April 30, 2010

Marijuana Offenses Oversight Committee

Minutes of Meeting

April 30, 2010
1:30 pm — 3:00 pm

City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton Goodlett Place, Rm. 278

1. Call to order and roll call. The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair Catherine Smith.

Present:
Catherine Smith
Aleem Raja
Gregory Ledbetter
Richard Rendon
Mesha Monge-Irizarry

Absent:
Michael Barbitta

2. Approval of minutes of February 5, 2010 meeting [Action Item]

The minutes of the February 5, 2010 meeting were approved.

a. Public comment was taken.

3. Preparation of Semi-Annual Report to the Board of Supervisors [Discussion Item and Possible Action Item]

Discussion was held over statistical report from the Taraval Commissioner meeting containing Police Department statistics. Data contained in this report will be used in the Semi-Annual Report. Committee Members Rendon and Raja will work on the report. Committee Member Monge-Irizarry will provide information for report as well. A draft report will be available for the next meeting.

The purpose of the report is to educate Police Officers around the legislation. Education is part of MOOC’s purpose and is absolutely needed.

Gregory Ledbetter requested the addition of an agenda item: To discuss the bust on Taraval and how to address what steps can we take to find out: Why was house entered? Was med. verified? Was time given for this verification?

a. Public comment was taken.

4. Preparation of supplementary Police Department form for marijuana arrests [Discussion Item and Possible Action Item]

The forms were prepared by Committee Member Monge-Irizarry in December of 2009, but need additional tweaking to set expectations higher. It was suggested to work with Eileen. Committee Member Monge-Irizarry will revise the form for the next meeting.

Discussion was held over protocol for where Public forms should be sent. MOOC forms need to be available for people at the District Attorney’s office. It was suggested that the following contact information be added to the public forms: MOOC email - m.o.o.c@sfgov.org, MOOC Voice Mail - (415) 554-7171, bilingual number - (415) 595 8251, and fax - (415) 554-4849. Possibly the MOOC Yahoo Group. Complaints should then be forwarded to:

Official: Aleem Raja
Office of the Public Defender
555 – 7th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

a. Public comment was taken.

ACTION ITEM: Committee Chair Smith made a motion to approve and the motion was seconded by Committee Member Ledbetter. Request for changes to the form were passed.

5. Process for obtaining Police Dept. statistics on marijuana arrests [Discussion Item and Possible Action Item]

Committee Member Monge-Irizarry reported she spoke with O’Leary. They treat it as a recommendation and not a law. There are a lot of questions regarding legislation. Discussion was held over doing a training at the Police Academy. It was suggested to contact Officer Kelly Dunn, Mental Health Liaison, at SFPD.

The Grower’s Committee is working on safety guidelines.

Commander at Taraval Station is getting people to turn in their neighbors.

Following are the stats needed from SFPD arrests and convictions: property return, race, age, sex, primary reason for arrest, and any other general statistics they may have.

Contact at DA’s Office to go over probable cause/arrest issue – Sharon Wu, Head of Narcotics, District Attorney’s Office. Committee Member Raja will make contact to go over numbers and determine if cannabis was top charge. The Police Commissioner is aware that cannabis is the lowest priority.

a. Public comment was taken.

6. Locations for collection of Oversight forms and decision re recipient [Discussion Item]

Committee member Smith reported she had a long list on file and will bring list of locations to next meeting.

a. Public comment was taken.

7. General public comment was received and discussed:

a. Police arresting for other reasons if they cannot arrest for prostitution.
b. Provide education segment during Police briefing.
c. Stats on surges in numbers.
d. Providing information on Public Channel 20.
e. Smoking around schools.
f. SB1440/
g. Health Department pressing vaporizers.
h. Encourage proper health procedures. Sterilization/Alcohol Wipes.
i. Call for joint meeting of safety with Police.
j. Outreach at Taraval Station (Committee Member Monge-Irizarry).

8. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned.