San Francisco Police Commission Meeting - November 20, 2024
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San Francisco Police Commission Meeting - November 20, 2024
The San Francisco Police Commission met on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, in open session. The meeting included reports from the Police Department and the Department of Police Accountability (DPA), discussion on policy updates, and commission reports. Several items were pulled from the agenda, including the Healthy Street Operation Center presentation and a donation from the POA. The meeting concluded with a unanimous vote to enter closed session.
Consent Calendar
- The commission unanimously voted to receive and file the consent calendar, which included safe sheets for Q3 2024, SFPD's Family Code 628 quarterly report, and SP1421/SB16 monthly reports. The donation from the POA was pulled from the consent calendar prior to the vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Douglas Styles, Executive Director and CEO of Huckleberry Youth Programs, expressed support for the revised DGO 7.01 (juvenile interactions policy), noting the working group's efforts and urging approval. He praised the new tool for guiding officers in interactions with youth and mentioned the need for expedited approval to improve equitable experiences. Commissioners thanked him and noted the item is expected to be calendared in January.
- A mother of a homicide victim (son Arbor Casa, murdered in 2006) spoke about her son's street naming ceremony on Grove Street, scheduled for December 4 or 11, and requested support from the commission. She also reiterated her ongoing quest for justice and help from Vice President Carter-Oberstone on tipsters.
Discussion Items
- Chief's Report (Item 4): Assistant Chief David Lazar presented annual crime statistics, noting a 30% overall reduction in incidents year-to-date, with 14,000 fewer incidents. Violent crime dropped 14%, gun violence down 26% (47 fewer shootings), and homicides down 34% compared to 2023 (31 vs. 48). Homicide clearance rate stands at 83%. Vehicle break-ins fell to 8,238 (from over 18,000 the prior year). Gun seizures reached 1,039, the highest since 2018. He detailed several recent incidents, including a non-fatal shooting of a pregnant woman (suspect still at large), a commercial burglary arrest via vehicle ramming, a burglary crew arrest, a multi-agency narcotics operation seizing fentanyl and other drugs, and an officer-involved shooting of a dog attacking a pedestrian. The DMAC (Drug Market Agency Coordination Center) operation in the Tenderloin resulted in 54 arrests and 864 grams of narcotics seized between November 3–17.
- DPA Director's Report (Item 5): Acting Director Jermaine Jones reported that DPA's audit division completed a report sent to SFPD for review, with responses due December 10. The investigations unit opened 24 new cases and closed 26 since the last meeting; neglect of duty allegations were the most common (failure to investigate and property handling). There are 20 cases open over 270 days (19 tolled), 107 sustained cases pending with the chief (down from 120), and 5 pending with the Police Commission. Commissioners requested an extension for the audit response deadline due to the holidays, and Jones agreed to follow up.
- Sparks Report Q3 2024 (Item 8): Captain Chris Delgandio (SFPD Policy Development Division) and Acting Director Jones presented the third-quarter Sparks report, covering 28 DGO updates (one duplicate corrected). Eleven updates came from the 2024 annual review list, 12 carried over from 2023, and 5 were property-mandated. After quarter close, five DGOs (5.01, 5.03, 5.04, 5.05, 5.06) were issued. Working groups advanced DGO 5.20 (nearly complete) and the sexual assault policy. Jones highlighted a case involving SWATting, where DPA provided federal guidance to SFPD. Vice President Carter-Oberstone asked about DGO 5.18 status (scheduled for December 4) and inquired about the policy-making process under DGO 3.01. Delgandio affirmed adherence to current policy.
- Commission Reports (Item 6): President Elias reminded commissioners to submit items for the December 4 meeting and announced the December dark period. Commissioner Benedicto reported attending the 30th anniversary memorial for Officer James Gelf and advocated for using the family's advocacy to restrict access to weapons of war. He also requested a report on SFPD's current federal partnerships, their implications under sanctuary city policies, and potential dissolution impacts, with a draft due by December 15. Assistant Chief Lazar confirmed the department would prepare the report.
Key Outcomes
- The commission unanimously voted (7-0) to receive and file the consent calendar.
- The commission voted unanimously to enter closed session (Item 11) after no public comment on closed session matters.
- Commissioner Benedicto's request for a report on federal partnerships was accepted, with a deadline of December 15, 2024, for an initial draft.
- The commission noted the final meeting of the year on December 4, 2024, after which the commission will be dark following the Board of Supervisors schedule.
Meeting Transcript
President Elias likes to take roll. Commissioner Clay. Present. Commissioner Walker. Present. Commissioner Benedicto. Present. Commissioner Yañez. President. Commissioner Yee. Here. Vice President Carter Oberstone is in route. Commissioner Elias, you have a I'm sorry, President Elias, you have a quorum. Also with us tonight, we have Assistant Chief David Lazar for the San Francisco Police Department and Acting Executive Director Um Jermaine Jones from the Department of Police Accountability. Welcome our two uh well, one new face to the right. Haven't seen you up here. Welcome. Got a phrase from certain Ann Blood. Uh well, there you go. He is the man in charge. And we have a new returning um superstar to our left. So welcome everyone. Glad you could join us in the rain. Let's go ahead and get this party started. One announcement we are going to pull line item one, line item seven, line item 11A, as well as from line item three consent calendar, we will be pulling the donation from the POA from tonight's agenda. 11A, we're pulling. You said 11A also. 11A as well, yes. All right, line item two, 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, DPA personnel, nor commissioners are required to respond to questions to the public, but may provide a brief response. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in either of the following ways. Email the Secretary of the Police Commission at SFPD.commission at SFgov.org. Our written comments may be sent via U.S. Postal Service to the public safety building located at 1245 Third Street, San Francisco, California, 94158. If you would like to make public comment, please approach the podium. All right. Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Douglas Styles. I'm the executive director and CEO of Huckleberry Youth Programs. The staff from Huckleberry Youth Programs and our CARC program, Denise Coleman and Keisae Enriquez, were part of the amazing working group for revising and redeveloping the DGO 7.01. We are so grateful to be a part of this process and are eager for it to be processed through the LEAL team and that presented here at the commission by your December 4th meeting. This tool is a powerful resource to guide and ground officers when they are in the field and may interact with young people. The last DGO is a little outdated, and so the sooner we get the new DGO approved, the sooner we can get young people having more equitable experiences with officers. We look forward to continuing partnering with SFPD and JPD to get referrals for the community diversion and kick off our pre-arrest diversion programming. Thank you very much. Thank you. And just to note, I think thank you for all the work that you and Huckleberry do. Um they are a very, I think, um, reputable organization, and we are I'm very impressed with the work that they do. My understanding is that we're going to calendar it in January.
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