Salesforce CEO demands San Francisco 'refund the police' as violent crime rises

(The Center Square) - Salesforce CEO and founder Marc Benioff, whose company has a $240 billion market value, demanded San Francisco “refund the police” after the consolidated city-county’s police commission ordered the end of “pretext stops.”

“San Francisco must refund the police not continue to defund the police,” said Benioff on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our police need to be empowered now — not this new terrible decision to end pretext stops.”

Pretext stops are when an officer legally pulls someone over for a minor infraction with suspicion there is involvement in other crime. Opponents have called pretext stops racist, noting people of color are more likely to be pulled over for a pretext stop.

“This policy will help prevent police from needlessly stopping people under the guise of traffic enforcement,” said Yoel Haile, director of the Criminal Justice Program at the ACLU of Northern California, in a statement. “This is not only a discriminatory tactic that has disproportionately targeted People of Color, it’s dangerous.”

San Francisco’s police commission is appointed by the San Francisco city mayor and the County Board of Supervisors.

Police Commission Vice President Max Carter-Oberstone said the move was to redirect law enforcement resources to better improve safety, but Benioff seems to think otherwise.

“This policy will allow us to reinvest our resources into strategies that actually keep us safe,” said Carter-Oberstone in a statement.

“All laws must be fully enforced. Police must be fully funded. The [District Attorney’s] office must prosecute to the fullest level of the law,” Benioff continued.

In San Francisco, overall violent crime increased in 2023 to 5,559 cases, compared to 5,323 in 2022. However, all violent crimes decreased except for robbery, which rose from 2,371 in 2022 to 2,738 in 2023. Every category of property theft except for theft of motor vehicles declined, with vehicle theft rising from 6,282 in 2022 to 6,704 in 2022.

It’s unclear whether the decline in other property crime categories is from actual declines in crime, or from underreporting; while businesses can see higher insurance rates or lose insurance coverage completely if they report too many thefts, individuals must report car thefts to receive car insurance payouts.

Benioff concluded by calling for San Francisco to adopt a community policing model, which would be more labor-intensive, requiring more police officers, but is determined to be highly effective by federal research and is endorsed by the California Democratic Party.

“Police officers need to be enabled to protect assigned districts and rewarded & measured for their effectiveness. Metrics for effectiveness need to be clearly defined and transparent,” said Benioff. “Let’s institute a Neighborhood Policing model in San Francisco, safety District by District.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins both face serious challengers in the November election. While Jenkins ran on being tougher on crime than her predecessor Chesa Boudin, who was recalled due to dissatisfaction over his lax criminal prosecution, Breed was elected as a moderate but has since taken crime and homelessness positions more closely associated with conservatives.