SAN FRANCISCO—Mayor Daniel Lurie announced in a press conference on May 7 that Police Chief William “Bill” Scott is leaving the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) in June “to pursue a new opportunity” after eight years serving in the role.
Scott’s tenure at the SFPD has covered three mayors and one interim mayor and is the longest since Thomas J. Cahill served as chief from 1958 to 1970. Scott oversaw major policing reforms and led the department through tides of crime, including car break-ins peaking in 2017 and increased shoplifting following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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 at the press conference.
Scott said at the conference, “Never in my wildest dreams when I told my wife in 1987, shortly after we were married, that I wanted to live in San Francisco, could I have imagined that we would get here by me becoming the chief of police of this great department in this great city. ... But some things are just meant to be.”
The resignation came at a time when the city’s crime rate is historically low.
According to Scott, the homicide rate in 2024 was the lowest in 60 years, and gun violence has been reduced by approximately 50 percent from previous years in the southeast part of San Francisco.
Property crime, which has challenged San Francisco for decades, is at a 20-year low and continues to fall, he said. Auto burglaries, which peaked in 2017 at more than 31,000 car break-ins, were reduced to less than 10,000 last year and continue to decline even more this year, Scott said.
“Those accomplishments and more occurred while we reduced uses of forces dramatically over the last eight years, cut officer-involved shootings approximately in half, and our officer-involved shooting presentations, which I believe is one of the most consistent and transparent processes in this country, has made us more transparent and increased trust with communities that we serve,” Scott said.
“There’s no question that our city continues to get safer,” Lurie said in the press conference.
Scott will become chief of a newly established Metro Transit Community Public Safety Department in Los Angeles County, where he served for 27 years in the police department before being appointed police chief of San Francisco.
Lurie’s public safety czar, former police commander Paul Yep, has been appointed interim chief, and he will return to the police department on May 12 to work with Scott and the leadership team to prepare for the transition.
The search for the next SFPD leader will be initiated by the Police Commission in the coming days, Lurie said.
“I have full confidence that we will find a leader who shares our values and commitment to public safety,” Lurie said. “I am committed to building a leadership team in the 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.”
Supervisor Matt Dorsey said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times on May 7: “Bill Scott has been an accomplished reformer and extraordinary leader. On the occasion of his announced retirement today, I’m incredibly grateful for his friendship and his service to our City, and I wish him the very best on his career’s next chapter.”
