Hall of Justice (San Francisco)
In San Francisco, the old Hall of Justice was opposite Portsmouth Square on Kearny Street between Washington and Merchant. A hotel, the Hilton San Francisco Financial District, now stands on this site. The old Hall of Justice was burned down during the 1906 earthquake and rebuilt in 1910 by city architect Newton J. Tharp. The half-circle, fan-shaped windows on the fourth floor appear in numerous police dramas such as The Lineup in the 1950s and Ironside, the American television program starring Raymond Burr, in the 1960s. The San Francisco Hall of Justice is also frequently mentioned in the works of Dashiell Hammett and James Patterson. It was demolished in 1968.
The current Hall of Justice, located at 850–880 Bryant Street (37.77544°N 122.40394°W), served as the San Francisco Police Department's operational headquarters until 2015. It is internally referred to as "850 Bryant" and "the hall". The complex serves as the main San Francisco County Jail, as well as base of operations and headquarters for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, and garage for the majority of vehicles for the SFPD. The San Francisco Police motorcycle traffic division is completely based there as well. In 1994, the Hall was renamed for Thomas J. Cahill, the Chief of the SFPD from 1958 to 1970.
The San Francisco Hall of Justice houses Jail #3 and Jail #4 for the San Francisco County Superior Court criminal division. It formerly served as the location of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and city morgue; those offices moved to a new facility in the city's Bayview district in November 2017.[1]
References
- Fracassa, Dominic (2 November 2017). "SF medical examiner's staff exits squalid Hall of Justice for new facility". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2 November 2017.