The Police Commission of the City and County of San Francisco met via videoconference at 6:01 p.m.

                PRESENT:             Commissioners Cohen, Elias, DeJesus, Hamasaki, Brookter

                ABSENT:               Commissioner Brookter

GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT

                Danielle Harris, Public Defender’s Office, asked the commission to clarify what happens when a member retires to resigns from the department and asked the Commission to adopt a formal policy when it will or will not continue its investigation once a member retires or resigns from the department.

                David, Wealth and Disparities, spoke regarding reporting by SFPD  and spoke regarding antiblack policing and racism in San Francisco.

                Kit Hodge, Wealth and Disparities, spoke of shootings in the Bayview and spoke of over-policing in the Bayview but at the same time community needs are not being met.

                Susan Buckner, Wealth and Disparities, need to understand the role of the DPA and spoke regarding the April 20 report and recommendations made by the DPA and the refusal of the Chief of the recommendations.

                Noah spoke not to approve the Department’s budget and asked that $4.8 million be used to fund CART.

                Nick Bradshaw spoke in regard to public corruption in the city and spoke of the participation of John Hamasaki who runs a law firm that  benefits from his participation in the Commission per his social media activities.

                Abbey spoke to move money from SFPD to protect black and brown communities and to make CART happen.

                Unidentified agreed with caller who mentioned John Hamasaki and the conflict of interest and that he should not be participating in the Commission and spoke of funding for more police and stated not enough police to look out for public safety and that violent crime is on the rise.  She spoke of elderly people being knocked down and that this is not okay and spoke of San Francisco supporting the attitude of lawlessness.

                Cheryl Thornton thanked the commission for passing a resolution to include police officers for vaccinations for COVID.

                Unidentified spoke to explore CART and that there are other programs in the city to rebuild empathy in the community.               

REPORTS TO THE COMMISSION

Chief’s Request

-              Weekly crime trends

-              Major/Significant Incidents                

                Chief Scott reported on significant crime trends: shooting are up significantly with an increased in shooting victims to 46 victims.  The Chief spoke of multiple victims at three different shooting incidents, in the Bayview, Tenderloin, and the Embarcadero.   The Chief spoke of deploying officers citywide and spoke of redirecting officers from across the city and redirecting specialized units from across the city to be deployed in the Bayview to work foot beat and fixed posts along 3^rd Street and engage with the community.  The Chief also spoke of deploying officers in the Tenderloin and spoke of fixed posts for officers to stay at one location in the area of UN Plaza, Hyde and Turk Streets.  The Chief spoke of long-ranged strategies.   The Department is working with SCIP and California Partnerships, a non-profit entity, to develop long-ranged strategies to address the shootings.  The Chief then talked about burglaries and spoke of having plainclothes officers to catch burglars and spoke of foot beat officers to deter these activities.  He went on to talk about an incident where two officers were injured while responding to a burglary in Noe Valley.  The Chief also talked about the incident regarding the kidnapping of two kids when two suspects stole their father’s car and spoke of the arrest of the second suspect in this incident.  The Chief talked about an unprovoked attack on an elderly in the Tenderloin where an arrest was made.  The Chief thanked members of the community who helped with the kidnapping case.  The Chief gave a brief update on the vaccine resolution and the Chief stated that officers are getting vaccinated at a quicker rate and thanked the Commission for their support.

DPA Director’s Report

-              Report on recent DPA activities, and announcements               

                Commissioner Cohen spoke as to why DPA is important and spoke of the role of DPA for investigations and finding misconducts and audits.  She also spoke of DPA receiving a national award and spoke of her support for the DPA.

Director Henderson gave an update on year-to-date stats: 89 cases opened cases and closed 84 cases year to date; 352 pending cases; 7 cases sustained; 36 cases past 270 days; 2 cases mediated; 42 cases pending with the Chief; 14 cases pending with the Commission.  Outreach:  On February 10^th, Collaboration with the Long Beach Citizens Police Complaint Commission and the San Francisco’s Young Community Developers talked about civilian oversight and community engagement and reporting transgressions with civilian oversight agency; February 12^th, Kacierge, an agency hub that provides food, wellness, mental health resources for under resourced communities, specifically targeting homeless community, talked about agencies and reporting transgressions and working with civilian oversight agencies.

                Commissioner Elias would like a policy recommendation from DPA that are solution-based.  She asked for solutions as to why there are disparities with respect to the stop, the searches, the use of force against people of color, specifically Black and Brown people, and what can be done to stop racial disparities and what can be implemented to get change and end racial disparities.  Commissioner Elias also would like to know if DPA is still having issues with delay in discipline cases because of lack of records and materials needed from the Department.

