San Francisco Police Commission Meeting – March 8, 2023
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San Francisco Police Commission Meeting – March 8, 2023
The San Francisco Police Commission met on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, to discuss a range of public safety issues including crime trends, department discipline backlogs, and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the FBI and the District Attorney. Commissioners heard public comment, received reports from the Chief of Police and the DPA Acting Director, and engaged in detailed deliberation on two controversial MOUs.
Consent Calendar
- Adoption of Minutes (February 15, 2023, amended): Motion carried unanimously (7-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Gloria Brown (mother of homicide victim): Urged commission to act on unsolved homicides, describing the emotional toll of her son’s 2006 murder and the lack of progress despite a $250,000 reward. Brought photos and names of alleged perpetrators.
- Chris Romero (Executive Director, Municipal Executives Association): Criticized Vice President Carter Oberstone’s 40-minute questioning of a senior SFPD employee at the February 15 meeting, calling it disrespectful and harmful to morale. He urged commissioners to treat city staff with respect to aid recruitment and retention.
- Vice President Carter Oberstone responded: Defended the questioning as necessary oversight, characterizing the employee’s actions as willful disregard of obligations. He stated that effective government oversight sometimes requires hard questions and that the commission’s responsibility is to ensure compliance with policies.
Chief’s Report (Discussion Item 3)
- Chief William Scott reported:
- Violent crime down 14%, property crime down 27%, overall crime down 26% year-to-date compared to last week’s report.
- Homicides increased from 4 to 7 year-to-date (as of March 8, 2023); shootings decreased 10% (from 29 to 26).
- Fentanyl seizures up 63% (over 50,000 grams vs. ~20,000 grams last year). 26 arrests for narcotics sales in the Tenderloin in the past two weeks.
- Significant arrest: Attempted kidnapping of a baby in Bayview; suspect apprehended.
- Ongoing Tenderloin operation (permanent transfer of 20 officers); community feedback positive but challenges remain overnight.
- Collaboration with Urban Alchemy ambassadors in Civic Center and Tenderloin viewed as effective.
- Mission District: Cap Street prostitution operation addressed with traffic enforcement and community event; displacement to other areas (16th-18th St) noted.
- Commissioner Yee noted overall crime reductions and attributed them to overtime and focused strategies.
- Commissioner Byrne clarified that a fight at Reardon High School was initiated by an opposing team’s players, not Reardon’s; the school’s staff were commended for containing the incident.
- Public comment on Chief’s report: Ms. Brown repeated her call for action on unsolved homicides, referencing a prior presentation that suggested measures but with no follow-up.
Discussion of March 2022 MOU with FBI’s Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force (Item 6)
- Assistant Chief David Lazar presented the MOU (signed March 24, 2022), which allows up to 5 full-time and 2 part-time SFPD officers (all sergeants) on the task force, working out of SFPD facilities. Key provisions:
- Officers must follow all SFPD policies; conflicts resolved by officers withdrawing from affected operations.
- Body-worn cameras required; all plainclothes officers now wear BWCs.
- All investigative records owned by the FBI; SFPD receives information only as needed for prosecutions.
- Deputized as Special Deputy U.S. Marshals; subject to FBI rules but SFPD policies prevail in conflicts.
- MOU has no expiration date; any party can withdraw.
- Commissioner Elias raised concerns:
- Disconnect between stated practice and MOU language on record ownership and access for discipline/DPA.
- Potential impediment to investigating misconduct if FBI withholds records (paragraphs 25, 26, 62).
- Acting DPA Director Diana Rosenstein revealed two prior cases where DPA could not obtain task force records due to the MOU, leading to insufficient evidence findings. She noted the MOU also restricts access to equipment from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center.
- Chief Scott stated he was unaware of those cases and promised follow-up.
- Commissioner Benedicto probed conflicts between paragraphs 18 (SFPD policy override) and later provisions (47, 48, 53, 54). Chief and AC Lazar affirmed paragraph 18 supersedes all. Commissioner Benedicto encouraged renegotiating the MOU to make that explicit.
- Vice President Carter Oberstone questioned whether the MOU could impede supervisory notification; Chief said no.
- Commissioner Yanez asked about real-time conflict resolution—officers call their lieutenant or FBI supervisor. She expressed concern about community perception of SFPD involvement in federal operations.
- Commissioner Walker thanked for explanation; noted task force is regional.
- Commissioner Byrne asked about MOUs with ICE, CBP, ATF, DEA. Chief confirmed no MOU with ICE; joint work with HSI on child pornography; MOU with ATF for Crime Gun Intelligence Center; no current MOU with DEA.
