For nearly 200 days, a large white police bus sat on one of the busiest transit plazas in San Francisco. And during that time, it cost the Mission District police station 44 percent of its monthly overtime budget, according to Captain Sean Perdomo.
The bus — a San Francisco Police Department “mobile command unit” — was meant to deter criminal activity like drug use and illegal vending at 16th and Mission streets. It was moved off the plaza last Friday, one day shy of the 200 day anniversary marking when it first arrived at the southwest BART plaza.
The presence came after Mayor Daniel Lurie this spring made 16th and Mission a priority for City Hall’s tackling of “trouble” areas across the city. On Monday, Perdomo wrote in an email to neighbors that the van had been moved due to “budget constraints.” In a statement, SFPD simply said it could be “more efficient” by deploying officers…