Mayor Lurie Appoints Steven Betz As Chief Of Public Safety

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today appointed Steven Betz as chief of public safety, building on significant progress under Mayor Lurie’s administration, with crime falling in each major category and 25% overall in 2025. In his new role, Betz will work across the city’s public safety departments to improve coordination and continue to drive down crime—building on his work to staff the city’s public safety departments through Mayor Lurie’s Rebuilding the Ranks initiative and disrupt open-air drug markets through the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center. He has served as Mayor Lurie’s assistant chief of public safety for the last year after joining the Mayor’s Office from the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD).

In Mayor Lurie’s administration, public safety has been the city’s number one priority, and crime has dropped significantly under his leadership. In 2025, car break-ins fell 43% to 22-year lows, and homicides reached their lowest level since 1954. Mayor Lurie’s Rebuilding the Ranks plan is driving towards full police and sheriff staffing, with SFPD seeing its first staffing increase in years and graduating its largest recruit class since 2017 just this month. Staffing improvements in the city’s 911 emergency response system have driven faster response times, the administration is making San Francisco streets safer through Mayor Lurie’s Street Safety executive directive and first-in-the-state automated speed camera enforcement program.

“I’ve been clear since day one that public safety is my top priority. And Steven Betz has been a key leader in our work to keep San Franciscans safe and reduce crime by 30%,” said Mayor Lurie. “Steven has played a central role in bringing together public safety agencies to advance our shared efforts to make the city safer. I look forward to continuing to work with him to keep San Francisco safer for all of our residents and visitors.”

“I'm grateful and eager to step into this role at such a critical moment for San Francisco. After nearly a decade working inside the Police Department, I know how hard our public safety professionals work and how much they care about this city. That experience will shape how I approach this job,” said Betz. “Public safety doesn't happen in silos. Our city departments share a common mission, and I'm proud to have strong relationships across all of them. San Francisco has made real progress: Crime is down, we're bringing more officers onto the force, and we're using more effective approaches to tackle drug use. There is more work ahead, and I intend to approach it with the same rigor and commitment that has guided my career in public service.”

When he took office in January 2025, Mayor Lurie overhauled the Mayor’s Office, creating four new policy chief positions as part of a new organizational structure that fostered coordination and strengthened accountability. As chief of public safety, Betz succeeds Paul Yep who held the role before stepping in as interim SFPD chief until Mayor Lurie appointed Derrick Lew in December. Yep serves as a senior advisor to Chief Lew at SFPD.

“I look forward to continue working closely with Steven Betz to build on the progress we’ve made making San Francisco clean and safe,” said SFPD Chief Derrick Lew. “I have the utmost confidence in Steven, with whom I’ve worked closely during his time in the Mayor’s Office and at while he worked for SFPD. Together, we’ve made progress on some of the city’s biggest challenges, including violent crime, property crime and the drug crisis with our Drug Market Agency Coordination Center. Congratulations Mr. Betz!”

“Steven Betz has been a proven public safety asset for San Francisco. We have worked closely together to improve street conditions and reduce fires through education and prevention,” said San Francisco Fire Department Chief Dean Crispen. “I look forward to furthering these and other critical initiatives with him as the public safety chief.”

“Chief Betz has demonstrated his ability to serve as a strong Policy Chief for the Mayor by being an impartial and knowledgeable partner,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “Chief Betz has been open to receiving information from all sides and is committed to improving public safety for all San Franciscans while ensuring that the criminal justice system is well run, protecting the rights of victims of crime and defendants alike.”

“Steve Betz is a solution-driven leader who listens closely, understands the nuance of complex issues, and approaches every challenge with both a big-picture perspective and attention to the details,” said Sheriff Paul Miyamoto. “His commitment to public safety and hands-on leadership have been a key part of all public safety agencies working more closely together. Steve has been instrumental in bringing all city agency stakeholders together with public safety, advancing our response to the fentanyl crisis, including the development of the RESET Center.”

“Good public safety leadership means thinking beyond the crisis in front of you to the one that hasn't happened yet. Steven gets that. He has been a key partner in strengthening the city’s emergency and public safety planning, and his combined legal and operational expertise is exactly what San Francisco needs in its Chief of Public Safety,” said Mary Ellen Carroll, Department of Emergency Management Executive Director. “I look forward to continuing this work together.”

“This is great news for the city!” said Judge C. Don Clay, Police Commission President. “Steven has a wealth of knowledge, experience, and understanding of public safety to lead the Mayor's Office of Public Safety. I am confident in Steven's abilities to collaborate with our city's numerous public safety partners and our communities in helping to continue the city's mission of making San Francisco safe for all!”

Steven Betz brings more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of law and public safety to his role as Mayor Lurie’s chief of public safety. In 2025, Betz was appointed assistant chief of public safety, working to advance Mayor Lurie’s public safety priorities. He led the Rebuilding the Ranks initiative—the administration's flagship effort to restore SFPD staffing—and spearheaded strategic efforts on drug market intervention, retail theft abatement, and SFPD's firearm safe storage program.

From 2016 to 2025, he served as a staff attorney for the SFPD, where he managed and litigated internal misconduct investigations—developing deep institutional knowledge of the legal, operational, and personnel aspects of the country's premiere urban police department. He began his career as a litigator, handling complex criminal, civil, and administrative matters before focusing his practice on law enforcement.

Betz holds a law degree from U.C. College of the Law, San Francisco and a bachelor's degree in history from U.C. Santa Cruz. He is Bay Area native and a 20-year resident of San Francisco.