Although San Francisco voters in 2020 decidedly passed Prop. D to create independent sheriff oversight bodies, the mayor’s modest proposed budget for those groups could prevent them from getting off the ground for years to come.
Mayor London Breed’s budget proposal, released on May 31, provides for just $1.4 million for both the Office of Inspector General and the sheriff oversight board, about 20 percent lower than last year’s budget, with more than half of that total going to other departments. The limited funding for the next two fiscal years was blamed on “anticipated vacancies” as the inspector general’s office is being created, leading to something of a catch-22: The lack of sufficient funding would prevent vacancies from being filled in the next two years.
Sheriff oversight board member Jayson Wechter called the delay in building up the office “very disturbing,” and said it shouldn’t take six years to establish the oversight that voters called for.
“I am shocked and outraged that the mayor’s budget stymies the will of the voters, who clearly stated in the 2020 election that they wanted independent oversight of the Sheriff’s Department by an Office of Inspector General,” Wechter said.
It took nearly two years after Prop. D passed for city leaders to even form the civilian oversight board Wechter sits on. That body hired Terry Wiley, the city’s first inspector general, to investigate misconduct within the Sheriff’s Department in January 2024, more than a year later. Wiley, in turn, is expected to hire a team to investigate in-custody deaths and complaints of misconduct. The office would also make policy recommendations and conduct audits.
But Breed’s budget proposal only allots funds for Wiley’s position and that of the oversight board’s secretary. No additional funding was set aside for investigators or other staff, even though the city charter calls for an investigator for every 100 sworn sheriff’s deputies, meaning at least six.
The sheriff oversight board president, Julie Soo, said that in light of troubles and limited resources within the Sheriff’s Department, she remains hopeful that the Board of Supervisors or the mayor will consider “add-backs” to the budget for the Office of Inspector General, allowing it to hire two investigators and an office assistant, far less than what the charter mandates.
“If [the Office of Inspector General] prevented just one or two lawsuits,” Soo said, referring to misconduct cases, “we will have paid for the staffing.” A Mission Local analysis found that, between 2010 and 2023, San Francisco paid some $70 million to settle cases of alleged law enforcement misconduct — millions of that total for claims against deputies.
The Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Appropriations Committee will hear a final appeal from Wiley and several other city departments on Friday. In his budget request earlier this year, Wiley proposed a $2.5 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year, some $1.1 million higher than what his office currently stands to receive.
“The voters pushed for this oversight, and it has never been completely funded,” wrote Supervisor Shamann Walton, who spearheaded independent oversight of the Sheriff’s department in 2020, in a text message. “We now have an Inspector General, and the resources to support investigations and the administrative work is necessary to follow through with this voter mandate.”
More than half of the budget for sheriff oversight appears to be funneled toward other departments, like the Department of Police Accountability, which investigates complaints of police misconduct, to continue handling certain sheriff complaints.
“No administrative support staff makes the inspector general completely dependent on DPA for almost all of its functions,” Wechter said. “And that’s not what the voters wanted.”
Under its agreement with the Sheriff’s Department, the Department of Police Accountability only investigates the most egregious claims of misconduct, such as sexual misconduct, bias and retaliation, or uses of force that cause injury. Lower-level misconduct claims see no outside oversight; those cases are investigated only by the sheriff’s internal affairs division.
While the mayor’s budget relies on the Department of Police Accountability to handle the inspector general’s core functions, it states that “in the upcoming fiscal years” the office will come to operate “consistently with its charter, community values, and best practices.”
The budget is only the latest in a years-long struggle for independent sheriff’s oversight in San Francisco.
Wechter said he was concerned that, without sufficient funding for the office, Wiley may abandon the inspector general role.
Wiley, who is also running uncontested for an Alameda County judgeship, has refused to commit to the inspector general job long-term, suggesting that budgetary issues are the reason.
If Wiley leaves, the hiring process would begin again. It was a year-long process for the city to hire Wiley, its first inspector general.
“I take every opportunity to beg for money, short of putting out a tin cup,” joked Soo at the oversight body’s last meeting. “It’s all of our jobs, as well, to say that we can’t do our best job when we don’t have any resources.”
Breed has shown over and over that she only cares about deep-pocketed donors. The more money you have, the better she listens.