland Security Unit
The Homeland Security Unit (previously operated as a SFPD bureau by the same name) was created in response to the need for heightened security for our nation. The main purpose of this division is to enhance existing law enforcement efforts with the goal of achieving normalcy during these times of heightened alert. The HSU networks extensively with other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies as well as other public and private organizations. By strengthening our coordinating, planning and training efforts, we thereby enhance our services to the community.
Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving
San Francisco began its program of community policing in the Mission District in October 1989. It started with six officers walking five beats. The program quickly grew and achieved rapid success. So much so that what started as a one-district operation has evolved into Department-wide policing philosophy. It is now the policy of the San Francisco Police Department to establish Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) as an integral part of district station policing.
COPPS is a policing strategy that assists station personnel in helping to prevent crime and to maintain order, and fulfills the Department’s commitment to help solve neighborhood problems while providing a highly visible presence in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Community policing involves interaction between police officers and the citizens who work and live in the neighborhood. It is an organizational strategy that allows the police and community residents to work closely together in new ways to help solve the problems of crime and neighborhood decay. Police officers become managers of their beats and are encouraged to engage in responsible, creative ways to make the community safer and more attractive.
The procedures for implementing and managing COPPS have been outlined in two Department manuals, Community Policing and Problem Solving and Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving Training Manual.
Youth Related SFPD Services/Programs:
Police Activity League (P.A.L.)
The Police Activity League offers after school and summer athletic programs to give youth an alternative to gang/street life. P.A.L. organizes sporting events so youth can learn team work and sportsmanship.
Police Cadet Program
Graffiti Abatement Program
The Graffiti Abatement Program oversees the Juvenile Alternative Work Service/JAWS, in which youth offenders caught doing graffiti repair the harm to their community by painting out graffiti throughout the city, under the supervision of SFPD officers.
SF Police Youth Fishing Program
Truancy Assistance & Resource Center/T.A.R.C.
44 Gough Street
415-437-1700
SFPD has joined with the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), Department of Children, Youth and their Familes (DCYF) and community based organizations in an effort to reduce truancy in San Francisco.
T.A.R.C. is commited to restoring the path to gradutation by coordinating truancy intervention, providing counseling and referrals an improving academic outcomes.
School Resource Officer Program
SRO’s are community police officers within specific schools who work to build trusting relationships with youth, school staff and the community to create safer schools.
As of fall of 2009, SRO's are no longer centralized under YSU. SRO's are currently assigned to the police districts in which their schools are located. Each district now directly manages their SRO's, allowing for effective use of neighborhood team policing where SRO's may efficiently tap those resources at their station to address juvenile issues.
Wilderness Program
The Wilderness Program offers backpacking, day hikes, kayaking to school aged youth supervised by SFPD officers. It is designed to develop the skills of leadership, communication and teamwork, as it builds self-confidence, self-respect, and understanding of participating youths abilities and possibilities.
Y outh S ervices U nit/YSU
YSU provides support to SRO's, acting as a liaison to the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), facilitating monthly city-wide SRO meetings and providing information as requested.
YSU also participates in SFUSD's Student Attendance Review Board/SARB, Safe School Task Force and Stay-in-School-Coalition; YSU manages youth related partnership grants and provides operational input to the newly formed Truancy Assessment Resource Center/TARC, a collaborative venture of SFUSD, YMCA/ Urban Services, SFPD and the Mayor's Office/Department of Children Youth & Their Families
An independent command within the Field Operations Bureau, the Traffic Company, or Company K as it is sometimes referred to, is responsible for traffic enforcement throughout the City. Company K is charged with three main missions:
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Investigation of injury traffic accidents
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Enforcement of laws and ordinances (moving violations) designed to reduce accidents
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Handling traffic-related issues at special events, including dignitary escorts, major parades, demonstrations, large athletics events and selected
The Traffic Company is comprised of the following components:
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Enforcement and Investigation
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Traffic Administration
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Serious Traffic Offender Program (STOP)
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Training and Maintenance Unit
