Why San Francisco Is Sending Former Interim Police Chief to FBI Training

Paul Yep’s next stop in San Francisco policing is not a patrol post or a command review. The former interim chief was sent to the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, a placement usually reserved for rising law-enforcement managers, even after stepping aside from the city’s top police job.

That is what makes the move stand out inside the San Francisco Police Department. Yep spent eight months as caretaker chief before Mayor Daniel Lurie appointed Derrick Lew as chief on December 4, 2025. Lurie said Yep would remain on as a senior adviser through major events in 2026, while Lew was set to begin on December 22, 2025. The arrangement left Yep in a loosely defined role that also carries pension implications, a sign that City Hall was not simply clearing the deck and moving on.

The FBI National Academy is no ordinary training course. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says it is invitation-only, limited to law-enforcement managers nominated by agency heads because of demonstrated leadership qualities, and designed to prepare participants for positions of greater responsibility. For a former interim chief to be sent there after already running the department, the message is hard to miss: San Francisco is still deciding whether Yep is being groomed for a bigger role, corrected for a different one, or repositioned as part of a longer succession plan.

That question matters because SFPD has been under pressure for years. Bill Scott resigned as chief in May 2025 after more than eight years in the job, sending the Police Commission into another search for leadership continuity. In January 2025, Lurie had already elevated Yep to the city’s first chief of public safety, a new post meant to coordinate policy across police, fire and emergency management. Yep’s path now runs through yet another layer of executive development, even as the department tries to steady itself.

The staffing backdrop makes that even more revealing. The mayor’s office said in May 2025 that SFPD was more than 500 officers short of its recommended staffing level. The department later said it was still short by around 500 officers and relying heavily on overtime. At the same time, SF.gov said citywide crime was down nearly 30%, car break-ins were at a 22-year low and homicides were on track to reach a 70-year low. The mayor also said entry-level applications were up more than 40% and lateral applications had more than doubled under his Rebuilding the Ranks effort.

Taken together, Yep’s assignment looks less like a ceremonial perk than a quiet window into how San Francisco is managing succession inside a department that still needs both credibility and continuity.