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Contact Us
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Recruiting:
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Information:
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(415)554-7225
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CONGRATULATIONS
RETIREES!
Sgt. Scott Erdmann
30 Years of Service
Sr. Deputy Valerie Carson
30 Years of Service
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Upcoming Events!
10/13/13 - 12:30 pm
Italian Heritage Parade
Jefferson and Stockton Streets in Fisherman's Wharf, proceeds south through North Beach on Columbus Avenue, and ends in Washington Square
10/19/13 - 11:00-4:00 pm
Potrero Hill Festival
20th St. between Wisconsin St. and Missouri St.
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WELCOME
New Sheriff's
Employee
Class 1224
Principle Payroll and Personnel Clerk
Cindy Chau
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© 2013
San Francisco
Sheriff's Department
Information Technology & Support Services
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 A Message from Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi
In this transitional season, we highlight our programs -- Changing Lives. Many paths bring people into our jails, and we try to offer many exits back out into the community. Support along the way is also crucial, that is why we increased jail visitation hours and set up an online reservation system. Recidivism is reduced one person at a time.
It is also a season of uncertainty on a national level with the federal government shutdown, and here, with the ongoing displacement of residents through evictions. Under state law, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department must carry out evictions ordered by the Court within a reasonable amount of time, while maintaining public safety. This is one of our most difficult duties. Prior to scheduling an eviction, we consider the person's medical and psychiatric condition, age, and housing needs. We dispatch the San Francisco Sheriff's Department Eviction Assistance Unit (EAU) to help facilitate services to those facing an eviction.
In 2012, we provided an estimated 2,040 referrals for assistance to those facing evictions. The EAU is staffed by one full- time deputy sheriff and the partial time of another deputy. Unfortunately, our EAU staffing is insufficient and ill-equipped to assist all of the individuals and families who have difficulty finding new housing. In our FY 2013-2014 budget we requested one full- time clinical outreach worker to enhance the EAU. Additionally, such a person would also help us address the needs of those individuals requiring mental health assistance. I will continue to pursue this position and other support for our EAU.
Our staff continues to demonstrate its superior skill and professionalism. Recently, the Special Response Team made a fine showing at the SWAT Competition. In timed events designed to challenge both individual skills and team abilities, competing against 174 participants, three deputies from our team placed in the top 20.
Further, the month of October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. As a former Supervisor and as the current Sheriff, I shall continue to strongly support the amazing work of our staff and community-based organizations that dedicate themselves to breaking the cycle of violence for both survivors and perpetrators. While anti-violence programs are a mainstay in our jails, speakers from SAGE (Standing Against Global Exploitation), Omega Boys and Girls Club, HealthRIGHT 360 and the Senior Ex-Offender Program participated in events to raise awareness about domestic violence. |
| SFSD inFocus: Community Programs - Changing Lives - Part One
Part one of a series of articles that will serve to inform and educate the public on the San Francisco Sheriff's Department - Community Programs. Look forward to the future editions where each program will be spotlighted to detail the function and role each play in our community.
This is an overview of the San Francisco Sheriff's Department Community Programs. A combination of deputy sheriffs and civilian employees work together to provide the opportunity for individuals to change their lives.
Community Programs include: No Violence Alliance (NoVA), the Women's Resource Center, Sheriff's Work Alternative Program (SWAP), Electronic Monitoring (EM) and the Warrants Service Unit (WSU).
NoVA is a voluntary program for individuals with a history of violence and incarceration. NoVA provides a variety of rehabilitation services through individual case managers.
The Women's Resource Center provides a variety of services for women in rehabilitation, including parenting services, education and art therapy.
The Sheriff's Work Alternative Program provides offenders with the ability to perform meaningful community service as a consequence of their crime. SWAP workers participate in a variety of public works, such as greening the city and graffiti abatement, and have the opportunity to participate in educational and enrichment programs such as the San Francisco Sheriff's Department Five Keys Charter High School.
Electronic Monitoring provides an alternative to incarceration. EM serves the city in allowing individuals with family and other personal commitments the opportunity for rehabilitation outside of a traditional jail while balancing the needs of public safety against the cost of incarceration.
