San Francisco Police Commission Meeting – February 8, 2023
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San Francisco Police Commission Meeting – February 8, 2023
The San Francisco Police Commission met on February 8, 2023, at 1:45 PM. The meeting included discussions on overdue policy revisions, a surveillance camera policy update, public safety reports, and budget presentations for the SFPD and the Department of Police Accountability (DPA). The commission voted to approve the SFPD’s proposed budget for fiscal years 2024-2025 and held a closed session.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were on the agenda.
Public Comments & Testimony
- General Public Comment: A mother of a murder victim (2006 unsolved homicide) pleaded for more resources to solve cold cases, naming alleged perpetrators and noting a $250,000 reward. She urged the commission to address unsolved homicides.
- Public Comment on Item 6 (DGO deadlines): No public comment was offered.
- Public Comment on Item 8 (Surveillance cameras): No public comment was offered.
- Public Comment on Chief’s Report: The same mother spoke again, reiterating her frustration with unsolved homicides and the lack of progress on her son’s case.
- Public Comment on DPA Budget: No public comment was offered.
- Public Comment on Closed Session items: No public comment was offered.
Discussion Items
- Item 6 & 7 – DGO Revision Deadlines (DGOs 8.10, 6.18, 9.03): Vice President Carter Oberstone led a review of missed deadlines under DGO 3.01. Director Kwood (DPA) detailed email exchanges showing the department failed to respond to recommendations for DGO 8.10 (First Amendment activities) for months. The department did not request an extension until December 20, 2022, after the December 6 deadline. Chief Scott acknowledged the department was “not responsive” and took responsibility. Commissioner Benedicto discussed DGO 9.03 (mandatory blood tests) and 6.18 (warrant arrests). For 9.03, DPA’s recommendations from June 2021 had not been answered; Deputy Chief Perea committed to a draft by March 10, 2023. For 6.18, a November 28, 2022 deadline was missed, but a draft was submitted on February 1, 2023. The commission decided to reschedule the discussion on DGO 8.10 to a future meeting when the executive sponsor and subject matter expert could attend.
- Item 8 – Surveillance Camera Policy Update (Admin Code 19B): Aja Steves (SFPD) presented the implementation plan for the non-city entity surveillance camera pilot ordinance (effective November 6, 2022, sunsetting January 2024). The department created a new request form (SFPD Form 619) requiring captain-level approval, except for exigencies or significant events. Training will roll out in phases starting with captains and lieutenants. Commissioners discussed the form’s language, the need for voluntary consent language for private entities, and language access. The first quarterly report is due by June 1, 2023. Commissioner Benedicto requested real-time updates in the Chief’s Report and a future commission presentation.
- Item 2 – Chief’s Report: Assistant Chief Lazar reported on crime trends: violent crime up 3% year-to-date, property crime down 20%, homicides up 25% (5 vs. 4 last year), 18 shootings (up from 15). 89 firearms seized year-to-date. He highlighted a fentanyl seizure of 20 pounds (plus 14 pounds in Oakland), a rescue of a 14-year-old human trafficking victim, and new strategies in the Tenderloin (Operation Disruption) and on Capp Street (prostitution enforcement). The MOU with the DA’s office is nearing completion.
- Item 3 – DPA Director’s Report: Director Henderson noted 9 cases pending with the commission, 89 with the chief. The most common allegations this week: failure to take required action (21%) and inappropriate behavior (13%). DPA completed a review of SFPD’s 24-month updates on the 2020 use of force audit; 10 of 37 recommendations remain open. New staff were introduced.
- Item 4 – Commission Reports: Commissioners gave updates on DGO assignments (9.07, 10.11, 7.01, 5.16), a joint meeting with the Juvenile Probation Commission, and an AAPI community summit. Commissioner Byrne requested that U visa certification information be posted on the commission website.
- Item 9 – SFPD Budget Hearing (FY 2024-2025): CFO Patrick Leong presented the proposed budget, noting the mayor’s directive to cut general fund support by 5% in FY24 and 8% in FY25. The department has 297 sworn vacancies and faces a shortage of officers. Overtime backfill is critical. The budget includes $1.2 million in cost reductions but no personnel cuts. Commissioners questioned vehicle replacement, civilianization, and the number of officers on administrative duty. The commission voted 6-0 to approve the budget as a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.
- Item 10 – DPA Budget Presentation (FY 2024-2025): Nicole Armstrong presented DPA’s $9 million budget (85% salary/fringe). Proposed changes include adding a 1091 IT apprentice, converting a temporary outreach coordinator to permanent, and funding for digitizing case files and improving data sharing with SFPD. DPA currently handles over 700 cases annually. The commission discussed the need for better data integration between DPA and SFPD, especially for the upcoming Benchmark system. No vote was taken; the presentation was for discussion.
