Why do we need to strengthen, improve and rehabilitate district police stations?

Some police stations are nearly a century old – built during a time when police officers patrolled the streets on horseback and with wagons – and many upgrades are more than 25 years old. There is an urgency to make improvements to police facilities to bolster their resiliency in the event of an earthquake. Most don't meet current seismic codes for an essential public safety facility. 

Many of our neighborhood fire stations are in need of seismic upgrades and other health and safety improvements. It is critical that our first responders are housed in healthy, safe, and seismically sound facilities – thus providing essential emergency response services to people who need them during times of crisis.

The Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond Program is seismically retrofitting and making other necessary health and safety improvements to ensure that selected stations are fully functional after a major earthquake.

In June 2014, San Francisco voters approved a $400 million Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response bond – the second phase of the ESER Bond Program.

Why do we need to strengthen post-disaster response facilities?

After a major earthquake or other disaster, San Francisco will rely on select public buildings to deploy aid, provide shelter and coordinate emergency response and recovery. It is essential that these facilities be viable and functional for these purposes and remain operational.
 

Why do we need to renovate the 9-1-1 Call Center?

The 9‐1‐1 Call Center is operated and managed by the Department of Emergency Management. It is located at the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 1011 Turk Street in the Western Addition neighborhood and houses public safety dispatchers who answer all calls made to 9‐1‐1. These dispatchers are the initial point of contact for all of San Francisco’s first responders, 24 hours a day.

Why do we need to strengthen, improve and rehabilitate district police stations and facilities?

The San Francisco Police Department is increasing its staff to meet the changing needs of the growing City. This presents a challenge to the Police Department’s district stations and support facilities, as they were built for a smaller police force and lack adequate space for the current staffing level and projected future needs.

Why do we need to strengthen, improve and rehabilitate neighborhood fire stations?

Fire stations operate and are staffed by firefighters 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is critical that our first responders are housed in safe and seismically sound facilities with the capacity to provide essential emergency response services.
 

The Emergency Firefighting Water System – officially called the Auxiliary Water Supply System (AWSS) – is an independent high-pressure water supply system dedicated to fire protection. It was built in 1913 in response to the 1906 Great Earthquake.  It consists of a 135-mile pipeline network, a high-elevation reservoir and two large-capacity tanks, two pumping stations, fireboats, underground water tanks (cisterns) and Bay water intakes (suction connections).

San Francisco voters approved a $628.5 million Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response (ESER) bond during the March 2020 election. The bond, which is the third installment of the ESER program, will fund upgrades and much-needed improvements to capital infrastructure that will allow San Francisco to quickly respond to a major earthquake or other disaster and recover from its aftermath.

Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response (ESER) is San Francisco's bond program to strategically address critical public safety needs in the City. The program identifies seismic improvements and upgrades to City-owned facilities that are needed to help safeguard San Francisco.

The third phase of the ESER bond program was approved by voters with 82 percent approval during the March 2020 election. ESER 2020 will continue the work of the previous two ESER bonds that were overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2010 and 2014.