San Francisco To Hire Social Workers Instead Of Cops To Handle Homelessness, Drug Addiction, And Mental Illness On Public Transit

San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system has six vacancies for police officers but plans instead to fill those positions with social workers to handle issues involving the homeless and those with mental illness or drug addiction.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the public transit system has $2 million in its budget to fill the vacancies (for an average salary and benefits package worth about $333,000) but will instead hire a supervisor and “20 crisis intervention specialists,” the outlet reported. Last year, the board approved a plan that only added 10 specialists to BART’s bureau of progressive policing.