Being a police chief in a major city in the United States today is half political and half administrative. They set the policies of the department. They coordinate with the city administration, the mayor, the council, and other elected officials. They pick leadership, like the deputy chiefs and the captains. And they manage big picture stuff, like the budget, personnel, and rules.
After six and a half months of sitting there and trying to look intimidating, the SFPD's giant, RV-style mobile command unit has been removed from the corner of 16th and Mission streets as the SFPD shifts gears on cleaning up that corner. It has been since March 12, some two months into the Daniel Lurie administration, that Lurie and the SFPD decided to place a gigantic RV-looking police vehicle called the mobile command unit at 16th and Mission streets.