OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

San Francisco Police Commission Meeting – April 12, 2023

Police Commission — Wednesday, April 12, 2023
BodySan Francisco, California
SessionPolice Commission
DateWednesday, April 12, 2023
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

If you are able, please rise that we can do the pledge of allegiance.

0:13

The United States of America and to the Republic for which it's a very good thing.

0:19

Undergivis liberty and justice for all.

0:28

So we will begin with roll call.

0:32

Thank you.

0:32

Hello, everyone.

0:33

Welcome to our April 12th, 2023 meeting.

0:36

We are so excited to see all the beautiful faces in the audience today.

0:40

So we're going to start with taking role and get this start started.

0:45

Commissioner Benedicto.

0:47

Present.

0:48

Commissioner Giannis is joining us virtually.

0:51

Commissioner Giannis, can you Commissioner Giannis, can you hear us?

0:57

Now I can, yes.

0:58

Thank you.

0:59

President.

1:00

Thank you, Commissioner Yannis.

1:03

Commissioner Byrne.

1:05

Here.

1:05

Commissioner Burney's here.

1:06

Commissioner Yee.

1:08

Here.

1:08

Yee is here.

1:09

Vice President Carter Oberstone.

1:11

Present.

1:12

Vice President Carter Oberstone is president and President Elias is here.

1:16

Also joining us today.

1:18

We have from the Department of Police Accountability, Chief of Staff, Diana Rosenstein.

1:24

And we also have from the San Francisco Police Department, Chief William Scott.

1:31

Thank you.

1:32

Can we start with the first agenda item, please?

1:34

Yes.

1:34

Line item one.

1:36

Weekly officer recognition certificate.

1:39

Presentation of an officer who has gone above and beyond in the performance of their duties.

1:44

And to present, we have Captain Martin from Southern Station.

1:50

Hello, Captain, welcome.

1:53

Hello, police commissioners.

1:54

Thank you for having us.

1:55

Chief Scott, ladies and gentlemen, and all the uh distinguished members of the uh SFPAL.

2:01

It's good to see all you guys.

2:03

Uh so thank you very much for uh allowing us to recognize a couple of officers here from Southern Station for all the uh outstanding work they they do.

2:11

I'm gonna highlight uh one specific case, but these officers uh on a daily basis go above and beyond uh the call of duty.

2:21

So this particular incident happened on uh March 14th at about 6 35 p.m.

2:27

on uh Treasure Island.

2:30

Uh officers Pete Impson and John Tynes worked the swing watch patrol here at Southern Station.

2:38

Uh they're both extremely hardworking veteran officers who are well respected among all their peers and all their supervisors.

2:46

Officer Impson is one of our officers who's assigned to the Treasure Island sector.

2:52

And Officer Tynes works uh sector cars on the mainland uh at Southern Station.

2:58

He's also a field training officer who regularly trains um all of our uh new officers coming out of the academy.

3:06

At the time of this incident, both officers were assigned to their respective patrol duties.

3:11

Officer Impson was patrolling Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, and Officer Tynes was a sector car within the city.

3:20

There was a report of a shooting on the Bay Bridge, and a suspect uh vehicle description was broadcasted along with description of suspects.

3:31

As the uh vehicle approached Treasure Island, uh there was more information provided that the suspects were uh fleeing the vehicle that was pulled over on the side of the bridge, and they were all seen uh carrying handguns at that time.

3:46

Officer Impson quickly responded to that area uh where the vehicle was last seen on the Bay Bridge as Officer Tynes and other Southern officers responded from the mainland.

3:57

Uh subsequent information revealed that a shooting had not actually occurred, but that the suspects were in fact armed with handguns.

4:05

Officer Imsen uh responded to the area where the vehicle was and figured the most likely area where the suspects could have been and in fact located them hiding near a storm drain.

4:20

Knowing that there was a good chance the uh suspects would flee this area if he went in to uh try to make an arrest.

4:25

He coordinated with officers that were arriving from the mainland to uh the most likely area where the suspects would flee from the area they were hiding once he moved in.

4:36

After coordinating those efforts, Officer Impson moved in and and like he suspected the uh suspects took off running up uh a hillside into waiting officers that were coordinated from Officer Impson.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Police Oversight█████████████████████████████████████████████49%
Public Safety█████████████████18%
Public Comment█████████████14%
Community Engagement████████9%
Procedural█████5%
Communication███3%
Transportation Safety█1%
Public Health█1%
Summary of Proceedings

San Francisco Police Commission Meeting – April 12, 2023

The San Francisco Police Commission held its regular meeting on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at 1:45 PM. The meeting included officer recognition, a presentation by the San Francisco Police Activities League (SFPAL), reports from the Chief of Police and the Department of Police Accountability (DPA), a quarterly policy update (Sparks Report), and approval of a revised general order. A significant portion of the meeting was devoted to a debate over the department's use of bureau orders versus the formal DGO process, with commissioners expressing concerns about transparency and circumvention of the commission's policy-making authority.

