Joe Garrity

The next hero is San Francisco Police Lieutenant Joe Garrity. Joe has set a standard for beat officers everywhere by establishing himself as a true member of the community he patrolled and by showing a genuine commitment to make a difference in the community he served.

Joe began his work in the 1980s as a beat officer assigned to the Tenderloin. Joe got to know the area as a community home to families, senior citizens and children, and not just another high crime area.

Joe made it his personal responsibility to make a difference in the community. He was proud to call the Tenderloin his home and was determined to have residents feel the same pride.

He patrolled the Tenderloin's streets night and day fighting crime, offering guidance and providing an opportunity to help those with a genuine desire to improve. His perseverance and commitment to one of San Francisco's toughest neighborhoods is what earned Joe his reputation as both a dynamic police officer and a compassionate man. He never stopped seeing the Tenderloin for what it was and what it should be, a place to call home.

There is no way to calculate Joe's charity, braveness nor commitment to the Tenderloin neighborhood. He is a hero in that neighborhood and therefore a hero in our entire community.