Reyna Serrano. Client support manager at SF Pretrial. "It took us 50 years to build these relationships and community trust. And now it's going to be taken away. For what?" That is the question the Mayor and the courts refuse to answer.

Teresa Perryman. Housing case manager at SF Pretrial. Shares her own story — couch-surfing, hotel hopping, getting sober — with clients. So they feel compassion, not judgment. "I treat my clients like family. That's my extended family that needs help right now."

Charles Ryan. "Mr. C." Leads SF Pretrial's therapy, job training, and anger management groups. Went to prison as a teenager. Now: godfather to several of his clients' children. "I've been through it." You cannot police your way to that relationship. It has to be earned.

Sharon Rose. Known to her clients as "Mama Bear." 34 years in this work. The city's longest-serving pretrial worker. "I really, really believe in the work we do. That's why I've stuck around so long." Probation officers cannot replace her. This is what SF is throwing away.

The @WashingtonPost piece does something else important. It introduces you to the actual people doing this work. The people SF is throwing away. The next few posts are for them. This is what community-based pretrial looks like. This is what probation cannot replace.

The courts want this because they care about expediency over fairness. Speed over support. Punishment is cheaper to administer than actual care. Easier than doing the work. But it makes the city less safe. That is what the SF Sheriff — who runs the jail — tried to tell them.

Probation makes punishment faster. Easier. When someone struggles, punishment is the only option. Quick. Easy. And at the end of the day — less safe and more costly. It pushes people to the margins. That is what Mayor Lurie is allowing for San Francisco.

Here is what the piece shows so clearly. SF Pretrial cares about the people it serves. When they relapse. When they cannot find housing. When they need help. It connects them to what they need. That is how you keep people safe. It is how you actually reduce crime.

They have nothing to say. Because there is nothing to say. This decision is indefensible. And they know it. They did it in the dark. And they will not defend it in the light. Because they cannot.

And yet — as @WashingtonPost documents — this decision was made behind closed doors. Ignoring every person who knows what they are talking about. The reporter reached out to the Mayor, the courts, Probation, and the Board of Supervisors. Every one of them refused to comment.

Everyone in the country who understands public safety knows that SF Pretrial is one of the most successful community safety programs in the nation. 93% public safety rate. 96% court appearance in 19,000+ court dates. 1,800 people supervised daily. 630,394 jail bed days saved. A model.

Beyond the Sheriff, everyone with expertise on pretrial or public safety in the US knows SF Pretrial works. The ACLU. Vera Institute of Justice. NAPSA — the national accreditation body. The Bar Association of San Francisco. Care First California. Every serious institution.

San Francisco's own Sheriff further expressed his concern that abruptly shutting down SF Pretrial would not only hurt individuals but could increase jail overcrowding & put the city in legal jeopardy. This is why you don't make public safety decisions based on politics.

Don't take my word for it. San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto spoke out publicly against the Mayor. Raised his concern that "emotion or personal feelings, or interest in change" was "supersed[ing] & overrid[ing] the processes." Read that again. From the Sheriff of SF.

Here is what happened. Mayor Daniel Lurie is handing the department of probation the entire budget of SF Pretrial — a 50-year, community-based organization that has been the national model for supporting people released pretrial. No hearing. No vote on the merits.

What you can do. Under 5 minutes. → Email Mayor Lurie's office → Email all 11 Supervisors with one click → Show up May 27 or submit public comment → Share this thread The emails are pre-written. Everything is at dontdismantlesf.org

The window to stop this is short. Today (!!): Budget & Finance Committee hearing. June 2 (confirmed). Full Board of Supervisors votes. July 1: SF Pretrial dissolves. The Board has the authority to preserve it. Public pressure is the lever. Weeks, not months.

We focus so much on Trump. But in the bluest city in the bluest state, while the federal government dismantles community-based public safety nationally, SF is transferring one of its strongest programs to an armed law enforcement agency. A political decision. Who benefits?

There's no legal cover. SB 129 and AB 102 — the state laws being cited — EXPLICITLY exempt SF. The Judicial Council confirmed it in writing on April 24, 2026. APD and the Court also tried this exact transfer in 2019. The entire political establishment opposed it. APD lost.

In case the human story doesn't move you-the math doesn't math: Taxpayers are being asked to pay MORE. Hire FEWER. Deliver WORSE safety outcomes. To try to "supervise" people presumed innocent w/ guns. As if they were already convicted. 7.7x more expensive. Demonstrably worse.

But — SF Mayor Daniel Lurie has a different idea of "public safety." Kill off the jobs of 105 SF pretrial staff with lived experience in the system. Trust. Replace them with: 27 armed Adult Probation officers. With one "solution" -- punishment (violence, jail, prison).

Everyone who knows about public safety knows that SF Pretrial is one of the most successful community safety programs in the nation. 93% public safety rate. 96% court appearance across 19,000+ court dates. 1,800 people supervised daily. 630,394 jail bed days saved. A model.

Here's what's happening: Quietly, hoping no one will notice, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie is dissolving SF Pretrial—a 50-year community-based public safety program—& handing its entire budget to armed probation officers on July 1. No hearing. No vote on the merits. A scandal.

READ: A woman was forced to give birth in Brooklyn criminal court 2 nights ago on a courtroom bench. Shackled. All while courtroom personnel gawked. And the judge ultimately refused even to dismiss her case—trespassing on her own rooftop. This is "justice" in America. More:

I called this a one-way ratchet in a law review article 15 years ago, on life-without-parole for kids. Republicans drive expansions of state power. Democrats rarely reverse them. They reach for reform — and they lose. socialchangenyu.com/review/juven...

Lying in a legal briefing would get you disbarred as a regular lawyer. But when you’re an unelected, lifetime appointee with powers to write decisions that completely undo & remake the Constitution, the decision gets to stand & you get to keep your lifetime position. Outrageous.

This Mother’s Day, nearly 150,000 mothers will spend the day apart from their children. 58% of all women in U.S. prisons are mothers. 80% of women in jails, including many who are incarcerated awaiting trial simply bc they can’t afford bail. Read: www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2023/03...

“Americans who oppose ICE raids.” This is more than half of everyone in the United States. Both left and increasingly right. Raiding cities isn’t enough. They’re coming after our viewpoints.

Policing lying under oath IS a felony. It’s perjury. But prosecutors rarely charge police. They rely on police & police department cooperation for their cases. And fear that if they hold police accountable, they’ll lose that critical partnership. So lying continues & expands.

ICE reportedly plans to spend $38.3 billion turning warehouses into detention centers. Let’s translate what $38.3 BILLION actually means in human terms. Not abstractions. Real impact. Thread: