OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

San Francisco Police Commission Regular Meeting - June 3, 2026

Police Commission — Wednesday, June 3, 2026
BodySan Francisco, California
SessionPolice Commission
DateWednesday, June 3, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:44:23
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

President Clay, like to take roll?

0:02

Yes, please.

0:08

Commissioner Lowe.

0:10

Here.

0:10

Commissioner Techie.

0:12

Here.

0:12

Commissioner Scott.

0:13

Here.

0:14

Commissioner Leon.

0:15

Here.

0:15

Commissioner Lyas is in route.

0:17

Vice President Benedicto.

0:18

Here.

0:18

President Clay, you have a quorum.

0:20

Also with us tonight, our Chief Derek Lou from the San Francisco Police Department and Executive Director Paul Henderson from the Department of Police Accountability.

0:26

Thank you, Sergeant.

0:27

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

0:29

Thank you for being here for our June the third commission meeting.

0:32

And before we start our calendar, I'd like to introduce, or he has introduced our new commissioner, Mr.

0:38

Larry Lowe.

0:39

Commissioner Lowe, would you like to say a few words to the body?

0:43

Absolutely.

0:44

Uh thank you very much, President Clay.

0:46

I'm delighted to be here.

0:49

I'm looking forward very much to working with all my fellow commissioners.

1:03

I think we have a uh very unique opportunity of uh declining uh crime rates and as well as uh what appears to be a resonance in the community around public safety.

1:18

And I think that gives us a great opportunity to do something good.

1:22

So I'm looking forward to doing that.

1:24

Well, thank you.

1:25

Welcome aboard.

1:26

Thank you.

1:27

Sergeant Dunblood.

1:30

Line item one, weekly officer recognition certificate.

1:33

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

1:36

Officer Michael Mayo, star number 2308 from the violence reduction team.

1:44

SF GOP TV.

1:57

Good evening, Commissioners.

1:59

Chief Liu.

2:01

Honored to be uh standing here before you tonight, presenting the police commission officer of the week award to Officer Michael Mayo.

2:08

Uh I've known Mike for uh a good portion of my career, and uh I'm honored to stand up here and tell you a little bit about Mike and you know the work that he's doing here in San Francisco for our police department.

2:22

Uh Officer Mayo joined the San Francisco Police Department in 2008.

2:26

He served with distinction at Northern Park and Mission Stations.

2:30

Since 2012, he has worked tirelessly in the mission district, first as a patrol officer, uh, and then through hard work and dedication, he was selected to the mission housing and playing clothes team.

2:41

Uh it was here that he honed his craft as an officer and an investigator.

2:46

Officer Mayo combated crime, excuse me, violent crime, and more specifically gang crime in the Mr.

2:54

in the mission district for almost a decade in that unit.

2:57

In 2021, he was selected to be a part of the newly formed community violence reduction team, where he has become an expert in mission district gangs and a mentor to less experienced officers in the department.

3:09

As CBRT and as a CVRT team member, he has conducted numerous complex investigations here in San Francisco and across several jurisdictions that has led to severe reduction in violent crimes throughout San Francisco.

3:23

Uh first, for example, approximately two years ago, a heinous gang related homicide occurred in the mission district where the victim was murdered in front of his pregnant girlfriend.

3:33

Officer Mayo and his teammates at C VRT immediately responded to the area in search of the suspects.

3:39

Through his expertise and knowledge of the area, Officer Mayo, along with his partners, officers Barajas and Downs began searching the area of Dolores Park.

3:47

Within a short period of time, they located two of the suspects inside the park.

3:51

They were able to place him under arrest after after they violently resisted and located the suspected firearm used in the murder.

3:58

Although this is just one example of many, Officer Mayo should be commended for his fierce dedication as a police officer to this department and to the city and county of San Francisco.

4:09

And lastly, I think it's a testament to Officer Mike Mayo.

4:14

I'd like to recognize all the officers sitting here in the room today from the community violence reduction team that came here to support Mike as a teammate and as a leader on that team on our team and here in the department.

4:28

So I'd like to acknowledge all the officers here in the room as well, and thank them for all the hard work that they do day in and day out.

4:35

And so with that, I'd like to present Officer Mike Mayo of the Community Violence Reduction Team, star number two three zero eight, the officer of the week award.

4:46

Thanks, Mike.

4:52

Officer Mayo, would you like to say a few words?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Police Oversight███████████████████████████████████35%
Procedural█████████████████████████25%
Public Safety███████████████15%
Public Comment████████████12%
Technology And Infrastructure████████8%
Community Engagement████4%
Personnel Matters█1%
Summary of Proceedings

San Francisco Police Commission Regular Meeting - June 3, 2026

The San Francisco Police Commission met on June 3, 2026, at approximately 1:45 PM. The meeting included presentations on crime trends, the Department of Police Accountability's digital accessibility improvements, and the Crisis Intervention Team's annual report. Commissioners also heard public testimony from families of homicide victims, elected new officers, and held a closed session.

Consent Calendar

  • The commission approved the acceptance of an in-kind gift of naloxone valued at $43,200, a DOJ COPS hiring grant of $6,250,000, a National Crime Victims' Rights Week grant of $5,000, the Family Code 6228 first quarter 2026 report, and the Safe Streets for All first quarter 2026 update. The Internal Affairs Division annual report, fourth quarter 2025 and first quarter 2026 closed cases and sustained complaints reports, and the DPA Annual Statistical Report 2025 were set to be agendized at a later meeting.
  • The consent calendar motion passed 7-0.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Family of Carl Abernathy: Joanne Abernathy, her uncle, Heather (fiancée), and others requested the reopening of the case of Carl Ray Abernathy (died August 25, 2025). They expressed that he was not suicidal, cited conflicting evidence (a noose, gloves, car condition), and alleged a lack of investigation and delayed police responses. They asked the commission to direct further inquiry.
  • Paulette Brown: A mother whose son was murdered 20 years ago with the case still unsolved; she urged attention to unsolved homicides and noted the arrest rate for homicides but expressed concern about convictions.
  • Salah Haquea Chandler: Mother of Yalani Chinyama Rende (homicide in 2015) who stated she had to solve the case herself; she criticized the lack of support in Bayview and called for justice.
  • Retired Captain Yolanda Williams (OFJ/NAACP): Criticized commissioners for lack of engagement with Officers for Justice and NAACP regarding working conditions of Black, brown, and female officers.
  • Reese Isabel (Soma West Neighborhood Association): Highlighted slow response times at Southern Station, which has the highest crime rates citywide, and criticized the boundary changes approved last year.
  • Archbishop Greg Richardson: Announced a Juneteenth event including a free breakfast and mounted patrol.
  • David Elliott Lewis (CIT Working Group): Requested more reporting on drone use to address community concerns.
  • Comment from a speaker: Expressed concern over use of flock cameras for ticketing without officer interaction and alleged inadequate investigation in underserved communities.

