San Francisco's mayor says he has a new plan for increasing public safety and revitalizing the city.
Mayor Daniel Lurie on Thursday unveiled the San Francisco Police Department Hospitality Task Force.
The task force has a specific mission: make downtown safer and help kick-start the economy.
"Downtown's public safety challenges have hurt our economy, our businesses and our workers," Lurie said. "It has also hurt the morale of our city."
But Lurie said the city is ready to turn the page and reinvent itself. The task force will add officers and patrols to hotel, tourism and shopping corridors. It will also add direct contact with businesses to better shape the effort.
"It will take multiple district stations who will come together to do their work collaboratively," police Chief Bill Scott said.
Scott said problems won’t disappear overnight, but he expects everyone to see a noticeable difference.
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"Better coordination, more resources," he said. "You will see more visibility, the ability to problem solve effectively because they’re not assigned to radio calls."
Scott said the city already has some of the lowest crime stats police have seen in a decade. Now they want to build on the momentum.
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