San Francisco’s Police Chief is Stepping Down

Updated 3:16 p.m. Wednesday

One of San Francisco’s longest-serving police chiefs is stepping down from the job, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced Wednesday morning.

Bill Scott, who has led the police force for more than eight years, will depart after assisting in a six-week transition and search for a replacement. He is moving to the newly formed Los Angeles Metro Transit Community Public Safety Department, Mission Local reports. Paul Yep will serve as interim chief beginning next week.

“On behalf of the city, I want to thank you, Chief Scott, for your steady leadership, your commitment to reform, and your dedicated service to the people of San Francisco,” Lurie said, announcing the news at City Hall.

Scott was selected to lead the department in 2016, after two years riled by a series of high-profile police shootings, including the death of Mario Woods and increased community scrutiny. Then-Mayor Ed Lee tapped Scott to undertake reforms and transform the department into a “21st Century police force,” he said at the time.

Scott, who also led the department throughout Mayor London Breed’s time in office, came to the Bay Area after 27 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he had most recently served as deputy chief. He arrived in San Francisco planning to make changes within the department — similar to reforms he spearheaded in Los Angeles — but his tenure has been tumultuous.

Throughout the pandemic and the rise of the fentanyl crisis, Scott was blamed in part for increasing overdose deaths and public drug use, as well as rising car break-ins and property crime.

“Chief Scott, by all accounts, is an honorable and hardworking police chief, but he was not a very effective police chief. Under his watch, the productivity and the efficacy of our police department continued to decline,” said veteran San Francisco political consultant Eric Jaye. “We have, at this point, one of the least productive police forces in California, if not America. And that was happening before he arrived, but that accelerated under his leadership.”

Dissatisfaction with the department and city leadership culminated in the 2022 recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin — and was a key factor in Breed’s failed 2024 mayoral reelection bid.

However, over the last year, San Francisco has seen a dramatic drop in crime, and just this January, the department announced that it had completed an eight-year-long reform process in collaboration with the Department of Justice. In 2016, SFPD began a review of its practices following the series of police shootings and intensifying dissatisfaction, and throughout Scott’s tenure, it has worked with the DOJ to implement more than 270 recommended reforms.

“The accomplishments demonstrate that the SFPD can be a national model for policing in the 21st century, showing that reform efforts build community trust, which improves public safety,” the department announced in January.

San Francisco’s chapter of the NAACP acknowledged Scott led the department through difficult times, including protests following the killing of George Floyd, and thanked him for his service to the community.

“Chief Scott served our city with distinction, compassion, and consistency,” Jonathan Butler, NAACP San Francisco Branch President, said in a statement. “Importantly, Chief Scott consistently demonstrated his commitment to the work of the NAACP San Francisco Branch — participating in many of our meetings and showing up as a partner in our shared pursuit of justice and equity.”

Despite efforts to reform, the city’s over-policing of Black residents, including disproportionate pretextual stops, persisted under Scott, said James Taylor, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco.

“Chief Scott largely came in response to the Mario Woods movement, and it is significant that he was in the position during Mayor London Breed’s administration if, for nothing else, the symbolic importance that he represented as an African-American chief of police,” Taylor said. “But having a Black person as the head of SFPD did absolutely nothing to curtail the disproportionate minority contact SFPD has, and it’s worse than any police department in the state of California on police stops.”

The San Francisco Police Officers’ Association and Scott have also clashed at times over certain policing policies, like avoiding seating handcuffed suspects on the ground. But in a statement on Wednesday, the group thanked him for his service.

“While we may not have always agreed on issues, we valued and respected each other’s roles,” said SFPOA President Tracy McCray. “We always believed that each of us was doing what we felt was best for public safety and best for our officers, and that we were committed to hiring and retaining the best officers for the SFPD. We wish him well.”

Lurie said that Scott will aid him in a six-week transition as he selects a new chief, who will be chosen from a list of options proposed by the citizen Police Commission.

“I am committed to building a leadership team in SFPD that builds on our early progress, strengthens and deepens the ranks of our officers and command staff, and uses all the tools available to continue our comeback,” Lurie said. “And I look forward to working with the Commission, the Board of Supervisors, our officers, and communities across the city to do just that.”

Throughout the selection process, Paul Yep, who has been serving as City Hall’s public safety czar for the last four months, will return to SFPD as interim chief. He previously served in the department for 28 years, including as captain of Central Station, overseeing parts of Chinatown and the city’s downtown.

Yep resigned from his post as captain in 2018, shortly after a civil lawsuit alleged he rear-ended someone in Burlingame while driving under the influence in a city-owned vehicle and used his position to intimidate the other motorist. In court filings, Yep vehemently denied the allegations.

In 2024, Yep, who grew up in San Francisco and now lives in San Mateo, campaigned alongside Lurie and has become a close ally to the mayor.

While Yep is serving as interim chief, Lurie said on Wednesday, “at City Hall, we have an experienced, capable team that will continue the work Paul has been doing” as policy chief.