Petrelis Files

$22K for SFPD to Cover SF Giants Opening Day, But . . .

Earlier this month, I asked the San Francisco Police Department how many officers they assigned to cover the SF Giants opening game in April and was informed the number was more than 30 cops, but no price tag was disclosed. Follow up requests were sent to the department, producing more deets from three staffers in the legal division:

"1. You requested 'Names of all officers or personnel, their divisions or bureaus, assigned to the ball park and their duties that day.'

"As to the remaining number of officers and officer names, SFPD declines to disclose that information pursuant to Cal. Govt. Code § 6254(f).

"The number of officers and the names of the officers are considered intelligence information and security procedures, which if disclosed would compromise security and officer safety. These documents are records of security procedures compiled by SFPD for law enforcement purposes.

"As to your request for their duties, SFPD officers provided security at the ballpark.

"2. You requested 'Cost of total police time and expenses for SFPD coverage at the game.'"

"Cost total: $22,620.34"

That quite a few pretty pennies. The answers raised new concerns for me. Since the owners of the Giants have a few bucks in the bank, I wondered if they picked up that $22,600 tab. SFPD said:

"1) You requested, 'Was the City reimbursed by the SF Giants for the expenses listed or did taxpayers pick up the tab?"

"The SF Giants paid $15,287.83 to the City for SFPD services at the game.

"2) You requested, 'Why were so many cops pulled off their regular duties on opening day, regardless of whether the team paid for the $23,000 costs or not?'

The majority of the officers assigned to the SF Giants Opening Day on April 13, 2015 were scheduled off and were working overtime paid by the SF Giants. Therefore, most of the officers were not reassigned from their “regular duties” to provide SFPD services at the event.

Hmmm, I wonder what the actual number is for that "majority". We taxpayers were left with a minor tab of $7,300 or so, which is info that needs sharing and is in keeping with my effort to expand transparency at the police department. Among the SFPD officers at the game were the CSI unit's photographer and videographer.

Thanks to a public records request, I obtained fifteen-minutes of footage and trimmed it down to a wee bit over two-minutes. Check it out: