SAN FRANCISCO -- A study by an outside consulting firm says San Francisco can better fight crime if it closes half of its ten police stations while redrawing district lines to have police stations cover the city in a new way that will reduce paperwork and free up more officers for street duty.

Mayor Gavin Newsom calls the report "intriguing."

The report is about 100 pages long and makes sweeping recommendations about how to improve police services in San Francisco.

One of the most controversial suggestions is to close half of the city's police stations -- including Central Station in North Beach -- and build five so-called super stations.

City officials say that does not mean it will happen, but some city leaders say many of the recommendations make sense.

The report is in response to legislation sponsored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi who said San Francisco has never really done a comprehensive review of how its police resources are allocated.

"The police department is really suffering from really obsolete infrastructure. Their equipment is inferior; it needs to be upgraded" explains Supervisor Mirkarimi.

The report says most of San Francisco's crime is concentrated in the north east area of the city, notably around the Tenderloin. However, most homicides occur in the Mission and Bayview neighborhoods.

Sophie maxwell represents bayview hunter's point and says she expects people to be skeptical at first.

"We have to educate them and let them know what this means. And if they were asked would you rather have more stations or more officers on the street, nine to one they would want more officers on the street," says Supervisor Maxwell.

BUT THE MERE SUGGESTION OF CLOSING POLICE STATIONS DOESN'T SIT WELL WITH SOME RESIDENTS.

"No. No way. Because we have all these nightclubs … We have big crowds here," says North Beach resident Priscilla Williams.

"In this case, I don't think it's a good idea. It's not enough manpower to check around the neighborhood," says Chinatown's Daniel Luu.

Police Chief Heather Fong is out of town and unavailable for comment. San Francisco Police Association president Gary Delagnes says the report has some valid recommendations. But he wonders how the often combative and fractured board of supervisors will carry them out.

"The supervisors are optimistic at this point, and I don't know if they'll be as optimistic if they find out they're one of the ones losing a district police station. It will hit the fan when that happens," says Delagnes.

One of the biggest hurdles is paying for many of the recommendations. It could mean going to voters to ask for bond measures for hundreds of millions of dollars.

That's always a hard sell especially if it means your neighborhood police station might close.