Discussion Items

  • Chief's Report (Weekend Crime Trends & Policy Updates): Chief Lou reported overall part one crimes down 22% year-to-date, violent crimes down 11%, but homicides up 70% (17 homicides vs. 10 in 2025). Notably, 16 of 17 homicides have been closed with arrests. Gun violence (people injured or killed by firearm) down 16%. An officer-involved shooting occurred on May 31, 2026; the officer was struck multiple times, the suspect captured, and two firearms recovered. Chief Lou initiated expedited development of DGO 10.11 (body-worn cameras) to include Airport Bureau after an SFO ICE incident. Commissioners discussed the homicide increase and requested deeper analysis.
  • DPA Director's Report: Executive Director Henderson highlighted the launch of an audit on automatic license plate reader (ALPR) compliance, a 22% increase in complaints in 2025 (compared to 2024), and the completion of the digital accessibility overhaul of DPA's website. DPA opened 155 new cases and closed 122 in the past eight weeks.
  • Commission Reports & Announcements: Commissioner Clay reported attending the CIT awards and an airport tour. Vice President Benedicto attended the Chief's LGBT Advisory Forum and noted the recent reappointments of Commissioners Scott and Benedicto. Commissioner Scott acknowledged the Mother's Day event for mothers of homicide victims.
  • Election of Officers: Commissioner Benedicto nominated Commissioner Patiba Techie as Vice President and Commissioner Don Clay as President. Both were elected with a vote of 6-1 (Commissioner Lyas voted no; Commissioner Elias recused).
  • Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Standard (DAIS) Presentation: DPA IT analyst Eric Ho described the agency's compliance with federal and city web accessibility guidelines. The website is now usable on all devices and can translate into 15 languages. Commissioners commended the effort and suggested public training.
  • Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) 2025 Annual Report: Lieutenant Don Anderson reported that in 2025, SFPD responded to 24,000 crisis calls; 99.9% of those incidents involved no use of force. For mental health detentions, 96.1% were resolved without force. The number of mental health detentions decreased to under 2,000 from about 5,000 a decade ago. The unit expanded to include behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM). The four-day CIT course is being offered more frequently, and a refresher course is being explored.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent calendar items (except IAD and DPA reports) were received and filed. The IAD annual report, fourth quarter 2025, first quarter 2026 closed cases and sustained complaints reports, and DPA's annual statistics report will be agendized for July 2026.
  • Meeting minutes from March 4, March 18, April 1, and April 8, 2026 were adopted (6-1; Commissioner Lowe voted no as he was not in attendance).
  • Commissioner Patiba Techie was elected Vice President and Commissioner Don Clay was elected President of the Police Commission (6-1).
  • The commission voted 6-0 to hold item 13 in closed session pursuant to Government Code sections; Commissioner Elias recused. After closed session, the commission voted 6-0 not to disclose any discussion.
  • The next regular meeting dates were not specified but future agendized items include the IAD and DPA reports and the CIT refresher course grant update.

Meeting Transcript

President Clay, like to take roll? Yes, please. Commissioner Lowe. Here. Commissioner Techie. Here. Commissioner Scott. Here. Commissioner Leon. Here. Commissioner Lyas is in route. Vice President Benedicto. Here. President Clay, you have a quorum. Also with us tonight, our Chief Derek Lou from the San Francisco Police Department and Executive Director Paul Henderson from the Department of Police Accountability. Thank you, Sergeant. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for being here for our June the third commission meeting. And before we start our calendar, I'd like to introduce, or he has introduced our new commissioner, Mr. Larry Lowe. Commissioner Lowe, would you like to say a few words to the body? Absolutely. Uh thank you very much, President Clay. I'm delighted to be here. I'm looking forward very much to working with all my fellow commissioners. I think we have a uh very unique opportunity of uh declining uh crime rates and as well as uh what appears to be a resonance in the community around public safety. And I think that gives us a great opportunity to do something good. So I'm looking forward to doing that. Well, thank you. Welcome aboard. Thank you. Sergeant Dunblood. Line item one, weekly officer recognition certificate. Presentation of an officer who has gone above and beyond in the performance of their duties. Officer Michael Mayo, star number 2308 from the violence reduction team. SF GOP TV. Good evening, Commissioners. Chief Liu. Honored to be uh standing here before you tonight, presenting the police commission officer of the week award to Officer Michael Mayo. Uh I've known Mike for uh a good portion of my career, and uh I'm honored to stand up here and tell you a little bit about Mike and you know the work that he's doing here in San Francisco for our police department. Uh Officer Mayo joined the San Francisco Police Department in 2008. He served with distinction at Northern Park and Mission Stations. Since 2012, he has worked tirelessly in the mission district, first as a patrol officer, uh, and then through hard work and dedication, he was selected to the mission housing and playing clothes team. Uh it was here that he honed his craft as an officer and an investigator. Officer Mayo combated crime, excuse me, violent crime, and more specifically gang crime in the Mr. in the mission district for almost a decade in that unit. In 2021, he was selected to be a part of the newly formed community violence reduction team, where he has become an expert in mission district gangs and a mentor to less experienced officers in the department. As CBRT and as a CVRT team member, he has conducted numerous complex investigations here in San Francisco and across several jurisdictions that has led to severe reduction in violent crimes throughout San Francisco. Uh first, for example, approximately two years ago, a heinous gang related homicide occurred in the mission district where the victim was murdered in front of his pregnant girlfriend. Officer Mayo and his teammates at C VRT immediately responded to the area in search of the suspects.

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