                Director Henderson stated that a lot of the recommendations are piggybacking off of the 273 DOJ recommendations but will be happy to present the DPA’s own idea about those recommendations and would like to do it concurrently with the Department.

                Commissioner Hamasaki stated that probation and parole searches and unnecessary questioning are areas that should be looked into.

Commission Reports

-              Commission President’s Report

-              Commissioners’ Reports

-              Commission announcements and scheduling of items identified for consideration at future Commission Meetings.

                Commissioner Elias addressed one of the caller’s comments with respect to procedure when officers retire prior to discipline being exposed and stated that the Commission is working on a procedure and it will be presented to the public shortly.  The second request to the Chief is with respect to Chapter 96A 4^th Quarter report and would like the Department to focus on solution regarding racial disparities specifically when it comes to stops, searches, clearance rates of searches, and use of force and what steps will department take to address these disparities when it comes to the communities of color, specifically Black and Brown people.  Commissioner Elias stated that we need to stop focusing on the numbers and we need to focus on what we need to do about them.  She also asked the public to submit any solutions to the commission office.  Thirdly, she asked for a presentation regarding Internal Affairs and to provide the commission with information regarding cases and to explain how IA works (criminal & admin) and what happens when there are concurrent investigations happening and would like more specific explanation in use of force and 4th amendment violations.

                Commissioner DeJesus spoke of attending the EIS meeting today and would like to move it to a data-driven system and hopes that funding can be available.

                Commissioner Cohen asked that the need for more technology is needed to be funded.  She also reported on a series of calls around beginning to understand the strategy and elements that are happening in the Bayview and would like to concentrate time and energy on this issue.  She spoke with the Mayor’s office and the Chief to talk about strategies as well as Captain Dangerfield to find out what he is seeing and what he is hearing.  She stated that we need to do a better job of doing cross-jurisdictional work.  She spoke of working with other jurisdictions to apprehend suspects in San Francisco.   She commended the officers that are doing the heavy lift and making that work happen.  She stated that this is definitely a team effort and that this Commission are a part of that team.  She stated that the Commission will not only do rule making and setting policies, but the Commission will also clear the way to make sure the Department has the resources that they need to do their job.  She also would like to speak to Tony Montoya of the POA to focus on Bayview crimes. 

PUBLIC COMMENT

                Francisco Dacosta would like to hear about quality-of-life issues and stated there is pandemonium because of lack of leadership and how he is interested in quality-of-life issues and that it needs to be addressed.

                Ms. Paulette Brown spoke in regard to her son and the stereotyping of her son being in a gang.  She went on to thank Commissioner DeJesus, Chief Scott, and Deputy Chief Lazar for their letters.  She asked for support for everybody to recant the statement that her son is part of a gang.               

PRESENTATION OF THE SFPD AND DPA MONTHLY SB 1421 REPORTS

                Commander Rob O’Sullivan presented the Department’s January SB 1421 report.

                Sara Maunder presented the DPA’s SB 1421 report.

                Commissioner Elias asked that the SB 1421 position be included in the request.               

PUBLIC COMMENT                         

                 Unidentified spoke regarding Commissioner Hamasaki’s tweet about a resident of San Francisco who is fleeing San Francisco and spoke about Chesa Boudin.                               

STATUS REPORT REGARDING SFPD/DPA INFORMATION SHARING AGREEMENTS

                Sharon Woo of DPA and Assistant Chief Moser presented the SFPD/DPA Information Sharing Agreements.               

PUBLIC COMMENT

                None.

OFFICERS FOR JUSTICE PRESENTATION REGARDING BLACK HISTORY MONTH & OFJ MASKS

                Yulanda Williams, OFJ President, presented the OFJ presentation regarding Black History Month and OFJ masks.

(The Commission took a break at 8:20 p.m. and reconvened at 8:30 p.m.)               

PUBLIC COMMENT

                Francisco Dacosta commended Lt. Williams for a great presentation and spoke of Espanola Jackson.

                Cheryl Thornton thanked Lt. Williams for her presentation and spoke of gentrification in the Bayview and loss of Black and Brown officers in the Bayview.

                Ms. Paulette Brown thanked Lt. Williams for her presentation and spoke of discrimination in the Department and spoke of African American young men in the community.

PRESENTATION OF THE SEXUAL ASSAULT EVIDENCE KIT (SAEK) SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT, JULY 1 – DECEMBER 31, 2020

                Deputy Chief David Lazar introduced Captain Sergio Chin, Special Victims Unit, who presented the Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Semi-Annual Report, July 1 – December 31, 2020.

