Candidate for
Sheriff; City of San Francisco

Chris Cunnie knows a safer city requires bringing law enforcement and the community together

Safety in these difficult times requires the intuition of a cop, the management experience of a chief and the principles of a seasoned leader in the treatment community. 
Chris Cunnie is the only candidate who can bring all 
of these skills together for a safer San Francisco.

Chris is a twice-decorated police officer who served as head of the Police Officers Association, head of Emergency Communications under Mayor Gavin Newsom, head of Investigations under then District Attorney Kamala Harris and Undersheriff for Sheriff Michael Hennessey.

He's a leader in the treatment community who served as President of the Board of Directors of San Francisco's storied Walden House and served as a board member of the California Narcotic Addict Evaluation Authority (established under California Proposition 36).

"I know first-hand that safety doesn't come just from more police presence," says Chris. "It takes police, prosecutors, the sheriff's department, educators, parents, businesses, service providers and the entire community working together to create a climate of safety and stability."

A critical moment for safety in San Francisco

The landscape of public safety has been upended in San Francisco, and throughout California, in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed that our state prison system is broken. The result is a process called realignment + the return of inmates from the state prison system back to San Francisco.

Chris knows that to meet this challenge, we need to break the habit of city and state agencies operating in silos.

"I am the right person at the right time for this job," says Chris. "I have worked in the jails, worked on the streets in law enforcement, worked in the treatment community to provide services to the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated and worked in Sacramento to coordinate statewide public safety efforts. I can bring all of these groups together + and together we'll keep San Francisco safe."

"Never forget where you come from"

The son of a San Francisco firefighter and a mother who worked for the labor council, Chris grew up in the Mission district. His first union job was in the eighth grade selling peanuts at Giants and A's games.

Chris attended Mission Dolores Elementary School and Most Holy Redeemer in Eureka Valley and worked to pay his own tuition at Riordan High School. After graduation, he served in the Air Force for two years, returned home to work as a firefighter in the Presidio and then joined the San Francisco police force + walking the beat on the streets where he grew up.

"One of my life mantras is that you never want to forget where you come from," says Chris. "The right way to live is to give back and be of service."

That mantra + and Chris' 30 years of experience in law enforcement and the treatment community + continues to inform his views on public safety in San Francisco.

"We need a Sheriff who understands how to be tough, when tough is called for. And we need a public safety leader who understands how to continue and expand the successful treatment and job training programs that keep inmates from returning to jails and prisons," says Chris.

"Successful public safety is not just about punishment. It is not just about treatment. It's about both."

The one candidate who can put it all together to keep San Francisco safe

In addition to his service in San Francisco's law enforcement and treatment communities, Chris has worked in Sacramento to coordinate statewide public safety efforts and represented the 90,000 men and women of law enforcement in California as Vice-President of the California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations. He has been twice decorated with the medal of valor in the San Francisco Police Department and awarded The Lifetime Labor Achievement award from the statewide Golden Badge Foundation.

Attorney General Kamala Harris accompanied Chris at the Department of Elections when he took out papers to run for Sheriff.

"Chris Cunnie has seen law enforcement and public safety from every angle," said the Attorney General. "Chris is the candidate we've been waiting for + he can put it all together to keep San Francisco safe."