FAQ
Why abolition?
Efforts at reform can never eliminate the basic facts that law enforcement officers are trained to see people in crisis as "threats" rather than people who need support and healing, and that the histories and structures of law enforcement continue to perpetuate racist violence in the US. We want to build an environment in the hospital where conflicts are avoided through compassionate care and meeting people's needs upfront. When conflicts do arise, we want them handled by people skilled in deescalation and trauma informed care. This can only occur if we completely abolish all forms of policing within our health systems and invest in new, visionary models of community safety.
Why now?
Although similar efforts to remove the sheriffs from SFGH have been tried in the past, we are now in an unprecedented moment. Our medical systems have proven, in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, that they can adapt and transform long-entrenched systems of practice incredibly quickly, when committed. Furthermore, we have entered a moment of widespread awareness about the harms of policing. SFGH has the opportunity to be a national leader in this growing movement by creating new safety systems that based in healing and care, not law enforcement.
What is the history?
The systems of law enforcement in the US derive from slave patrols (gangs that caught and punished enslaved people who ran away or defended their rights), protection of the property of the wealthy, and suppression of workers' rights. The SF Sheriff's Department was created in 1850 and its first Sheriff was chosen for his "reputation" (which included slaying Indigenous and Mexican people in Texas). During the Civil Rights movement and hospital integration in the 1950s and 1960s, hospitals started forming "security departments.” Undoubtedly racism and a desire for social control by the elites drove this shift. Some of these initial departments included law enforcement officers and others incorporated them over time. In. San Francisco, the SF Sheriff's Department replaced the Institutional Police as the security presence in SFGH and SFDPH in 2002.
But don't the sheriffs keep us safe?
There is no clear evidence to prove that the sheriffs' presence keeps us safer than we would be without law enforcement presence. Incidents such as the sheriff's assault on Fernando Guanill in the hospital's emergency room and the over 100 use of force cases incidents would be avoided with an alternative response system. Unarmed, plain clothes mental health or social work professionals with training in nonviolent de-escalation and restorative justice would be able to handle the vast majority of what the sheriffs do provide on a day-to-day basis, meanwhile avoiding the risk of further traumatization to our patients and staff.