San Francisco, CA
San Francisco reports lowest crime rate in more than 20 years
SF Mayor Breed touts lower crime rate in final full day in office
San Francisco Mayor London Breed touts a crime rate at a more than 20 year low as she prepares to leave office.
SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco’s outgoing mayor is touting a drop in crime on her last full day in office. As the city prepares to transition from one mayor to another, crime is front and center.
The latest data shows crime is on the decline in San Francisco. The mayor and chief of police said property crime is down 31% from 2023, and violent crime is down 14%.
On her final full day in office, Mayor London Breed said it’s the result of hard work on several fronts. The mayor said a strong district attorney, new state and local laws and the adoption of new technology, have all contributed to the lowest crime rate since 2001.
“We have what we need to be a successful city and I feel strongly and proud that I laid the groundwork for what happened in 2024,” said Mayor Breed. “It’s only going to get better.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy watchdog in the digital and technological space, warned that “There is no magic “tipping point” the SFPD can hit in which more and more surveillance will suddenly be the primary reason for safer streets—the opposite is true. The more surveillance there is, the more vulnerable communities will feel the negative impacts of heavy-handed policing.”
San Francisco’s Police Chief Bill Scott said a focused approach to catching and convicting repeat offenders and adopting new technology played roles in reducing the crime rate. “Once we got that equipment in our arsenal of tools, drones and helicopters, they became even more effective,” said Chief Scott. “We’re seeing more arrests, we’re seeing more arrests on people that are prolific.”
The latest data comes as the city prepares for a new mayor to lead the city. Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie met with officers in Chinatown to listen to their concerns. He acknowledged the decrease in crime, but said there is still work to be done. “It’s incredibly hopeful,” said Lurie. “We have to continue to do our work. I’ve commended them on those crime stats going down, want to continue to see improvements there.”
Specifically, the mayor-elect said he wanted to see increased focus on the fentanyl epidemic and maintain the focus on public safety and said he will share more details on his plans on Wednesday.
San Francisco, CA
Video: Mountain Lion Spotted in San Francisco
new video loaded: Mountain Lion Spotted in San Francisco
transcript
transcript
Mountain Lion Spotted in San Francisco
Residents were shocked to see a young mountain lion roaming the streets of San Francisco this week. Local animal control agencies were able to capture and tranquilize it on Tuesday.
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Swear to God, am I tripping? There’s a mountain lion. What is that? I can see it. Oh my God. What the. Dude!
By Cynthia Silva
January 27, 2026
San Francisco, CA
Animal control locates mountain lion in San Francisco
A young mountain lion that was spotted Monday night in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood has been located, city officials said.
Around 6:20 a.m. Tuesday, city officials said San Francisco Animal Care and Control found the mountain lion and that they are working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage the situation. No injuries were reported.
A biologist is on their way to the scene, with the plan to tranquilize the animal and move it to a suitable location, officials said.
The mountain lion was first reported Monday night after being seen near Octavia Street and Pacific Avenue, according to an alert from the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
Animal Care and Control officials said experts believe the animal is about a year old. It had also been seen earlier Monday morning near Lafayette Park, just a few blocks from the later sighting.
City officials said the mountain lion was likely lost and may have been trying to move south out of the city.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Unified educators nearing final days for vote on whether to strike
After months of back and forth between educators and the San Francisco school district, Georgie Gibbs is ready to strike.
“But every year we have to figure out what staffing we’re going to have at our school, and every year there’s less money to staff our site, and that’s hard,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs is an elementary school teacher and a member of the United Educators of San Francisco, a union for school staff. Since March, they’ve requested higher wages, stable health insurance, and more support for special education teachers.
“At our site, we have special day classes which are self-contained, special education classrooms, and those, one of our classrooms has not had a full-time teacher for a whole entire year in three years,” Gibbs said.
In their latest offer in January, the district proposed the following three-year stabilization plan.
The district proposed a path to fully funded family health benefits, a 6 percent raise over three years, along with addressing staffing shortages for special education. The union rejected it.
- Identifying a fiscal pathway for the District to fully fund family health benefits
- 6% raise over three years (2% each year for next three years)
- Salary rate augmentations for hard-to-staff special education paraeducators
- Solutions to address special education workload with a focused pilot program
Union president Cassandra Curiel says members are casting their final round of votes for a strike.
“The district hasn’t changed their position since May of 2025. That is an untenable condition for us to be in,” Curiel said.
If both groups don’t come to an agreement, the union’s more than 6,000 members will strike for the first time in nearly 50 years.
“Being in our schools is the place we want to be, but working for San Francisco Unified can be complicated at best,” Curiel said.
Officials say the district is planning for more budget cuts in the next school year, which plays a role in negotiations.
A spokesperson for the district wrote:
“We know many of you are closely following the ongoing negotiations between our district and United Educators of San Francisco (UESF).
We are disappointed to share that we did not reach an agreement with UESF after today’s fact-finding session (part of the formal bargaining process). SFUSD remains committed to negotiating in good faith with our labor partners and to reaching an agreement that honors our educators while also balancing the need to be fiscally responsible.
Our goal is to have a stable district. We want to reach an agreement that supports our valued educators. However, we must also be able to afford the agreement long-term so that we can continue serving students now and in the future.”
Havah Kelley told CBS News Bay Area that her son, who has a learning disability, was transferred outside of the district because there aren’t enough special needs teachers.
“Especially since COVID, the high teacher turnover, the shortages, and just a myriad of other reasons, he was not getting the services that he needed,” Kelley said.
That experience makes her feel a strike is necessary, but she knows there would be real-life consequences.
“It would be ideal if we could avoid a strike. That’s a definite, and I’m not going to say otherwise,” Kelly said. “Any type of disruption, for our kids, we have almost immediate regression.”
Union members are holding their final vote to authorize a strike. If the majority votes yes, it is likely SFUSD educators will strike for the first time since 1979. The last day to vote is Jan. 28.
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