JET Equity

Using the Racial Equity Toolkit

In 2018, we received feedback from the nightlife community managed and frequented by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) about the numerous visits to their businesses from individual regulatory agencies. As a result, the Joint Enforcement Team (JET) Racial Equity Toolkit (RET) was formed and includes various City departments (FAS, SFD, SPD, and SDOT).

The RET lays out a process and a set of questions to guide the development, implementation and evaluation of policies, initiatives, programs, and budget issues to address the impacts on racial equity.

As part of the RET process, the JET RET team developed initial RET outcomes:

  1. Streamline JET’s process for businesses operated by and frequented by people of marginalized communities.
  2. Education to help business owners and operators understand the importance of the licensing and enforcement process for safety of the patrons and employees.
  3. Develop and distribute a questionnaire to businesses to help identify areas of inequity in the JET inspection process and develop a plan to eliminate any inequity.

In 2020, the JET RET team revisited the RET outcomes to make them more racially centered.

Revised RET current outcomes

  1. Diminish any inequitable impacts JET has on businesses that are owned, operated, and frequented by people of color, ensuring our enforcement is not disproportionately focused on persons or business of color.
  2. Expand outreach to create equitability across all communities ensuring that we are not excluding businesses owned, operated, and frequented by people of color to build relationship, provide positive education and information, and create dialog about what JET does.
  3. Businesses owned, operated, and frequented by people of color benefit from the JET visit to develop a sustainable business where their patrons have a positive, safe experience.
  4. Create a positive, informative, and transparent experience during a JET visit for businesses operated by and frequented by people of color while diminishing the impact the team has on business operations and patrons.
  5. The JET team is reflective of the communities we serve.