By Evan Ward
Bill Scott didn’t rush. He clocked out smooth, the way he clocked in.
Eight years running San Francisco’s Police Department, and he calls it quits not with controversy, but with numbers, calm, and a clear conscience.
“You don’t do a job like this for eight years unless you believe in something,” Scott said Wednesday, standing next to Mayor Daniel Lurie on the steps of City Hall. “It’s been the honor of my life.”
He wasn’t just spinning it. Crime’s down nearly 30%, and this year’s homicide rate is the lowest in San Francisco since the Beatles hit the charts. Under Scott’s watch, the department pulled itself out of state oversight after a years-long reform process.
Now, he’s headed back to Los Angeles, where he spent 27 years as a cop before getting tapped by then-Mayor Ed Lee in 2017 to lead SFPD. But he’s not going back to retire. He’s been named the first-ever chief of the new L.A. Metro Police Department—an agency being built from scratch to patrol trains, buses, and the infrastructure ahead of the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.
“This is about building something new,” Metro officials said in their announcement. Scott’s job: create a department from the ground up and steer it through global events.
At the San Francisco press conference, Lurie praised Scott as a “friend” and credited him with using modern tech to fight crime in a city facing a serious officer shortage. Scott agreed to stick around for the next six weeks to help with the transition.
No drama, no scandal, no torch-and-pitchfork exit. Bill Scott’s heading back to L.A., but he leaves behind a leaner department, a safer city, and a legacy built on calm under fire.
The next chief hasn’t been named, but they’ll have big shoes to fill—and a bar set high.
