San Francisco will recruit high school students from violent neighborhoods to join the Police Department, Mayor Ed Lee and Police Chief Greg Suhr said Monday, reviving a defunct program in an effort to diversify the city’s force. The program will pay about $20,000 a year for three years to 30 recent high school graduates from violent neighborhoods and low-income homes. In exchange, the students will have to commit 20 hours a week to work with the Police Department and taking 12 units of college courses a semester. Several students attended the program launch Monday at the San Francisco Police Academy on Amber Driver and spoke about their interactions — largely negative — with police officers. Darjis Vickers, 16, a sophomore at Mission High School, said he was “slammed” by two officers one day while walking home from school. After the announcement, which took the form of a group discussion, the students took a tour of the academy and took simulated driving tests. Lee said the program will help “bridge the gap between 18 and 20” when kids are at risk of turning to violence. The San Francisco Police Department had a similar program about a decade ago, Suhr said, but discontinued it because of budget cuts. Benioff, who has donated $7.7 million to San Francisco public schools from the Salesforce.com Foundation and hundreds of millions to UCSF hospitals, said even if the recruits don’t join the Police Academy he will consider the program a success.