Police Chief Takes Pay Cut on Day 1

Greg Suhr's waiver of cost-of-living adjustment seen as symbolic gesture
By: Shoshana Walter

On his first full day as San Francisco police chief, Greg Suhr took a pay cut. 

Suhr told police commissioners that he plans to give back his cost-of-living raise, which would have pushed his $285,000 salary as police chief past $300,000, according to Police Commission President Thomas Mazzucco. Suhr is reducing his pay by at least 5 percent. 

Mazzucco said Suhr decided to make the gesture as a symbolic show of support for wage concessions — instead of layoffs — a move that some officers appear to support following the popular former captain's appointment.

In his first hours as police chief, Suhr is clearly employing symbolism to signify change. As one of his first moves, he removed the lock that his predecessor, George Gascón, had installed on the door of the chief's office on the fifth floor of the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street.

While Mayor Ed Lee and police commissioners say they did not select Suhr for his help getting concessions from the police rank and file, Lee must close the city's $300 million budget gap.

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Suhr's appointment has shifted the mood inside the San Francisco Police Department around budget negotiations, according to officers and union officials. The San Francisco Police Officers Association previously said it would not agree to more concessions. After the police department told Lee that it would trim only 8 percent of the requested 10 percent from the department's budget, the mayor threatened to lay off 100 officers, according to Kevin Martin, the union's vice president.

On Thursday, Martin appeared caught off guard by news that Suhr gave up some of his pay but called the gesture “fabulous.” He said the association and its members want to avoid layoffs at all costs.

“That's working through example. If he's willing to do that, that's certainly taking a leadership role,” Martin said. “With Greg Suhr at the helm, people might be a little more willing to play well with the city.”

Suhr could not be reached for comment on why he agreed to give up some of his pay. In an interview after his swearing in Wednesday, he signaled that the department is prepared to make sacrifices.

"When economy has been good, we've benefited from it," he said. "Now that the economy has gone the other way, the officers are willing to go back to do whatever needs to be done to keep the city safe. I'm sure there's going to have to be some adjustments."

Matthew Balzarini, an officer at the Bayview station, where Suhr served as captain, agreed that there is widespread concern about the impending cuts but that officers are coming to realize that sacrifices are necessary.

“I think we're all distraught over the whole thing, but everyone understands the climate we're in right now,” Balzarini said. “We know that things have to change.”

Mazzucco said Suhr's appointment has made the prospect of concessions more palatable.

“When you have somebody who has the respect of the rank and file, if he walks into a station and goes, 'We have to feel a little of the pain too. I'm not gonna take a pay raise,' if Greg Suhr says that, the rank and file are going to follow through.”

Martin said the police union has not yet scheduled a time to meet with the mayor to officially begin negotiations. Suhr met with Lee after the swearing-in ceremony Wednesday to discuss ways to reduce the department's budget. Suhr is consulting various constituencies within the department as he assesses how to trim the command staff and other areas. 

According to police officials, Suhr has also indicated he plans to continue some of Gascón's initiatives. Under Gascón, district stations were given Internet access, and officers began filling out reports on computers. Gascón's hope was to eventually host the reports in a searchable database. However, the infrastructure for a database still does not exist, and an unintentional consequence witnessed by Suhr in the Bayview was that officers regularly left the field to fill out reports, even for minor incidents and crimes.

“You had 10 or 12 cops sitting at a computer terminal even for minor incidents. I think, especially in high-crime areas, to take that many cops off the street is a mistake,” said commissioner Jim Hammer. “I think for more serious crimes, that's a good idea. On much more minor crimes, I'd rather see an officer sit out in restaurant or coffee shop or patrol car.”

Suhr also intends to take a more visible role in officer discipline. Current rules require that when a chief imposes discipline of more than 10 days on an officer, that officer must appear before the Police Commission, giving the officer the opportunity to dispute the charges and the disciplinary action. That process has created a backlog of cases and can take months.

New rules passed at a Police Commission meeting Wednesday require an in-person meeting between the officer, a police commissioner and the chief or a designee within 15 days of charges filed. Suhr, unless he is out of town, has pledged to attend every meeting. 

“With someone like Suhr in place, I think this effectively can give the chief the chance to engage much more actively with the discipline process early on,” Hammer said. “They'll listen, they'll trust him. They know he's going to be fair. He's one of them. How are they gonna say you don't know what you're talking about?"

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Jim Hammer was running for district attorney. We regret the error.