Consent Calendar

  • The commission received and filed the Police Commission report of disciplinary actions for the first quarter of 2023 (Agenda Item 4). The motion passed unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • General Public Comment (Item 3): Several members of the public spoke:
    • A mother of a homicide victim urged the commission to help solve unsolved homicides, showing a photo of her son at autopsy and describing her ongoing grief.
    • Paul Allen criticized the lack of transparency regarding a three-commissioner meeting with command staff, noting that the commission's annual statement of purpose required by the city charter was not on the website.
    • A resident living near the meeting location reported persistent loud traffic, modified cars, and stop-sign violations over 13 years, requesting the commission investigate.
  • Public comment during later items:
    • Paul Allen again raised concerns about the lack of disclosure of any three-commissioner advisory committees and the missing annual statement of purpose.

Discussion Items

  • Weekly Officer Recognition Certificate (Item 1): Captain Martin from Southern Station recognized Officers Pete Impson and John Tynes for a March 14, 2023 incident on Treasure Island in which they coordinated to safely apprehend three suspects and recover two loaded handguns. The suspects were linked to a separate shooting in the Northern District. Commissioners praised the officers' strategic use of backup and critical mindset.
  • SFPAL Presentation (Item 2): Acting Commander Aaron Perra and retired Captain Rick Bruce presented certificates to PAL members, including the first PAL Boy of the Year in many years (Malachi Hightower) and the championship-winning 4th and 5th grade boys basketball teams. The presentation highlighted the PAL program's history since 1959 and its role in building police-youth relationships.
  • Chief’s Report (Item 5): Chief William Scott reported:
    • Crime statistics: 0% change in homicides, 0% change in shooting victims, violent crime up 3%, property crime down 11%, total serious crime down 10%.
    • A homicide on Main Street (Mr. Robert Lee) is under active investigation; a second homicide in the Tenderloin also ongoing.
    • Three shootings during the reporting period: one in Bayview (two suspects detained), one in Ingleside (victim shot, no arrests), one on Kiska Road (details not repeated).
    • Notable arrests: a hot prowl residential burglary suspect arrested on 44th Avenue; an assault with deadly weapon suspect arrested at Lombard and Laguna; enforcement at sideshows resulting in four court orders for vehicle seizures.
    • Tenderloin drug enforcement: 1,303 grams of fentanyl seized in the past week, over 30,000 grams year to date (141% increase), 231 arrests for possession/sales.
    • In response to Commissioner Byrne’s question, Chief Scott confirmed SFPD was working with Whole Foods prior to its store closure to address shoplifting, including making arrests.
    • Regarding the social media investigative use bureau order, the Chief stated the order was issued because there was no existing policy and the DGO process was too slow; he welcomed a separate DGO but argued bureau orders are permissible under DGO 3.01 for operational needs.
  • DPA Director’s Report (Item 6): Chief of Staff Diana Rosenstein reported DPA case statistics: 206 cases opened (vs. 184 in 2022), 210 closed (vs. 184), 16 sustained (vs. 10), 5 mediated (vs. 4). Weekly allegation categories: 32% failure to properly investigate, 13% failure to take required action, 8% biased policing, 8% inappropriate behavior/language. DPA conducted outreach on March 23rd.
  • Commission Reports (Item 7):
    • Commissioner Benedicto: Reported initial working group session for DGO 10.11 (body-worn cameras); attended the annual remembrance for Officer Isaac Espinoza (19th anniversary) at Bayview Station.
    • Commissioner Byrne: Noted that DGO 5.18 is being sent to concurrence; requested agendizing an item on the existence and purpose of any three-commissioner committees for transparency.
    • Commissioner Yee: Mentioned DGOs 2.02 (alcohol use), 2.03 (drug use) due soon; expressed interest in DGO 6.14 (psychological evaluations); attended a stop crime event.
    • Commissioner Yanez: Announced a joint presentation with Juvenile Probation Commission postponed to May 10; will be away for three weeks; requested to agendize an update on community policing plans and expressed concern over the department's recent issuance of a bureau order on investigative use of social media without commission input, despite an existing DGO working group. Chief Scott responded that the order was necessary due to lack of policy and risk management, and he supports a DGO but needed immediate guidance.
  • Sparks Report (1st Quarter 2023) (Item 8):
    • Captain Toomer reported 48 DGOs in process, 9 in public comment, 12 in meet and confer, and that department bulletins are being phased out. Commissioners pressed on the number of bureau orders issued; Captain Toomer said seven department notices were issued in Q1.
    • DPA Director of Policy Janelle Kaywood presented DPA's Q1 policy work, including 39 recommendations on eight existing general orders, a recommendation to require cameras for plainclothes officers, and a critique of SFPD's use of bureau orders as a workaround to the DGO process, citing lack of transparency and undermining commission authority. She also recommended changes to DGO 2.07 to address the backlog of 65 officers awaiting chief's hearings.
    • Extended discussion ensued about the department's use of bureau orders. Commissioners (particularly Elias, Carter Oberstone, Yanez, and Benedicto) argued that bureau orders covering the same subject matter as existing or planned DGOs (plain clothes, body-worn cameras, social media) circumvent the commission's charter authority and the intent of DGO 3.01. Chief Scott maintained that bureau orders are necessary for urgent operational needs and do not amend DGOs, but he agreed to post future bureau orders on the commission's website and provide them to the commission for transparency. The commission expressed intent to formalize this via a resolution.
  • DGO 6.02 (Item 9): The commission voted unanimously to approve revised Department General Order 6.02, "Physical Evidence and Crime Scenes," sending it to meet and confer with bargaining units.

