Capt. Carla Hurley, who has presided over Southern Station, overseeing SoMa and Mission Bay, will leave her position, she wrote in an email obtained by Mission Local.
"It has been a privilege to serve as the Captain of this great station and district," Hurley wrote to city leaders and community members. She announced that she would leave her position on Nov. 7 and be replaced by Capt. Chris Canning. Canning is a second-generation San Francisco police officer who has served in the SFPD since 2007 and was previously the commanding officer at the Richmond Station, Mission Local reported. It is the fourth change in police leadership there since last June. It is not yet clear why Hurley is being transferred or where she will go.
Amy Hurwitz, now a commander, held the role from July 2025 to February 2026, after taking over from now-Deputy Chief Luke Martin, who had held the role since November 2023. Frequent changes in station leadership are not irregular, though it is more common for a captain to last a year or two; Mission Station had five captains between 2021 and 2024, Mission Local reported. The department has argued that rotating captains helps them develop. Both Martin and Hurwitz were transferred out for promotions, while a prior captain's role, Imbellino's, was always transitional.
Neighborhood groups often complain about having to start over with a new captain. "The Police District with the highest crime rate continues to churn through leadership, unfortunately, and lacks stability," SoMa resident and SoMa West Neighborhood Association member Shaun Aukland wrote in a text to Mission Local. "Stability of a station caption at Southern for at least a year or longer would be very much welcomed," wrote Bettina Cohen, co-founder of the Mission Bay Neighborhood Association, in a message that used that wording. Earlier this year, residents pressed SFPD on slow response times in the district to all but the most urgent calls. In her Nov. 3 email, Hurley wrote, "We have reduced response times to non-emergency calls for service by approximately 50%," while acknowledging there is still "more work to do." District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey had called the departing Hurley a "phenomenal ally" in addressing public safety concerns, Mission Local reported.