TO:

Martin Halloran
San Francisco Police Officers Association

FROM:

John Fairbank, Curtis Below & Lia Rohr

Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates

RE:

Key findings from our recent voter survey

DATE:

March 30, 2016

Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3) recently completed a survey of San
Francisco voters assessing their opinions about providing San Francisco police officers with
Tasers, as well as their general thoughts about officers and public safety in the City.i
Overall, the survey found strong voter support for equipping police officers with Tasers (68%), as
well of consistent majorities of voters indicating they feel police officers are effective,
hardworking, trustworthy, and empathetic toward residents. The survey results also suggest voter
attitudes toward San Francisco officials including the Mayor, District Attorney, and Board of
Supervisors are somewhat mixed.
Key findings from the survey include:

Two-thirds of voters support San Francisco police officers using Tasers as a safe
alternative to guns. Survey respondents were informed that San Francisco currently does not
equip its police officers with stun guns or Tasers, and provided with a brief explanation of how
Tasers work, as well as arguments both for and against providing them to local police officers.
As shown in Figure 1 on the following page, two-thirds (68%) of respondents indicated they
support local police using Tasers, including a plurality (45%) who strongly support the
deployment of Tasers. Roughly equivalent numbers of voters oppose the use of Tasers (15%),
or are unsure about using them (18%).

12100 Wilshire Blvd Suite 350

Los Angeles, CA
90025
Phone:
(310) 828-1183
Fax:
(310) 453-6562

1999 Harrison Street Suite 2020

Oakland, CA
94612
Phone:
(510) 451-9521
Fax:
(510) 451-0384

SFPOA Survey Results

Page 2

Figure 1: Support for Equipping San Francisco Police Officers with Tasers

Other key findings related to perceptions of the Police Department, individual police officers and
crime in San Francisco, include:

84 percent agree that San Francisco police officers are hard-working and care about their
jobs.
77 percent agree that San Francisco police officers care about people like me.
73 percent agree that San Francisco police officers respond quickly to emergencies.
Overall, 62 percent of voters feel that individual police officers are doing an excellent or
pretty good job.
70 percent of voters trust San Francisco police officers a great deal or a fair amount.
Similarly, 69 percent of voters trust the San Francisco Police Department and Chief of Police
a great deal or a fair amount.
62 percent feel the San Francisco Police Department is effective in fighting crime and keeping
our city safe.
56 percent of voters feel crime in San Francisco is about the same as it was five years ago,
while 33 percent feel that crime has increased over that time period and 11 percent feel it has
decreased.

SFPOA Survey Results

Page 3

Voters hold relatively mixed opinions of the Mayor and Board of Supervisors, while the
District Attorney is largely unknown. As shown in Figure 2, 43 percent of respondents
indicated they view Mayor Ed Lee unfavorably, with 29 percent expressing favorable
impressions, and 28 percent either neutral or unable to form an opinion. Voters are much less
familiar with District Attorney George Gascn, with only one-third (34%) expressing either
positive (23%) or negative (11%) impressions, and two-thirds (66%) either neutral or unable
to form an opinion. When asked to rate the job being done by the Board of Supervisors, a
plurality (36%) indicated they felt the Board was doing an only fair job. Another 30 percent
thought the Board was doing an excellent or pretty good job, and 23 percent thought they
were doing a "poor job.
Figure 2: General Impressions of the Mayor and District Attorney

Methodology: From March 3-10, 2016, FM3 completed 500 telephone interviews (on both landlines and cell phones)
with likely November 2016 voters in San Francisco in both English and Chinese. The margin of sampling error for
the study is +/-4.4% at the 95% confidence level; margins of error for population subgroups within the sample will be
higher. Due to rounding, not all totals will sum to 100%.