Key Outcomes

  • Votes and decisions:
    • Consent calendar (disciplinary report) – received and filed unanimously.
    • DGO 6.02 approved unanimously (motion by Commissioner Byrne, second by Commissioner Benedicto) to proceed to meet and confer.
    • The commission directed the SFPD to post all bureau orders on the commission website and provide copies to the commission; a formal resolution will be drafted.
  • Directives and future items:
    • Commissioner Yanez requested agendizing the social media DGO and the related bureau order for a future meeting.
    • Commissioner Byrne requested agendizing an item on the existence of any three-commissioner committees and their purposes.
    • Commissioner Elias noted that staff will draft a resolution reiterating support for CART (Community Alternative Response Team).
  • Next steps: The department will provide an ETA for reissuance of the expired department bulletin 21062 (stop data collection system) as a department notice. The chief agreed to include the bureau order posting practice in his next chief's report. DGO 5.18 is expected to come before the commission in about one month.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:10 PM.

Meeting Transcript

If you are able, please rise that we can do the pledge of allegiance. The United States of America and to the Republic for which it's a very good thing. Undergivis liberty and justice for all. So we will begin with roll call. Thank you. Hello, everyone. Welcome to our April 12th, 2023 meeting. We are so excited to see all the beautiful faces in the audience today. So we're going to start with taking role and get this start started. Commissioner Benedicto. Present. Commissioner Giannis is joining us virtually. Commissioner Giannis, can you Commissioner Giannis, can you hear us? Now I can, yes. Thank you. President. Thank you, Commissioner Yannis. Commissioner Byrne. Here. Commissioner Burney's here. Commissioner Yee. Here. Yee is here. Vice President Carter Oberstone. Present. Vice President Carter Oberstone is president and President Elias is here. Also joining us today. We have from the Department of Police Accountability, Chief of Staff, Diana Rosenstein. And we also have from the San Francisco Police Department, Chief William Scott. Thank you. Can we start with the first agenda item, please? Yes. Line item one. Weekly officer recognition certificate. Presentation of an officer who has gone above and beyond in the performance of their duties. And to present, we have Captain Martin from Southern Station. Hello, Captain, welcome. Hello, police commissioners. Thank you for having us. Chief Scott, ladies and gentlemen, and all the uh distinguished members of the uh SFPAL. It's good to see all you guys. Uh so thank you very much for uh allowing us to recognize a couple of officers here from Southern Station for all the uh outstanding work they they do. I'm gonna highlight uh one specific case, but these officers uh on a daily basis go above and beyond uh the call of duty. So this particular incident happened on uh March 14th at about 6 35 p.m. on uh Treasure Island. Uh officers Pete Impson and John Tynes worked the swing watch patrol here at Southern Station. Uh they're both extremely hardworking veteran officers who are well respected among all their peers and all their supervisors. Officer Impson is one of our officers who's assigned to the Treasure Island sector. And Officer Tynes works uh sector cars on the mainland uh at Southern Station. He's also a field training officer who regularly trains um all of our uh new officers coming out of the academy.

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