The San Francisco Sheriff's Office (SFSO), officially the City and County of San Francisco Sheriff's Office, is the sheriff's office for the

City and County of San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. The current sheriff is

Paul Miyamoto Paul Miyamoto is an American sheriff. He is the 37th sheriff of San Francisco, the first East Asian American sheriff in California history and the second from the department to be elected into office. Early life Miyamoto is a native of San Fran ...

. The department has 850 deputized personnel and support staff. The SFSO is a separate organization from the San Francisco Police Department. However, SFSO deputies and SFPD officers have all attended a

POST Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

-mandated police academy, and are duly-sworn California peace officers. The primary function of the SFSO is to operate the system of county jails where there is an average population of 2,200 inmates, and a number of individuals on supervised release programs. The SFSO also provides security and law enforcement in the following locations in San Francisco: the civil and criminal court, City Hall, the Emergency Communications & Dispatch center, and the San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital, and several public health clinics.

History

Michael Hennessey Michael Hennessey (born c. 1948) was the longest serving Sheriff in the history of San Francisco and was the longest tenured Sheriff in the State of California. Hennessey was elected in a run-off election in December 1979 and had been reelected ...

was elected to sheriff in 1979. Hennessey retired in 2011 as the city's longest serving sheriff. He endorsed Supervisor

Ross Mirkarimi Rostam Mirkarimi (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and the former sheriff of San Francisco. Prior to being sheriff, he served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where he represented District 5. Mirkarimi is a co-founder o ...

, who was elected to sheriff in the November 2011 election. In March 2012, Mayor

Ed Lee Edwin Mah Lee (Chinese: 李孟賢; May 5, 1952 – December 12, 2017) was an American politician and attorney who served as the 43rd Mayor of San Francisco from 2011 until his death. He was the first Asian American to hold the office. Born in ...

appointed

Vicki Hennessy Vicki Hennessy was the Sheriff of San Francisco and the city's first female sheriff. She was appointed interim sheriff by Mayor Ed Lee (politician), Ed Lee pending an ethics investigation of the elected sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi, who was charged ...

as Interim Sheriff after Mirkarimi was suspended for official misconduct. With the appointment, Hennessy became the city's first female sheriff. Hennessy elected to a full term in the November 2016 election.

became the first Asian-American sheriff in California when he was elected in the 2019 election. In September 2021, Supervisor

Ahsha Safaí Ahsha Safaí (born 1973) is an American elected official in San Francisco, California. He serves as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing Supervisorial District 11. District 11 includes the neighborhoods of Excelsior, ...

introduced legislation that would allow off-duty deputies to work as security guards at private businesses during overtime hours, like the San Francisco Police Department, amidst a rise in

smash and grab A smash and grab is a particular form of burglary or looting that involves smashing a barrier, usually a display window in a shop or a showcase, grabbing valuables, and then making a quick getaway, without concern for setting off alarms or creati ...

retail theft Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...

. On December 7, 2021, the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...

voted 7–3 to approve the ordinance.

County Jails

San Francisco County operates eight jails, with approximately 55,000 people booked annually. Two of these jails are located in the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street. One of the jails is located in ward 7D/7L in

San Francisco General Hospital The Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG) is a Public hospital in San Francisco, California, under the purview of the city's Department of Public Health. It serves as the only Level I Trauma Ce ...

. Two jails are located at the San Bruno Complex, located ten miles south of San Francisco. The largest San Francisco jail complex is in an unincorporated part of

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...

between Pacifica and

San Bruno San Bruno (Spanish for " St. Bruno") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, incorporated in 1914. The population was 43,908 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is between South San Francisco and Millbrae, adjacent to Sa ...

. The San Bruno complex is home to County Jail 5, a modern direct-supervision facility which was opened in 2006. The new County Jail 5 replaced the 1934 San Bruno Jail, which had been designated County Jail 3. Before its closure in 2006, the old San Bruno jail was the oldest operating county jail west of the Mississippi River. When opened in 1934, it replaced the outdated Ingleside jails, which dated from the late 1800s, and were located on the site of today's

City College of San Francisco City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a State school#United States, public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local ...

. West of County Jail 5 is County Jail 6, which opened in 1989. The 1934 San Bruno jail closed in 2006 after the new jail opened. Demolition began in 2012. Prior to the new facility opening, the most modern San Francisco Jail was the one located near the Hall of Justice on Seventh Street. Opened in 1994, the complex is actually two jails. This main complex jail is a "''direct supervision facility

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

has become a national model for program-oriented prisoner rehabilitation.''" The second, which acts as the main intake and release facility for the city, was praised by architecture critic

Allan Temko Allan Bernard Temko (February 4, 1924 – January 25, 2006) was an architectural critic and writer based in San Francisco. History Born in New York City and raised in Weehawken, New Jersey, Temko served as a U.S. Navy officer in World War II, ...

as "a stunning victory for architectural freedom over bureaucratic stupidity." While in custody, prisoners are afforded the opportunity to attend various classes that can earn credit towards a high school diploma.

Intake & Release

* County Jail 1 (425 7th Street, near Hall of Justice, San Francisco)

Classification

* County Jail 2 (425 7th Street, San Francisco)

Housing

* County Jail 2 (425 7th Street, San Francisco) * County Jail 3 (1 Moreland Drive, San Bruno) (New state-of-the-art facility opened in 2006) * County Jail 7 (Ward 7D/7L of San Francisco General Hospital)

References

External links

San Francisco Sheriff's Office Official website

San Francisco Sheriff's Department History Online

San Francisco Sheriff's Managers & Supervisors Association

San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association

Protecting San Francisco - SFDSA Non Profit

San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs
{{Authority control Government of San Francisco Sheriffs' departments of California Law enforcement in the San Francisco Bay Area 1850 establishments in California