In 2024, Airbnb shelled out $428,443 and Salesforce paid nearly $728,000. Those numbers sound wild until you realize Salesforce's tab is almost certainly driven by Dreamforce, as one local pointed out — the annual tech pilgrimage that floods downtown with 40,000+ attendees and temporarily turns Moscone Center into a corporate Coachella. Context matters.
And here's the part the breathless headlines tend to bury: the biggest users of the program aren't tech overlords. It's houses of worship, retail stores, bank branches, and office landlords. Apple stores, Bank of America, Best Buy, Lululemon, Sephora — a security firm paid over $1.2 million in 2024 just for Apple store coverage alone. This is a broad-based program, not some shadowy tech-exclusive perk.
As one SF resident put it, "Finding out you can hire a cop like a birthday clown is like finding out for the first time that ambulances aren't public like the fire department." Fair enough — it does feel strange.
But here's our take: this is actually a pretty elegant arrangement from a fiscal perspective. The city gets visible policing without burning taxpayer dollars. Officers get extra income. Businesses get security that actually carries authority. Everyone wins, in theory.
The real concerns are operational. Are officers gaming sick leave to chase cushier overtime gigs? Are neighborhoods that can't afford $135/hour left with thinner coverage while cops babysit corporate lobbies? Those are legitimate questions that deserve real answers and real oversight.
Another local was blunter: "Police should be focused on serving the public. Tech companies should hire private security if they need it." That's a reasonable instinct, but private security guards can't make arrests or file police reports. The badge matters.
The 10B program isn't the scandal. The scandal would be if it's pulling resources from neighborhoods that actually need them. City Hall calls it "a big win." We'd call it a big win if the data shows deployment gaps aren't widening. Show us the numbers, and we'll show you our support.
