>> officers griffin and constantine zachos. [applause] thank you now. now can i have captain mike redmond and officer simmons. captain redmond will read the citation. >> good evening, it's my honor to speak to you in regards to the arrest in which mike simmons receive this silver medal of valor tonight. on tuesday, february 1, 2011, at 3 p.m., officer simmons was

working an assignment at the bank of america at 1525 market street. mike was there to work a security assignment at the bank. as well as monitor a protest that was going on outside. where there was over 50 participants in the protest. a career criminal by the name of joseph hike, chose this day to commit a robbery. mr. hike has been arrested 21 sometime -- 21 times in the city of san francisco. mr. hike produced a handgun to a teller face and ordered her to put all the money in the paper bag as he held a gun to her

face. officer simmons was inside the bank at which time he observed there was a robbery in process inside of the bank. officer simmons immediately notified communications and called for back-up. knowing that he was inside of the bank, officer simmons turned off his radio not to alert the suspect and knowing that dispatch acknowledged that he needed emergency assistance. officer simmons then developed a plan on how he would get closer to the suspect who was committing the robbery. officer simmons took up several different positions of concealment as he crept closer and closer to the bank robbery suspect. while doing this, mr. hike still had the gun out and pointing it at the teller's face. officer simmons noticed that

hike start to shake erratically with the gun in his hand. and was concerned of his safety and the safety of the approximately 50 people in the bank. officer simmons drew his firearm but reholsterred because he was in fear of hurting someone in the bank or creating a hostage situation. after holsterring his firearm he got as close to the suspect to take action. he observed mr. hike turn his focus to the money being placed in the bag. at that point officer simmons knowing that he couldn't wait for back-up and not wanting to make the situation worse pounced on mr. hike very quickly.

with total disregard for his own safety, he engaged in a violent struggle with an armed suspect. until he was finally taken in custody and the gun went sliding across the bank. officer simmons displayed outstanding bravery in the face of danger and finally his back-up arrived. his quick actions foiled a robbery that could result in the loss of his life and those inside and out of the bank. being alone did not deter officer simmons of his duty to protect the public. he did so with his own risk of personal safety and his actions displayed courage. ladies and gentlemen, officer simmons is awarded the silver medal of valor. [applause]

>> officer michael simmons. [applause]

captain mcfadden, please. and may i have sergeant dominco defida. >> on october 25, 2012, at approximately 1:30 in the morning. sergeant domenico was working as an investigator with the major crimes investigation unit. while conducting a robbery investigation, sergeant noticed a gray buick pass by him. he again noticed the vehicle as he surveilled areas around for possible robberies. as he drove the area, sergeant noticed that the same buick was

traveling behind him and following closely. sergeant made several attempts to elude the vehicle behind him. though it continued to follow closely as he made multiple turns. and sergeant decided to make a u-turn to see if the vehicle would follow him and it followed closely behind. at silver avenue, the vehicle pulled up to sergeant's vehicle and fired shots and tristrikinge vehicle as he duck for cover. the suspects sped away north on bay shore towards industrial way. without hesitation or due regard for his own safety, sergeant pursued the armed suspects. he immediately notified dispatch

and continued to pursue the vehicle northbound on the 101 freeway. the vehicle exited at caesar chavez and patrillo with the sergeant close behind as he gave out vehicle descriptions. the occupants fired at sergeant several more time as he followed undeterred in his actions to apprehend them. the suspect vehicle stopped on the 2500 block of bryant street. where the occupants jumped out and fled towards 23rd. sergeant exited his vehicle and took the driver of the suspect vehicle in custody by himself while he radioed the location of the other two fleeing suspects.

sergeant continued for corresponding units for the apprehension of other two. he later observed two bullet holes in his vehicle that led to the apprehension of the other two suspects and two firearms. sergeant desenza continued apprehension of two criminals and his quick actions led to the arrest of the three suspects that otherwise will be a constant threat to the citizens of san francisco, i think that the best compliment you could give to victor is that you have family members in risk, you want him to follow up.

sergeant dasenza is awarded the silver medal of valor. [applause] >> sergeant dacenza. his award was the last one for

the evening and the chief will give closing comments and after that i will make an announcement. >> so we are almost home, you can tell from the tales you heard, that the phrase that comes from mind from that same "three musketeers" movie is magnificent valor. [applause] so they have made the mistake of allowing us into this beautiful hall. so we should keep control of it as long as we can. please, family, friends, everyone, let's celebrate these people that give no greater credence to the phrase, sf's finest than those accounts you heard. we will mill around and take pictures. i would ask that the group that received awards are since we didn't have room, if you would

stay in your seats or the front row, we can get a picture of everyone, that would be a great keep sake before adjourning to the place for refreshments. with that, i will give it back to sergeant monroe, and thank you mayor and the commissioners and the captains, and for reading those, though captain mcfadden you cannot wound a car -- i will straighten that out with them later. again thank you again for coming. >> so can we please rise for the retrieval of the colors, please.

>> another round of applause for the color guard, please. also a couple of final things. i have noticed that supervisor breed showed up from district 5. thank you, supervisor. and we have a reception at the top of the stairs. and si -- and i have been waiting to say this all night, in the all of antiquities. i want to thank everyone and the families and the officers who were not here that are out on the street doing what these guys do every day. thank you very much. on behalf

commission. we are just proud to be a part of this great community event. >> we started this 3 years ago, this thing called met pole. it was part of sunday to participate in a pedestrian oriented family way. 3 years later. the ping-pong festival has taken on by itself and wanted to take on the diplomacy for china and also to focus on a community of youth, family and seniors to play ping-pong and pick up this exercise for all to participate in this community. a long time ago when i was little, i played for

years on and off. now from the master, the station, he's been getting me back into ping-pong. i'm excited to play with the mayor and everybody else today. >> mr. wong said it was a tough match. it was very exciting when it got to two. you didn't know who was going to win. and then he has some from his friends on the side to win this match. >> he's really good. a little bit better than i expected. we'll have a rematch later on. >> even though in the beginning level, it was really competitive against the police department and he takes it like a great relationship with the

community. >> playing with table tennis club since 1997. i'm one of the founders of this club and now our members starting from 7 people to now more than 200 members. >> i have been playing ping-pong for about 8 months. my dad taught me how to play ping-pong and i have watched it on computers and then i tried it myself. >> a lot of people like this sport and it's increasing a lot of the members. >> i think all of the different youth and seniors and families really get something out of this. it is also a way to participate. it's great to have so many organizations that are reflective of what they do everyday and come out and play

ping-pong. >>visit us at sfgovtv.org and click on buzz, thanks for watching. >> hey there, san francisco, here with the weekly buzz, it is september, and you know what that means? it is summer time in san francisco. you want to burn some calories while enjoying the great views enjoy a work out this friday, they are different each week and exist with the work outs including running hill and core, and be ready to feel the burn, after your work out, recharge with the healthy goodies from the farmer's market. this saturday, will feature a free cooking demo and check out the class at eleven and rock out with treats and recipes. >> the 33rd annual comedy day is the event for you, laugh your socks off with a full line up of 40 comedian and this

free, five hour comedy show is the biggest biggest day of the year in san francisco so don't miss it, and that is the weekly buzz, for more information on any of these events, visit >> the most ribbon cutting and most ribbon cuttings, we keep everybody off limits and then we cut the ribbon and then stuff happens. you can't stop them.

you can only hope to contain them in there so we're going to let everybody continue to play. so, it's been said that, that success has many, many, many parents and there are many parents, many people who have contributed to this outstanding, outstanding effort. we are so, so proud of this project and so thrilled to be able to give a new face to lafayette park. this park has tremendous history, from a city attorney who claimed ownership of 12 acres in the 1860s, holiday hill, how many know about holiday hill? right? where the city attorney actually thought he owned a piece of this. to a professor who set up the first astronomical observatory on the west coast here in 1879. to the hundreds of people who call this park home after the 1906 earthquake, to controversial mind troops. sial

renovations. lafayette park has many stories to tell. but its views, locations and one of the city's most desirable neighborhoods in the city, it has -- this park has a way of igniting people's passions about green space. and we've got the permit appeals to prove it. yea! >> it is this passion that made la fay it park what it is today. and i want to talk about the community and partnership involved. so, in 2008 san francisco voter displayed their passion for this park by approving an $185 million bond to improve parks, rec centers and play grounds like this one all across the city. more than $10 million of that bond were invested here in lafayette park and you're going to see even more improvements around the city as we start implementing the 2012 parks bond. yeah. (applause) >> by the way, if you're wearing a rec and park sticker

today, raise your hand. yeah, woo, look at that. but government can't do it alone, we know that, right? and it's the passion of groups like the friends of lafayette park and the friends of lafayette park playground (applause) >> which has been with us every step of the way offering leadership, guidance, and support throughout the process. the friends group stepped up to help us make this beautiful, beautiful playground a reality and other you're going to be hearing more about that in a little bit. but it's also people like jeff miller who contributed all of the architectural services for this gem pro bono. [cheering and applauding] >> but it's also the passion of our elected officials on the state and local level who you're going to hear from in a little bit including senator leno, assemblyman phil king, our mayor. (applause) >> our recreation and park commissioners megan levitt son is here.

our district 2 supervisor mark farrell. [cheering and applauding] >> our district 8 supervisor and park champion, tallest park champion in the city, scott wiener. (applause) >> our district 11 supervisor and another park champion extraordinary narc, john avalos. (applause) >> our city treasurer who does his work to make sure we've actually got the funds to pull this off, jose cisneros. (applause) ~ >> but it's the passion of all of us. and i also want to give a big shout out to the entire city family for their role, mohammed nuru and folks at department of public works had a role, lindsay hirsch. (applause) >> with all due respect to dpw and everybody else who is here, the hardest working staff in government is rec and park. gk, construction manager, mary

hobson, project manager. [cheering and applauding] >> director of capital planning, don. our great operations staff, zach taylor, judy auberry who is here, and everyone else who has contributed to this incredible project. so, at rec and park, we're encoloneling people to get out and play. that's our tag line, get ready, 1, 2, 3. >> get out and play. >> we say that because of the importance of keeping our families active and healthy. this is a real serious issue. according to the center for disease control, childhood obesity has more than doubled in our children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. in 2010 more than one-third of our children were overweight or obese. it is important that we get our kids outside. our children today average over 7-1/2 hours behind a screen. listen to that.

7-1/2 hours behind a screen, less than 30 minutes a day outside. that has to change. and this playground helps get it done. and i wanted to just offer a quick quote from richard lu who is the author of a book called the nature principle which encourage uz us to reconnect with nature and create a balance between nature and the ever evolving world of technology. ~ he says imagine a world in which all children grow up with a deep understanding of the life around them, where obesity is reduced through nature play, where children experience the joy of being in nature before they learn of its loss. where they can lie on the grass on a hillside for hours, and watch clouds become the faces of the future. where every child and every adult has a human right to a connection to the natural world and shares the responsibility for caring for it. that's the community, that's the world, that's the park that all of you have created today. and i want to say that while we're here looking at this amazing playground which, by

the way, has the world's -- i'm not kidding -- the world's longest monkey bars. >> woo-hoo! >> and as the father of a daughter who has broken not one, but two arms on monkey bars, i'm extremely fired up about that. (applause) >> but this park is more than just the playground. for those of you who are here with your kids and you're here for the playground opening, make sure you take a stroll up the hill. the view corridor that has been created as a result of this incredible park design, lindsay, and this incredible work, mary, it's stunning. you can see all the way -- today you can see all the way into marin. you can see the entire bay. the tennis courts, the area, the amphitheater where the mime troop historically performed, the off-leash dog area, the benches on our hillside. we have created together a park that is truly extraordinary.

it is a piece of art. and we are just also proud that we've been able to do this together. so, give yourselves a big, big round of applause. (applause) >> so, i'd like -- i'm going to get back up and introduce some other speakers and we have some gifts we're going to present in a little bit. but i'm going to start -- i'm going to kick the program off by bringing up our state senator. everybody here knows mark leno. but what you may not know is how committed and how tireless mark is to fighting for kids and families and parks and open spaces. it's not always on the front page of the paper. he's often doing it behind the scenes in ways that not everybody knows. mark is a true advocate for families. he is a true advocate for parks. a true advocate for green space. and it is my great pleasure to bring him up now. (applause) >> thank you, phil. let's hear it for parks cheer leader and chief phil ginsberg.

(applause) >> it is a real pleasure to be with everyone here today. it takes a village and the village is out. it's not often we get to say the words "our tax dollars at work" with a smile on our face. but we're doing it today. because voters really knew what they were doing a few years back when we passed that $185 million parks bond, neighborhood parks bond and the $10 million invested into lafayette park. i used to live at hyde and geary my first four years when i moved to san francisco, now 36 years ago, and this was my neighborhood park. and i've loved it ever since. the combination of the palms and the pines and everything in between, this is a jewel of a park. and when i saw the fences go up i got a little nervous because, well, it was going to be closed for a while. and i saw on some of the signs that some trees were going to come down which always makes me a little uncomfortable. but now seeing the result, it