San Francisco Youth Commission
Youth Justice Committee
Minutes
Thursday, June 6, 2013
5:00-7:00pm
City Hall, Room 345
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

Members: Angel Carrion, Ramon Gomez, Paul Monge-Rodriguez

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 5:07 pm.

Commissioners present: Carrion Gomez. Commission Monge-Rodriguez noted present at 5:08 p.m.

There was quorum.

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

Commissioner Gomez, seconded by Commissioner Carrion, moved to approve the agenda. This motion was approved by acclamation.

Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. February 7, 2013 (Document A)

B. February 21, 2013 (Document B)

C. May 9, 2013 (Document C)

D. May 16, 2013 (Document D)

Commissioner Gomez, seconded by Commissioner Carrion, moved to approve the four sets of minutes at once. This motion was approved by acclamation.

3. Public Comment on Items not on Agenda (Discussion Only)

There was none.

4. Business (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

D. SFPD Priorities Next Steps: MOU, Training, Police Commission Report

Charimen Carrion called this item out of order and welcomed Captain Lazar and Lieutenant Fatooh from SFPD. Members of SFPD were present to discuss the YC’s three recommendations from 2012 and introduce Lieutenant Fatooh as a new member of the Youth and Community Engagement unit.

A summary of the discussion between SFPD and Commissioners is as follows:

Updates from the Youth and Community Engagement Unit:

• Lt. Fatooh will be a primary contact for the Youth Commission on issues not related to police academy training, which should be referred to Captain Lazar.
• Some priorities for the Youth and Community Engagement unit include creating diversionary programs and increasing preventative and restorative approaches to juvenile policing and crime prevention, bringing local youth into the field through the cadet program, and increasing partnerships between public housing and school-based units.

SFUSD MOU:

• The future of school-based programs is unclear right now (central/on-site vs. station-based SRO programs).
•  There is an outstanding need to outline procedural guidelines between SFPD and SFUSD. Captain O’Leary, the primary contact on the MOU, retired, but Lt. Fatooh will follow up to find out who is taking point on the SFUSD MOU.

Know Your Rights pamphlets:

• We discussed the best way to distribute Know Your Rights pamphlets to SFUSD schools and wellness centers, and DCYF grantees. The Youth Commission will discuss how we can increase distribution through partner organizations and YC outreach and come up with a clearer list of target areas for distribution for SFPD, so that station captains can have brochures distributed to CBO’s. The joint goal is for youth to know their rights before police contact, and in the future, we may look into other ways of distributing this knowledge (games, workshops, videos, etc.)

Training Recommendation:

• The training recommended by the Youth Commission has not been approved. The YC will follow up with Captain Lazar for updates. Meanwhile, SRO’s will be going through SFUSD’s HARTS training. The YC will follow up with Claudia Andersen at SFUSD to learn more about the HARTS training.

Follow up:

• The Youth Commission would like to have a joint report back to the Police Commission with SFPD on the three recommendations on youth-police relations from 2012. Right now, YC will wait to hear whether anyone has been identified for work on the SFUSD MOU.

Commissioners discussed next steps following the discussion with Captain Lazar and Lieutenant Fatooh and directed staff to send an email thanking and recapping the discussion.

There was no further public comment.

A. Staff report

1. Having a call with Dignity in Schools and the Labor Strategy Center
2. Updates on AB 549
3. Other Staff Updates

Chairman Carrion then resumed the agenda and returned to item 4A. Staff member Adele Carpenter gave an update on efforts to schedule a call with the Labor Strategy Center in Los Angeles regarding school discipline and work on a state assembly bill that would mandate the establishment of MOU’s between school districts and police departments.

Commissioners Carrion, Monge-Rodriguez, and Gomez expressed interest in participating. Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez gave an update on work in San Francisco to address suspensions and expulsions and explained that advocates in LAUSD had won a new policy that disallowed school expulsions for willful defiance.

B. Update and follow up from reading of Budget and Policy Priorities

The chair tabled this item.

C. JPD Priorities Next Steps: Drafting Position Letter on JPD PO’s

Commissioners discussed writing a letter or memorandum regarding their position on JPD probation officers new field safety protocols following the passage of the 13/14 Budget and Policy priorities. They agreed to apprise the Juvenile Probation Commission and chief of the details of the Youth Commission’s position opposing the arming of juvenile probation officers at the upcoming Juvenile Probation Commission meeting.

There was no public comment.

E. Follow up on AB 915 Priority

Chairman Carrion gave an update from the Center for Juvenile and Criminal Justice explaining that this bill died in appropriations. The commissioners discussed not submitting the resolution on AB 915 for a second reading and waiting to take up this issue until a future bill allowing for redistribution of state savings to county criminal justice services comes forward.

There was no public comment.

5. Items to Report to Executive Committee (Discussion Only)

The executive committee will be advised of updated from SFPD on the three recommendations. The executive committee will also be advised of the plan to address the Juvenile Probation Commission, as well as the request to table the AB 915 resolution until further notice.

6. Executive Committee Report (Discussion Only)

Commissioner Monge-Rodriguez advised his committee of year end updates, including that he planned to request a special meeting in July, and his work on the Youth Voice ordinance.

7. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:58 pm.