Former NFL first-round pick Jahvid Best sworn in as SFPD Tenderloin officer

Jahvid Andre Best, the 2010 first-round NFL draft pick who ran the 100 meters for Saint Lucia at the 2016 Olympics, is a sworn officer with the San Francisco Police Department, a department video shared by SFPD on Feb. 7 shows. In that Instagram clip Best introduces himself, saying, "My name is Officer Jahvid Best. I’m with the San Francisco Police Department, and I’ve been on the force for about two years."

In the same SFPD video Best explained why he chose policing, saying, "I chose a career with SFPD. Just in general, I wanted to be a police officer when I was growing up, and so I decided to join SFPD, and I’ve been loving it ever since." He described how his athletic background informs his work: "I feel like my time being a professional athlete, whether it be football or track and field, really translated to being a police officer because it takes a lot of dedication. It takes a lot of focus, especially under pressure. And the thing I love most about it is the camaraderie I get from my other co-workers. It kind of feels like the same football atmosphere where you have teammates, coaches, and it's almost the same model. You have a game plan. You have to go out there and execute the game plan."

Best’s athletic résumé is detailed in public records: Jahvid Andre Best, born January 30, 1989, in Vallejo, California, starred at Cal from 2007 to 2009, earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors in 2007 and 2008 and second-team honors in 2009, and set school marks for all-purpose yards and single-game rushing. He was selected 30th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft and is listed as playing for the Detroit Lions from 2010 to 2012, before shifting to track and field and representing Saint Lucia in the 100-meter sprint at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

After his playing career Best returned to coaching and education roles. Materials in the record show he joined Cal’s coaching staff in 2014 as a student assistant coach and later took a head-coaching role at Saint Mary’s College High School in Berkeley for one season, with one report noting that was in 2021. Best also filed a January 2014 lawsuit against the NFL and helmet maker Riddell alleging the league "was aware of the evidence and the risks associated with repetitive traumatic brain injuries ... but deliberately ignored and actively concealed the information," a lawsuit that was dismissed in June 2014 without prejudice due to his failure to serve the suit.

An initial report provided with these materials said Best "has been sworn in as a San Francisco Police Department officer, assigned to the Tenderloin district" and added that Mayor Daniel Lurie "highlighted Best's dedication to public safety amid ongoing efforts to bolster the force." That Tenderloin assignment and the mayoral praise do not appear in the SFPD video and were not corroborated elsewhere in the materials reviewed here.

Public reaction in social posts that circulated the SFPD video leaned on Best’s speed and profile. A LinkedIn post sharing the department clip included on-screen graphics reading, "Jahvid with 4.3 speed chasing criminals. Watch out!" and other user comments praising the move to city service; the post captured a follower snapshot of 506,282 for the account that shared it. A Reddit post titled "Former Detroit Lions RB Jahvid Best is now an officer with the San Francisco Police Department. You are not going to outrun him" attempted to embed the same video but showed a media load error.

Best’s own statement that he has been "on the force for about two years" is the clearest public timeline in the SFPD video. City personnel records or a departmental statement would provide exact academy graduation and sworn-in dates, and would confirm any neighborhood assignment referenced elsewhere.