San Francisco Police Commission Meeting – January 17, 2024
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
San Francisco Police Commission Meeting – January 17, 2024
The San Francisco Police Commission met on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 1:45 PM. The meeting included a weekly officer recognition, reports from the Chief of Police and the Department of Police Accountability (DPA), a presentation on the SFPD budget priorities, and a presentation on the DPA annual report. The commission also voted to hold a closed session and subsequently voted not to disclose any discussion from that session.
Officer Recognition
- Sergeant Patrice Heath of the Forensic Services Division (CSI) received a weekly officer recognition certificate. She was praised for her dedication, training of new recruits, and work on standard operating procedures. Her unit has conducted over 1,000 crime scene responses in 2023.
General Public Comment
- A speaker criticized the current commission, stating it lacks experience in the criminal justice system and has become an obstacle to SFPD, calling for a return to partnership and reform rather than punishment.
- A speaker thanked the commission for reforms and suggested creating a court for police abuse incidents and repealing qualified immunity.
- A mother of an unsolved homicide victim (Arbor Abercassa, murdered August 14, 2006) urged the commission to find ways to pay tipsters and solve her son's case.
- A speaker thanked SFPD officers and implored the commission to give them the tools needed to continue the downward crime trend.
Chief's Report
- Chief Scott reported an overall 40% reduction in crime compared to the same period last year, with approximately 800 fewer crimes reported.
- Homicides are even with last year (two year-to-date). One homicide occurred on the 100 block of Barrie; suspects not yet in custody.
- Drug market enforcement resulted in 78 arrests and 5,335 grams of narcotics seized (mostly fentanyl) in the past week. Since the inception of DMAC, 127,091 grams of narcotics have been seized.
- Significant arrests included a homicide suspect from a December 28, 2023 stabbing, and a carjacking suspect tracked via GPS to Vallejo.
- A stunt driving event with about 200 motorcycle riders occurred on January 14; no arrests yet.
- Commissioner Yee asked about a series of commercial burglaries in the Richmond district; Chief Scott confirmed they are believed to be connected, with five incidents, only one successful burglary.
- Commissioner Yee also asked about an attack on an SFMTA worker in December; Chief Scott said an arrest was made but would provide further details.
- President Elias asked about policing on 16th and 24th Street corridors; Chief Scott acknowledged the vending ban has helped but noted that enforcement gaps on holidays (e.g., Martin Luther King Jr. Day) led to a return of vendors. He emphasized the need for consistent deployment.
- Staffing update: an academy class of 22 expected to graduate next month, and four lateral officers were recently hired.
DPA Director's Report
- Executive Director Paul Henderson reported that 20 cases have been opened so far in 2024, 16 cases closed, and 317 cases remain open. Three cases have been sustained.
- 26 cases exceed the nine-month investigation period, with 19 of those due to officer availability (tolled).
- Eight cases are pending with the commission, 87 with the chief.
- The highest allegation category this week is conduct unbecoming of an officer.
- DPA is expanding outreach and social media presence.
- Vice President Carter Oberstone asked about the status of stop data requested for an audit. Chief Scott stated that data will be provided on a rolling basis starting in about a week and a half (end of January). Director McGuire confirmed that no data has been turned over yet, citing the need to redact juvenile data and other scheduling issues. Commissioner Walker expressed concern about a leak of confidential information and asked for a report on the investigation; Director Henderson said DPA was not involved in the leak.
Commission Reports
- President Elias asked commissioners to prioritize discipline cases to prevent a backlog. Eight cases are pending with the commission, 87 with the chief.
- Commissioner Yaniez announced she will be away from January 25 to February 12. She reported on language access DGO and noted that required annual and bi-annual reports have not been presented to the commission. She also requested a discussion on RIPA best practices for 2022 and 2023.
- Vice President Carter Oberstone addressed a previous public comment from a mother of an unsolved homicide victim, stating that the commission had planned to hire a policy analyst to research tip incentives, but the position was frozen by the mayor. He requested a joint SFPD/DPA presentation on best practices for incentivizing tips.
- Commissioner Walker reported ongoing work on the patrol specials issue and a planned tour of Code Tenderloin infrastructure.
Presentation on SFPD Budget Priorities
- Executive Director Catherine McGuire presented the budget priorities. Key points:
- The city faces a $800 million deficit over two years, leading to a 10% reduction in adjusted general fund support for each of the next two fiscal years, plus a 5% contingency.
- No new FTEs are allowed; departments must prioritize core operations and eliminate non-essential services.
- The SFPD budget is largely personnel-driven; overtime costs are high due to vacancies. In FY23, overtime was $37 million, and in FY24 year-to-date it is $45.8 million, including 68,000 hours for APEC.
- The department has a
Meeting Transcript
For which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. President Lyons like to take roll. Please. Commissioner Walker. Present. Commissioner Benedicto is in route. Commissioner Yanyez. President. Commissioner Byrne here. Commissioner Yee. Vice President Carter Oberstone is in route. President Alliance, you have a quorum. Also with us tonight, our Chief Scott from the San Francisco Police Department and Executive Director Paul Henderson from the Department of Police Accountability. Thank you. Welcome everyone to our January 17th meeting. We can't believe we're already halfway through January. All right, let's get this uh party started. So go ahead. Line item one weekly officer recognition certificate. Presentation of an officer who has gone above and beyond in the performance of their duties. Sergeant Patrice Heath, star number 4209, forensic science division, CSI. Oh, this is your people, right? Thank you. Hi. Thank you, Commissioners, Executive Director in Chief, uh, for this opportunity to recognize Sergeant Heath. Uh just to tell you a little bit about what uh the day-to-day at CSI is. They uh like everyone else in the department, they're short staff, so there's a lot of on-call. They're expected to respond to scenes 24-7. Um, a lot of backfill. They've um about nine people in the unit, two of which are in training, and they've done over a thousand scenes in 2023, so they're they're very busy. And so they have to respond to scenes, but they also have to document them to the highest quality, look for evidence to make sure that it will stand up to further investigation and prosecution if necessary, or exoneration. Um, so it's a it's a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, and so Sergeant Heath really kind of exemplifies uh a CSI officer. She's constantly um training herself, continuing education. She's certified by the International Association of Identification. Um, she's been instrumental in training our new um new recruits to the to the unit, both sworn and professional, and she's also at a hand in writing our standard operating procedures for how we process evidence at scenes. Um with the goal of getting the unit accredited. So it's my honor to recognize uh Sergeant Heath, and I'll read the um certificate. So, in recognition of your dedication and professionalism demonstrated through outstanding community policing practices and inspiring greatness by exemplifying the ideals of police officers as guardians of our community. Such an example of dedication is worthy of the highest esteem by the city and county of San Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department. Thank you. Sergeant Heath, come on, step up to the microphone. First and foremost, I want to congratulate you and thank you for your service. Um I think being a police officer is obviously no easy feat, but the fact that you not only are a police officer but also write standard operating procedures, which is a unique skill that not everyone has and is very difficult. Um I want to commend you on that because it's it's not easy writing policy or procedure, as I'm sure you're very familiar with. Um, and if you ever get bored over there, I'm sure written directives would love to have you. The chief loves people who can write. So congratulations. Thank you for your service. Thank you for helping not only do your job well but train others to do it well too. Um chief.
openpublica.com