Warrant Services employs a team of deputies who work on the streets to apprehend persons with outstanding warrants. Dressed in plainclothes, they hit the streets, walking and driving in places to keep dangerous persons off the street.
The majority of this work is conducted from the our location at 70 Oak Grove Street.
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| New Opportunities for Visiting
Sheriff Mirkarimi unveiled new visitation services to help facilitate family reunification and strengthen community connections. The Sheriff's Department is expanding visiting opportunities to improve visitation rates which have been among the lowest of the other Bay Area counties.
 As of September 17, 2013, additional visiting opportunities are now available to family and friends who have loved ones housed at the Hall of Justice. Expanded visiting hours are provided on Tuesday evenings at County Jail #3 and Thursday evenings at County Jail #4. The additional visiting hours will help to accommodate the needs of families and their wide-ranging schedules. Visits are thirty minutes in duration.
Effective immediately, family and friends of those incarcerated at County Jail #5, which is located in
San Bruno, are able to utilize an online visiting registration service. Users are now able to register online from the comfort of their homes without waiting to get through the often busy telephone registration system or standing in inclement weather waiting to visit on a first-come first-served basis. Visitors may register and schedule visits from their smartphones or computers at their convenience.
Sheriff Mirkarimi stated, "Family support is crucial to successful reintegration into the community,
and a well-documented counter-weight to the pull of recidivism. This is a major leap into the present for
customer service - the days of a lone deputy answering a phone to take reservations are done."
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Department Places Well in Best in the West Competition
In September of 2013, members of our Department's Special Response Team participated in the 2013 Best in the West SWAT Competition hosted by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office. The Special Response Team competed with 27 other tactical teams in timed events designed to challenge both individual skills and team abilities on physical strength and firearms proficiency. This year's events were as follows: Sniper Course, Teams Assault, Vehicle Assault, Two Person Assault Course, Combined Weapons Course, and the Jungle Trail.
Senior Deputy Choi gave an outstanding performance, placing first as a sniper and third overall on individual scores. Out of a total of 174 participants, three from our team placed in the top 20. The SRT has participated in the competition since 2004, and has ranked as high as 6th in the past.
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| Training at City Hall
In September 2013, Carla Johnson, director of the Mayor's Office on Disability, trained the City Hall Security Unit on the protocols of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), focusing on evacuation and communication.
Ms. Johnson explained that ADA etiquette is a very important part of the evacuation process. Deputies were instructed on how to communicate with a person with a disability. Ms. Johnson emphasized the importance of clearly explaining to any person in a wheelchair the need to evacuate, to ask their permission to evacuate them through the use of a stair chair, and to maintain continued communication during the evacuation process.
 Ms. Johnson instructed the City Hall Security staff on the operation of the evacuation chair basics. Evacuation chairs are used to evacuate individuals who are confined to wheelchairs and find themselves on any floor but the ground floor. Ms. Johnson explained that evacuation chairs can be used by emergency responders to safely evacuate people who have mobility limitations. The motorized chair allows the occupant to sit upright while the platform goes down the stairs. It took some practice, but the City Hall deputies were able to operate the new chair successfully. |
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Sheriff's Civil Unit
The mission of the Civil Unit in the Sheriff's Department Field Operations Division is to assist the public in a variety of civil procedures. The Civil Unit serves levies on behalf of creditors and administers the collected funds which satisfy money judgments. The Civil Unit also provides or coordinates due process alternatives to debtors whose debts may be modified or terminated as a result of the levies.
Civil personnel serve a variety of legal documents including, but not limited to, summonses, complaints, petitions, criminal and civil subpoenas, bench warrants, divorce papers, small claims documents and all forms
of legal notifications which the public may need or want delivered to parties requiring proofs of service or due diligences.
The Civil Unit serves temporary restraining orders (TROs), orders after hearing (restraining orders) and related documents, which protect plaintiffs against harm and provide due process to defendants. Domestic TROs sometimes have a move-out order attached, which the Civil Unit will enforce. Civil Unit staff post eviction notices and carry out evictions.
If it is determined that an evictee may need help finding suitable shelter or if there are other medical, familial or other social services needs, the Eviction Assistance Unit provides the evictee with resources.
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