Key Outcomes
- Vote to approve SFPD budget (FY 2024-2025): 6-0 in favor (motion by Commissioner Walker, second by Commissioner Benedicto).
- Motion to hold Item 13 in closed session: Unanimous (6-0).
- Motion not to disclose closed session discussion: Unanimous (6-0).
- Rescheduled DGO 8.10 discussion: The commission will re-agendize the item for a future meeting when the deputy chief and subject matter expert can attend.
- Next steps on surveillance camera policy: The department will update the Form 619 with voluntary consent language, provide translation, and include live monitoring usage in the Chief’s Report. The first quarterly report is due June 1, 2023.
- DPA budget: No action taken; the presentation was for discussion. The commission expressed support for DPA’s funding needs and data-sharing initiatives.
- MOU with DA’s office: The department expects to provide the draft MOU to the commission by the end of the week. The current MOU expires February 28, 2023; an extension may be needed.
Meeting Transcript
All right, the chair has called the meeting to order. If you could please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of allegiance. To the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all. Please. Commissioner Walker. Commissioner Benedict. Present. Commissioner Yanias. President. Commissioner Vern. Here. Commissioner Yi is in route. And Vice President Carter Overstone, you have a quorum. Also here with us tonight, we have Chief William Scott who was appearing virtually, as well as Assistant Chief David Lazar and Executive Director Paul Henderson from the Department of Police Accountability. Great. Welcome everyone. For members of the public, just want to advise on a couple changes to the agenda. So item five, the MOU with the district attorney's office is going to be taken off the agenda today. And the commission to consider, and the chief will give an update on the status of the negotiations during his chief's report. Chief Scott will be joining us remotely for a portion of today's meeting. And so we're going to take a couple of items out of order that Chief Scott's going to speak on so that he can speak on them first because he is on the East Coast. So with that, we are going to start with item number six, please. Line item six discussion of deadlines per DGO 3.01 written communication system for revision of DGO 8.10 guidelines of First Amendment activity, 6.18 warrant arrests, and 9.03 mandatory blood test for drivers under the influence at the request of the commission discussion. Thank you. So I asked for this item to be placed on the agenda a few weeks ago, and just wanted to provide some background and context on this issue. So it was a few months ago now that Director Henderson highlighted for the commission that there were 26 DGOs that had been started the revision process but had been stalled, despite the department having received uh recommendations from DPA. In response to that, and I should say some of these some of these DGOs were most were stalled for over a year, some even over two years. First, President Elias assigned to each commissioner each one of these DGOs, such so that each commissioner had personal responsibility to shepherd the DGO through the revision process and ensure that timelines were being met. Secondly, um last year, DGO 3.01 became effective. And what DGO 3.01 does is that it it sets it sets out an explicit step-by-step process for how DGOs are to be revised. It sets strict timelines for each step along the process. Now, while the timelines are strict, they are not completely inflexible. The DGO does allow for either DPA or the department to seek an extension of time if they feel they're not able to meet a deadline, and they just have to describe explain why there's good cause to receive an extension. Back when we had our original meeting many months ago to discuss the 26 stall DGOs, many of us were, including myself, many of us were very critical of Chief Scott for the unexplained delay. Because it's ultimately our responsibility as the oversight body to ensure that policy revision is happening on time. And so when we have instances, as in as in the case of DGO 810, uh, where deadlines are not being met, it's the commission's responsibility to inquire into why that is, especially when there's there's been no request or no timely request for an extension of time. Um and then I should also say, in addition to 810, Commissioner Benedicto had, I think, similar issues and asked for some other DGOs to also be placed on the agenda. So we'll have an opportunity to discuss those two. Um if it's all right, Commissioner, I'll start with 810 and then you can take it away. All right. Um Sergeant, could you put the uh the graphic up? All right, so um I just wanted to so as part of this inquiry into DGO 810, I asked for the department and DPA to provide the commission with the relevant emails uh that took place between between them as it relates to the revision of the DGO. And this just highlight this just outlines the timeline of those emails. So on October 27th, DPA requested certain documents from the department that it needed to uh make its phase one recommendation grid. Um there was no response as far as I can tell to that email. On November 3rd, DPA sent the department its phase one recommendation grid. That act under 3.01 triggered a December 6th deadline for the department to respond to that recommendation grid. Um on November 22nd, uh there was a follow-up email from DPA because it had not received any response to this point.
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