San Francisco Police Commission Regular Meeting - October 2, 2024
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San Francisco Police Commission Regular Meeting - October 2, 2024
The San Francisco Police Commission held its regular meeting on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, starting at 1:45 PM UTC. The meeting was called to order by President Cindy Elias, with Commissioners Clay, Walker, Benedicto, Yanyez, and Yee present, and Vice President Carter Oberstone arriving later (a quorum was established). Chief Bill Scott and Executive Director Paul Henderson of the Department of Police Accountability (DPA) were also in attendance. The meeting covered routine approvals, reports from the Chief and DPA Director, a quarterly policy report (Sparks Report), a detailed presentation on SFPD's drone program and AB 481 compliance, and approval of two revised Department General Orders (DGOs). The meeting also included a closed session, after which the Commission voted not to disclose any discussions.
Consent Calendar
- Item 3: The Commission voted unanimously (7-0) to receive and file the SFPD Live Monitoring Report for Q1 2024 and the 2023 SFPD Department Awards Certification.
- Item 4: The Commission voted unanimously (7-0) to adopt the minutes from the meetings of September 4, September 11, and September 18, 2024.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 2 (General Public Comment):
- Milena Maki Cabata (Walk SF, campaign associate) urged the SFPD to recommit to Vision Zero and to create an annual Vision Zero plan focused on speeding drivers. She provided a copy of the Vision Zero Coalition's recommendations to the Commission.
- A second public speaker (self-identified as an older resident) expressed increasing discomfort walking in the city due to heavier, faster, and less law-abiding traffic. They cited a lack of enforcement of red-light and stop-sign violations and questioned the number of traffic enforcement officers (allegedly eight) relative to the 400,000+ cars in San Francisco.
- A speaker praised SFPD's drone use and warned that the Commission must follow voter-passed propositions (including Prop E) or face further ballot measures. They also mentioned drafting a new ballot proposition.
- A mother of a homicide victim (Arbory Arcassow, murdered August 14, 2006) described her experience with a DPA investigator who asked if she was "affiliated" with a family in a court case, which she found triggering. She called for better tipster payment programs and support for families.
- Item 5 (Chief's Report): A speaker alleged that a sitting police commissioner and his public defender wife were "scoping out" a residence's camera and called for an investigation. Another speaker (the mother of a homicide victim) again asked for help solving her son's case and for increased tipster rewards.
- No public comment was made for items 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11.
- Item 9 (Drone Program): One speaker expressed support for the drone program, citing Prop E's 54% voter approval (120,529 votes) and arguing that voters had the authority to approve the program.
Discussion Items
Item 5: Chief’s Report Chief Scott reported a 32% decrease in Part I crimes year-to-date (approximately 13,000 fewer crimes), with property crime down 34%, violent crime down 14%, homicides down 40% (24 this year vs. 40 last year), and car break-ins down 57% (7,181 vs. 16,586 last year). Firearm seizures totaled 894 (including 74 ghost guns, down from 117). No homicides occurred in the past week; one non-fatal shooting occurred (September 28, Ingleside). Significant incidents included an armed robbery arrest (September 22, Bayview), an ICAC investigation leading to the arrest of a 56-year-old for child pornography possession/distribution, and a February assault case with a stunt driving-related arrest. Chief Scott said a body-worn camera video would be released either that evening or the next day, and SFPD was preparing for his stakeholder meeting. He also provided updates on bilingual testing (scheduled for October 7, 11, 17, and 18) and addressed Commissioner Benedicto's question about sealed officer files. Commissioner Carter Oberstone asked about the video release process and raised concerns about lateral officers hired from jurisdictions with sealed records; Chief Scott stated there is no evidence of such cases in SFPD.