PUBLIC COMMENT

                None

PRESENTATION OF THE LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY (LEP) ANNUAL REPORT 2020

                Commander Daryl Fong, Community Engagement Division, presented the Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Annual Report 2020.                     

PUBLIC COMMENT

                None

DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO APPROVE DRAFT DEPARTMENT BULLETIN 20-166, “SECONDARY FIREARMS” FOR THE DEPARTMENT TO USE IN MEETING & CONFERING  WITH THE SFPOA AS REQUIRED BY LAW

                Deputy Chief Greg Yee, Administration, presented the Department Bulletin 20-166, “Secondary Firearms,” for the Department to use in meeting and conferring with the SFPOA as required by law.

PUBLIC COMMENT

                None

                Motion by Commissioner Cohen, second by Commissioner Hamasaki to continue this item.  Approved 4-0.               

DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO APPROVE DEPARTMENT BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022/23

                Chief Scott and Director Leung presented the Department’s budget for fiscal year 2022/23.           

 PUBLIC COMMENT

                Wesley, Glide, spoke of support for funding CART and strong support to reduce police budget.   

                Unidentified spoke of how SFPD has hired 500 new officers in the past 10 years and urged that the commission vote to reduce the police budget and reallocate funds to community-based organizations and public health.

                Kristine supports personnel cuts and defunding SFPD and stated more police on the streets will not address mental health problems.

                Jordan Davis supports cutting the police and fund CART instead and take money away from police public housing and support mental health programs.

                Lucks supports cutting funds and reallocate funds for programs to help people pay rent.

                Narita spoke of being helped by the police with her mental health child and support money to go to more restorative justice to help the community.

                Susan Buxton, Wealth & Disparities, does not follow what the motion is and ask to restate the motion clearly.               

                Motion by Commissioner Cohen not to move the budget forward, second by Commissioner Hamasaki.  Approved 4-0.

RESOLUTION NO. 21-19

DECISION NOT TO MOVE THE SFPD’S FY 2022/23 BUDGET FORWARD

RESOLVED, that the Police Commission decided not to move the SFPD’s Fiscal Year 2022/23 proposed budget forward.

                AYES:     Commissioners Cohen, Elias, DeJesus, Hamasaki

        ABSENT:      Commissioner Brookter

DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION URGING THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO AUTHORIZE THE CHIEF OF POLICE TO ACCEPT AND EXPEND A GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $73,800 THROUGH THE NALOXONE DISTRIBUTION PROJECT (NDP), WHICH IS FUNDED BY THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (SAMHSA) AND ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES (DHCS)               

PUBLIC COMMENT

                None

RESOLUTION NO. 21-20

APPROVAL TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION URGING THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO AUTHORIZE THE SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT TO ACCEPT AND EXPEND A GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $73,800 THROUGH THE NALOXONE DISTRIBUTION PROJECT (NDP), WHICH IS FUNDED BY THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (SAMHSA) AND ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES (DHCS)  

RESOLVED, that the Police Commission hereby urge the Board of Supervisors to authorize the San Francisco Police Department to accept and expend a grant in the amount of $$73,800 through the Naloxone Distribution Project (NDP), which is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and administered by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).

AYES:                     Commissioners Cohen, Elias, DeJesus, Hamasaki

ABSENT:               Commissioner Brookter

REQUEST OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE FOR APPROVAL TO ACCEPT A $27,988.37 PATRICK LEAHY BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP (BVP) FROM THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE (BJA) TO BE USED FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE (NU) COMPLIANT ARMORED VEST

PUBLIC COMMENT

                None

RESOLUTION NO. 21-21

APPROVAL OF THE REQUEST OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE TO ACCEPT A $27,988.37 PATRICK LEAHY BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP (BVP) GRANT FROM THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE (BJA) TO BE USED FOR THE PURCHASE OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE (NIJ) COMPLIANT ARMORED VESTS  

RESOLVED, that the Police Commission hereby approves the request of the Chief of Police to accept a $27,988.37 Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to be used for the purchase of National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Compliant Armored Vests.

AYES:                     Commissioners Cohen, Elias, DeJesus, Hamasaki

ABSENT:               Commissioner Brookter

ADJOURNMENT

                Motion by Commissioner Elias, second by Commissioner DeJesus to adjourn.  Approved 4-0.

Thereafter, the meeting was adjourned at 10:55 p.m.