Former Head of SFPD-Linked Nonprofit Arrested Over Alleged Misuse of $700,000

Updated 1:17 p.m. Tuesday

The former executive director of a shuttered San Francisco police-affiliated nonprofit was arrested Tuesday and accused of misusing over $700,000 of the organization’s funds, the San Francisco district attorney’s office announced.

Kyra Worthy, 49, faces 34 felony counts related to the misuse of public money, submitting fraudulent invoices to a city department, theft and wage theft, among other charges. She took the helm of SF SAFE, a crime prevention organization created by and later partnered with the San Francisco Police Department, at the end of 2017.

SF SAFE’s board fired Worthy and shut down the decades-old organization in January after a city audit found it had misused nearly $80,000 in taxpayer money for lavish gift boxes, a trip to Lake Tahoe, and other expenses deemed ineligible or excessive. The report also said SFPD “did not adequately review invoices or supporting documentation” to ensure that public funds from a five-year grant agreement with SF SAFE were being spent properly.

Police officials asked the district attorney’s office to investigate due to SFPD’s relationship with the nonprofit, and the office found that the total amount of money misused by Worthy during her tenure at SF SAFE was more than $700,000, according to Tuesday’s announcement.

The majority of the misused funds, totaling more than half a million dollars, came from the Office of Employment of Workforce Development and should have been paid to two city-contracted organizations affiliated with the Latino Task Force, a group of Mission District-based nonprofits. In March, the group announced that SF SAFE owed it $625,000 for training services.

Worthy is also accused of spending over $100,000 of the organization’s funds for personal use, including rent in 2018 and more than $90,000 spent on a home healthcare worker for her parents in North Carolina in 2019 and 2020, leading to a charge of grand theft by embezzlement.

Additionally, she faces 24 felony counts of wage theft against SF SAFE employees related to allegations that she stopped withholding and paying $80,000 in workers’ payroll taxes between September 2023 and January 2024, when the organization closed.

An affidavit in support of Worthy’s arrest shows that Worthy repeatedly stole and misspent nonprofit funds during her time at SF SAFE, ultimately leading to the organization being unable to meet its financial obligations, the DA’s office said. Even as the nonprofit was running out of money, the affidavit alleges, she spent lavishly, including over $350,000 on gift boxes in 2022 and 2023 and nearly $50,000 on catering for a holiday party with an open bar and prime rib carving station.

When she took the helm of SF SAFE at the end of 2017, the organization had reserves in excess of $300,000.

“Despite SF SAFE receiving millions of dollars in public and private funds over the next five years, Ms. Worthy’s theft and mismanagement resulted in the 48-year-old charity having no assets and ceasing operations in January of 2024,” the DA’s office’s statement said.

San Francisco Police Commissioner Kevin Benedicto said SFPD would likely be monitoring nonprofit partners’ spending more closely as a result.

“I think there are sort of repercussions that are going to echo in the department that are going to influence the commission,” he told KQED. “In general, you’re going to see more inquiries and more requests to make sure that we’re conducting oversight responsibilities for nonprofits.”

He also said that he’s committed to ensuring that SF SAFE’s duties, which include operating a network of public safety cameras and conducting community outreach, are continued, either by the department or another partner organization.

Worthy was booked into San Francisco County Jail on Tuesday afternoon. Her bail is listed at $100,000.

KQED’s Alex Hall contributed to this report.