- No public comment on this item.
- Outcome: Commission decided to agendize a follow-up in four months (early fall) to review updates, with Commissioner Benedicto as liaison.
Discussion of Draft MOU between SFPD and SFDA Regarding Investigation of Serious Uses of Force (Item 7)
- Chief Scott requested permission to post the revised MOU (nearly finalized, pending one paragraph) publicly so DPA and the commission could review it. He argued that DPA could not fully understand SFPD’s counter-proposals without seeing the final DA agreement.
- Acting Director Rosenstein strongly opposed, stating DPA already had the November draft and that the new draft would not change core issues. She detailed three areas where DPA would lose access:
- Scene access: Current practice allows DPA walk-throughs after scene secured; SFPD’s proposal would require DA consent.
- Contemporaneous observation of witness interviews: Currently allowed; SFPD’s proposal gives DA ultimate authority.
- Timely exchange of records: DPA’s request for formalized access was rejected. She argued the proposed MOU would violate DPA’s charter mandate (Sec. 4.136J) for prompt and full cooperation.
- Chief Scott countered that independent investigations require the investigating agency (DA) to control information flow, and that DPA should wait until negotiations complete. He asked that the parties work it out without a commissioner referee.
- President Elias proposed assigning Commissioner Benedicto as facilitator. Commissioner Byrne moved to give SFPD and DPA one month to negotiate before assigning a commissioner; the motion was ruled out of order because the item was not agendized for action.
- Outcome: The MOU will be posted for public and DPA review; a formal vote on assigning a commissioner will occur at the next meeting (March 15, 2023). Commissioner Benedicto will continue informal facilitation.
Closed Session (Items 8-10a, 11-12)
- Commission voted unanimously (7-0) to hold item 10 in closed session, asserting attorney-client privilege. After closed session, voted unanimously (7-0) not to disclose any discussion.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar (minutes of Feb. 15, 2023) adopted 7-0.
- Chief’s report received; no formal action.
- FBI Task Force MOU: No vote taken; commission committed to revisit in 4 months; Commissioner Benedicto will monitor.
- SFPD-SFDA MOU: To be posted publicly once finalized; DPA and SFPD urged to negotiate; formal vote on commissioner assignment deferred to next meeting.
- Closed session disclosure declined.
Meeting Transcript
The chair has called the meeting to order. If you could please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. All right, Vice President Carter Overstone, if I could take roll, please. Commissioner Walker. Commissioner Benedicto. Present. Commissioner Yanez. Present. Commissioner Byrne. Here. Commissioner Yee. Vice President Carter Oberstone. Present. President Elias is in route. Also with us tonight, we have Chief Scott from the San Francisco Police Department, as well as acting executive director Diana Rosenstein for DPA is also in route. Item number one, please. Item number one, general public comment. At this time, the public is now welcome to address the commission for up to two minutes on items that do not appear on tonight's agenda, but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the police commission. Under police commission rules of order, during public comment, neither police or DPA personnel nor commissioners are required to respond to questions by the public, but may provide a brief response. Alternatively, you may submit public comment on either of the following ways by emailing the Secretary of the Police Commission at SAPD.commission at SFgov.org, or written comments may be sent to the US Postal Service at PHQ's public safety building located at 1245 Third Street, San Francisco, California, 94158. If you would like to make public comment, please approach the podium. Good evening, Ms. Brown. Good evening, everyone. I'm here concerning my son Arbre Abracassa, who was murdered August 14, 2006. To this day, his case isn't solved. I know I was here last week concerning. What do we do about this 250,000 reward, and no one's come forth? And we talked about other ways that a person can come forth concerning the unsolved homicides. But again, I just bring my pictures. Hannibal Thomas is backwards. One of them is deceased, and I believe it's him, Marcus. I mean, yes. So you have all the names of the perpetrators that murdered my child. I come here. Yeah, last week I was very emotional, and I'm still emotional. I had one of his friends tell me that he came and saw my son and watched the amulance turn him over. And that's how he found out that that was my child. He said he didn't know who he was until they turned him over. And I said, What did he look like? He said he was gray. He was already gone. So that bothered me. And I needed to hear that because it's gonna make me fight a little harder than what I've been doing. And I will continue to come here and ask for justice for my son, my 16, 17-year-old boy who was murdered. Thank you. Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Chris Romero. I'm the executive director of uh San Francisco Municipal Executives Association. Uh a couple of weeks ago, I sent a letter to the commission having to do with a meeting that occurred on February the 15th, where one of our members and one of your uh city employees was interrogated with an effort it seemed to entrap um him at um by Commissioner Oberstone.
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