San Francisco mayor-elect Daniel Lurie’s appointment for a newly created public safety role faced allegations in a 2018 civil suit of abusing his authority and intimidating a man who he rear-ended in a traffic collision.
Paul Yep, a former commander with the San Francisco Police Department, was named by Lurie to be the city’s first chief of public safety on Thursday.
The newly created role will coordinate with city departments that involve public safety and will report directly to the mayor. It comes as part of a restructuring of the mayor’s office that Lurie promised during his campaign that he said will bring more accountability to city government.
Yep was born and raised in San Francisco and attended Lowell High School and San Francisco State University, according to Lurie’s office. He was a 28-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department who has been serving as a vice president at Academy of Arts University since his retirement from the department in 2023.
He was accused in a 2018 civil lawsuit of rear-ending a man backing out of his driveway in Burlingame as Yep drove an unmarked police cruiser.
The man alleged in court filings that the event caused physical injuries and intentional emotional distress to him and his wife.
The couple also alleged a series of actions that unnerved them, including accusing Yep of initially refusing to provide his ID after the collision, then identifying himself as a police officer when he did. They further accused him of knowing he was driving unsafely and accused him of later driving by their home after the collision, which they considered intimidating.
Yep did not return requests for comment. He strongly denied all the allegations in court filings.
Settled before trial
The two filed dueling sworn depositions as to their version of events.
The man never filed a police report. Yep filed one two days later with the Burlingame Police Department, which found him at fault for driving at an unsafe speed. Police found no other wrongdoing and the other party never responded to their requests for an initial statement, according to the police report.
The couple sought unspecified damages above $25,000. The case, Timothy Hansen et al v City and County of San Francisco et al, was settled in 2020 ahead of a scheduled jury trial that was to begin in February 2021.
The newly created chief of public safety will work closely with department heads dealing with issues such as police accountability and victim and witness rights.
A spokesperson for Lurie declined to comment.
Lurie said in a statement announcing the appointment that he was proud to name Yep to the role given his long service to the city.
“Paul has dedicated his career to keeping San Franciscans safe and there is no one better for this critical job. Together, we will support our law enforcement and ensure that every resident, worker, and visitor is safe in our city,” Lurie said in a statement.
Yep said in a statement on his appointment shared by Lurie’s office that, he was “honored.” “I look forward to leveraging my experience to help the Mayor-elect’s team execute his vision for building stronger and safer communities across our city,” Yep said.
Coordinating safety in several departments
The chief of public safety will coordinate public safety matters with key city departments that deal with “community and neighborhood safety, street behavior, emergency preparedness and response,” according to Lurie’s news release on the appointment.
Those departments include Adult Probation, Police Accountability, Department of Emergency Management, Fire Department, Sheriff Inspector General, Juvenile Probation, Police Department, Victim and Witness Rights.
The chief of public safety will also be the mayor’s point of contact with the Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney, and the Public Defender.
Yep has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from SFSU and formerly served on the San Francisco Municipal Executives Association, a labor organization that lobbies for benefits for public employees at the managerial level.
At the San Francisco Police Department, he oversaw the risk management division in the chief of staff’s office, after a career that included roles such leadership roles as the commanding officer of the Central, Northern and Richmond police stations.
His appointment as public safety chief was lauded by Anni Chung, the president and CEO of the nonprofit organization Self-Help for the Elderly, known as SHE, which largely serves immigrant and monolingual Asian seniors.
“On issues concerning public safety and so much more, Paul has been a trusted ally to the Chinese community for years,” Chung said in a statement.
“I’m excited to hear that he’ll continue to serve not just our community, but every San Franciscan in this critical role,” she said.
Lurie will be inaugurated on Wednesday.