Meet San Francisco's Last Patrol Special Officer

Alan Byard has been patrolling San Francisco for more than four decades and is the city’s last Patrol Special Police Officer, a Gold Rush-era private police program meant to replace security guards.
He and his Ford Crown Victoria are the remaining symbols of community policing and possible solutions to the city's surging crime rates.
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#policing #crime #publicsafety

[@Dan.50]

SFPD put most of them out of business and now look at the mess.

[@Davis2920022001]

It was police unions, officers saw them as competition.

[@dachickenman]

Why is he called the "last" Patrol Special Officer?

[@Maizefire]

Because he is the last one there used to be 400 of them now there is just one.

[@ysosirius2886]

Well you wouldn't know it with all the crime in his area

[@jntj3007]

The crime in the rest of the city is much worse than in the Marina and Pacific Heights areas.

[@jimmy1154]

He's a private security guard hired to keep an eye on private clients.

[@Davis2920022001]

More like Deputized security, he wears a Law Enforcement uniform "Police" NOT " wa wa Security" and can do everything a cop can except traffic stops UNLESS I'm sure imminent threats to citizens in his sector.