Item 6: DPA Director’s Report Executive Director Henderson reported: 542 cases opened year-to-date, 224 open investigations, 635 cases closed, 14 mediations, 18 cases older than nine months (17 of which are “told”), 120 sustained cases pending with the Chief, and 13 sustained cases pending with the Police Commission. The most common complaint allegation was officers behaving or speaking inappropriately. He also acknowledged National Hispanic Heritage Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The DPA is addressing comments from the Controller’s office and will have an exit conference with SFPD later in the month.
Item 8: Sparks Report Q2 2024 This quarterly report (sponsored by former Commissioner Sparks) covers policy development from April-June 2024. Presenters included Aja (SFPD) and a DPA representative.
- SFPD reported updates on 25 DGOs and 57 department notices, including Prop E-related DGOs (501, 503, 504, 505, 506) adopted by the Commission. Several DGOs were in various stages: sent to Commission for calendaring (301, 310, 704, 1011), moving out of stage two (316, 610, 612, 613, 809, 812, 1102), and in post-concurrence (518, 701, 906). The 2024 DGO work plan included several items now in public review (302, 316, 607, 613, 615), and working groups for DGO 616 (sexual assault) and 520 (language access) were progressing.
- DPA highlighted 28 recommendations for DGO 6.10 (missing persons), which SFPD has partially incorporated; this DGO was last updated in 1999 (prior to the creation of Amber Alerts). DPA also noted difficulties tracking paper citations (which go directly to Superior Court) compared to e-citations, impacting stop data audits. DPAA also praised the EVOC training. Commissioner Carter Oberstone inquired about the status of DGOs 1.06 and 1.07; it was revealed that the revision process intended to combine them but failed to incorporate 1.07 content, requiring a reset. Commissioner Yanyez requested a red-line version of DGO 520, stating it had not been provided to the working group; SFPD said it was posted online, but Commissioner Yanyez insisted it was not. Director Henderson suggested publishing policy calendars as part of the consent calendar and revisiting DGO 3.01 to clarify deadlines.
Item 9: SFPD Drone Program and AB 481 Compliance Director Kara Lacy (Constitutional Policing) presented SFPD's drone program. She outlined that Prop E (passed March 5, 2024) authorized drone use for vehicle pursuits and active investigations. SFPD acquired six pilot drones in May 2024, and the Board of Supervisors approved a drone policy on September 24, 2024 (9-2 vote), authorizing 22 additional drones, with enactment expected October 4, 2024. Director Lacy stated that SFPD consulted with the City Attorney's office and believes the purchase was lawful, arguing that Prop E stood in for Board approval under AB 481. Commissioner Carter Oberstone sharply criticized this position, reading AB 481 requirements (approval by board of supervisors, ordinance, regular meeting, specific content in the military use policy) and stating that Prop E satisfied none of them. He called the legal rationale “deeply unserious” and asked Chief Scott if he believed the purchase was lawful; Chief Scott said yes. Deputy City Attorney Alice Cabrera confirmed the City Attorney's position that the purchase was lawful but declined to provide public legal reasoning. Commissioner Walker sought to clarify that SFPD followed the advice of lawyers and noted that no lawsuit had been filed. Commissioner Benedicto asked whether other departments had used a similar interpretation; a representative said they were not aware. Commissioner Yee asked if there was a legal precedent allowing voters to stand in for the board; no such case was known. Public comment included one speaker supporting the drone program.
Item 10: DGO 3.10 “Serious Incident Review Board” Sergeant John Crudeau presented the revised DGO 3.10, which expands the former “Firearm Discharge Review Board” (dated 2005) to a broader “Serious Incident Review Board.” The revision includes updated command structures, codifies the Training Division and Force Options Unit as formal participants, and broadens scope to major/critical incidents. The Board will issue policy, training, and tactics recommendations, and will incorporate DPA input. DPA provided 13 recommendations, all resolved through collaboration. The Commission unanimously (7-0) approved the DGO for use in meeting and conferring with bargaining units.
