Third District City Council candidate Danny Sauter recently reaffirmed his commitment to improving public safety in San Francisco’s Chinatown, with a focus on protecting the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
Over the past weekend, Sauter publicly expressed his support for Proposal F, which aims to encourage senior police officers to extend their service for an additional five years beyond their planned retirement. This initiative is a response to the city’s significant police staffing shortage.
Currently, the San Francisco Police Department is short approximately 500 officers, with an expected 450 more set to retire in the next five years. Sauter emphasized the critical importance of Proposal F in addressing this staffing issue. “Proposal F is the right step toward solving our police personnel shortage,” he stated. “Back in March, I also supported Proposal E, which allows our police to leverage technological tools like drones and automatic license plate readers to pursue suspects.”
In addition, Sauter pledged to hold quarterly town hall meetings in the Third District to ensure ample opportunity for community feedback and discussions with central district officers. His commitment has garnered support from Matt Dorsey, the City Council member for the Sixth District, who is a strong advocate for Proposal F and improvements to police staffing.
As the election on November 5 approaches, candidate and proposal signage is widespread throughout the Chinatown business district. While some business owners expressed dissatisfaction upon seeing the flyers, others voiced their concerns in Cantonese, emphasizing the need to address public safety issues and to eliminate the $950 theft law. In response, Sauter affirmed his support for Proposition 36.
Proposition 36, known as the California Safer Communities Act, would allow for the reclassification of certain drug and theft offenses back to felony charges. Many voters view this measure as a correction to Proposition 47, which was passed in 2014 and reclassified some felony theft cases as misdemeanors.
