Community Ambassador Program expanded to cover bigger areas in SF Downtown, BART and Muni Stations

(SAN FRANCISCO) Mayor London Breed announce an expansion of the Community Ambassadors Program to cover a bigger area in San Francisco downtown, including BART and Muni Metro stations, city garages as well as Mission neighborhood.

The Community Ambassadors Program was first created over a decade ago in the south east sector of the city, including Bayview, Portola and Visitacion Valley neighborhoods, after a series of violent attacks against the Asian community. The ambassadors in this program who wear yellow/black uniforms were later expanded to cover Chinatown and Tenderloin for years.

The second group of the Community Ambassadors, who wear orange jackets, are also called SF Welcome Ambassadors. The program was launched in recent years to serve primarily in the tourist attraction areas, Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf, and Chinatown.

Police Department Community Ambassadors, which are made up of retired police officers, was launched last year to address the increasing anti-Asian violent incidents since the pandemic in 2020.

Team members of the Police Department Community Ambassadors have been assigned to foot patrol the Chinatown, North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf areas to join the Asian community to fight against anti-Asian violence.

The new expansion of the Community Ambassadors announced by Breed on October 24 would have 150 more ambassadors joining the program to add the total number of all ambassadors up to over 250. The first group of the newly-hired ambassadors are expected to be deployed within the next six weeks.

“San Francisco has a significant police staffing shortage, so we need to be more creative in ways that deliver a positive and welcoming experience on our street and while also ensuring our sworn officers can do their jobs,” said Breed. "By deploying more ambassadors and hiring more staff who can do support work for our officers out in the field, we can better respond to residents, workers, and visitors who want our city to be cleaner and safer.”