Item 11: DGO 8.03 “Crowd Control” Deputy Chief Raj Vaswani presented the revised DGO 8.03, which was developed by a working group that met seven times between December 2023 and April 2024, including participation from DPA, the Public Defender's Office, community groups, and others. Key changes include added definitions, a dispersal order section, provisions for kinetic energy projectiles and chemical agents per Penal Code 1365, and alignment with media access provisions of Penal Code 409.7. DPA provided two recommendations, one fully accepted and one partially. The Commission unanimously (7-0) approved the DGO for use in meeting and conferring with bargaining units.
Key Outcomes
- Approval of consent calendar (receive and file Live Monitoring Q1 2024 and 2023 Awards certification) – unanimous (7-0).
- Approval of minutes for September 4, 11, and 18, 2024 – unanimous (7-0).
- Approval of revised DGO 3.10 (Serious Incident Review Board) – unanimous (7-0).
- Approval of revised DGO 8.03 (Crowd Control) – unanimous (7-0).
- Vote to hold a closed session (Item 14) – unanimous (7-0).
- Vote not to disclose any discussions from closed session – unanimous (7-0).
Closed Session
- The Commission held a closed session (Item 14) and voted not to disclose any discussion (Item 15). No details were reported.
Meeting Transcript
President Elias like to take role. Commissioner Clay. Present. Commissioner Walker. Present. Commissioner Benedicto. Present. Commissioner Yanyez. Sorry, Commissioner, I did not unmute you. Commissioner Yanyez for roll call. Are you here? Present. Commissioner Yee. Here. And Vice President Carter Oberstone is in route. President Elias, you have a quorum. Also with us tonight, we have 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 October 2nd meeting. Happy October. Let's call the first item. Line item one weekly officer recognition certificate. Presentation of an officer who has gone above and beyond in the performance of their duties. Officer Ryan Walsh, star number 1967, Northern Station. All right. Good evening, Commissioners. Uh Executive Director Henderson, Chief Scott. Uh I'm Jason Sawyer, the commanding officer of Northern Station, and it is my honor to present to you tonight, Officer Ryan Walsh from uh Northern Station. Officer Walsh came in the Academy May of 2014. So it's been a little over 10 years he's been with us. He's been smiling like this for 10 years straight. He is born and raised in San Francisco. He's the son of the San Francisco police officer, his dad, Officer Mike Walsh, who's on going on his 30th year. And he was assigned to Central Station, Tenderloin Station, and then at Northern Station. But there's a couple things that stand out, which is why Officer Walsh is here tonight. One of the first things is I was under a lot of pressure in the Northern, we have this very publicized safe way theft problem. And my command staff came to me and said, Jason, you gotta put a plan together and fix Safeway and help with all these problems. And he's one of my guys that was one of the first to say, I'm in, coach, get me off the bench, put me in. And he's part of the reason that the Safeway, the theft has fallen over 50%. Um every time that they go, the people are basically getting arrested, thanking him for being so polite on what a great officer he is. Um the other thing that really separates him besides always showing up and being so friendly, is something that I had the great honor of talking with uh Commissioner Clay about when we first met was about ethics. And it's a big thing to me that what the police officers when we go out, what we're hired for to do is that we represent the public well and above reproach on how we act and what we do. And this is what the officers that look like when they came from a good family, they do the right thing, and you know that if you call the police and an officer like Officer Walsh comes up, you got the right officer with you. And these are things that we can't stress enough. I told Officer Walsh when he was coming tonight, I said this is a great almost like a celebration because I understand as the police commission sometimes it's on the other end where you have to deal with the cops, but this is a very uh positive light on what a great officer looks like who exemplifies what you expect of your police department. So you might say, Hey, Jason, isn't there anything about this guy that's wrong? He did go to Sacred Heart, but we're gonna let that slide. So um one of the things I did tell his dad and Mike, I got to say I'm very complimentary. You raised a great son. This is someone who I would be proud to have as my son, old enough to be his dad, but um I I don't think you could ask for any more in what you expect from from your police department.
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