>> please stand for the pledge of allegiance. [pledge of allegiance] i will be taking roll-call of the commissioners. president mazzucco: present. vice president marshall present.

commissioner dejesus: present. commissioner chan: present. commissioner hammer: present. commissioner kingsley: prese nt. commissioner slaughter: here. >> also on the dais, and joysticks, from the office of citizen complaints. president mazzucco: ladies and gentleman in the audience, we are going briefly into closed session. we are going to have a motion to move into closed session to handle a disciplinary matter, an issue with some subpoenas. it is confidential information regarding personal files. we will do that quickly so we can excuse the attorneys and parties involved and move into our next item. without further ado, will you please call line item 5? >> line item 5 is public comment on all matters in item seven,

including whether to hold it in closed session. president mazzucco: hearing none, please call like item 6 -- line item six. >> to hold the next discussion in closesesession. pwe will be right back. thank you. [closed session]

>> we are back in open session. line item 8 is a vote to elect whether to disclose any or all discussion on item 7 hold in closed session. president mazzucco: a motion for nondisclosure? all in favor? thank you very much. ladies and gentlemen, we are here for the wednesday, february 23, 2011 regular police commission meeting. tonight, obviously there is an important issue, line item four. we're going to move right into line item four. we are going to skip public, income -- skip public comment and line item three and go back

to them afterward. without further ado, please call line item four. >> discussion and possible action to authorize the chief of police to develop a proposal for modification of department general orders 5.01, "use of force," and 10. 02, "equipment -- and 10.02, "equipment," to include use of conducted energy devices, and to develop proposed practices, subject to final approval of the police commission. president mazzucco: this item was before this commission roughly a year ago. >> it is on that screen there. >> can you move your camera

stuff a little bit? president mazzucco: as i stated, this was an item that was on a year ago. it was a matter of whether or not the police department should start a program, a proposal to implement a program using what they call conducted energy devices. since that evening, there has been a lot of well-publicized events, where there has been a cry out to give police officers one additional tool in their arsenal. frankly, i think we can all agree tonight that in situations where we have officer-involved shootings, we would like to limit those, and give officers tools they need to reduce injuries to the officers and the public. since that last meeting, myself and commissioner hammer have had meetings with the former chief to find a middle ground, an area where we can all agree there is something that is necessary to protect the public.

what could that will be? some people call it a weapon. some people call it a tool. commissioner hammer and i have been very thoughtful about this. there have been statements made that if in fact we had another device for would not have been a shooting. the have been incidents you will hear about tonight that did not get to the level of a shooting, where officers were seriously injured and other individuals involved were seriously injured. what we are going to do tonight is very analytical. i am asking for professionalism. i am asking for people to come forward from the field to give us examples of what they think is appropriate. we're going to do a risk analysis tonight. this has to be without emotion. in has to be very analytical. we have to do what is best for the community and best for the officers. commissioner hammer and i have looked at the proposal tonight. going through it, we are at the

end point to suggest an amendment to this. this is not about tasers. we are going to ask the police department also look at any other non-lethal weapon that our department can use, not just tasers, but other weapons. there has been some talk about an sl6. we're going to amend the language to add, in asking for the department to evaluate and investigate other methods, to return back to this commission in 30 days with a recommendation, whether it is conducted energy devices or an sl6, or another weapon, or a combination thereof. we are going to ask that two commissioners be assigned to this task. i have asked commissioner

slaughter to be one of them. i am about to ask commissioner chan, given her great work on mental-health issues. i think we all agree we need one more weapon to help protect the officers and the public. we are going to go forward with the presentation tonight. you are going to hear about conductive energy devices. you may hear a little bit about the sl6. we're went to be open-minded about this. we have incredible speakers. i want everybody to be open- minded and look at this. as i stated, people have to understand the use of force is never pretty. it is always of a. it starts with verbal commands that you will see tonight and hear about. sometimes, when officers give verbal commands, we get allegations of being discourteous. they explain why they do that. physical force never looks

right. then it is escalating to baton or pepper spray. that is not pretty. then it escalates suddenly to the use of a firearm. that is devastating for all involved, and it is far from being pretty. as a former assistant d.a. and a former u.s. attorney responding to officer-involved shootings, you see things you wish you would have never seen. our goal is to avoid that. commissioner hammer and i have an amendment. i will let commissioner hammer read through it. the chief has accepted this amendment and is comfortable with it. i want to make one thing clear. we have separated the mental health issue from the tasers. this commission has unanimously accepted the memphis model. this is not about the mental

health community being tased. it is for dangerous people, people under the influence of narcotics. i want everybody to be professional. i want you to be analytical. let us do the risk analysis. i will turn over briefly to commissioner hammer. commissioner hammer: thank you. i will be brief. i am sure folks have a lot to say. we want to hear from them. i want to thank president mazzucco. i reached out to him after the last polarizing debate to try to find the best way forward. i said that as something -- as someone who has worked as a reserve police officer. i believe there is a gap between what our officers have between baton and firearm. last time this debate came up, it was solely focused on tasers. the question should be how we change our tactics, how we avoid use of force whenever possible.

and in those rare instances when force has to be used, what is the best will for our officers? the motion i will be making later is to authorize the chief of police to develop a proposal to put forward a pilot program. that is another key change. it is not to walk out in the entire department. it is a small, a pilot program that would be evaluated by this commission down the road. we of work with the offices of citizen complaint to put this together. there would report back to the commission about the best option for san francisco. the question is the best way to go forward. it is not just about tasers/ president mazzucco: dr. marshall? vice president marshall: just a point of clarification. you are proposing a possible change in this proposal as

written. i hear you are going to make the proposal after hearing from -- you are just previewing your proposal? i just wanted to make sure. >> i am asking for commission -- for permission to go back and look at legal options, including the -- to look at less lethal options, including the taser. i want to have community involvement. among stakeholders to be part of that. i think it will take me 30 days to come back with a specific weapon. it could take between six and 12 months to come back with a plan for that weapon.

all i am asking for is commission to go back and research the feasibility of looking for a less lethal weapon, including the implementation for the taser. [applause] i have brought commander dan mahoney. he is going to guide the department presentation, what the issues are we are dealing with, and our goals for the remainder of the evening. we are going to have a real-live scenario played out in front of everyone here. i want to utter what the president said. ftc the real-live scenario, this is not about mental illness. i am working very hard with commissioner chan on the cit program, the memphis program. the will be a component of the mental health issues we have in the city. this is separate from the use of less lethal, including the taser.

we are a century city. we are not supposed to purchase products from arizona. we will have a thoughtful, methodical approach as to what we bring back to the commission. i want as much public input as possible. i want public involvement. i am going to pick some public stakeholders to be involved in the training process and come back and report to the commission of transparent this department has been. commissioner dejesus, did we talk about the actual dgo? commissioner dejesus: my understanding is this is not amending the dgo. chief godown: we are not amending the dgo tonight. i do not want to act like a bunch of lawyers, but tonight is authorizing a proposal for the youth of -- use of tasers or a

similar weapon. commissioner dejesus: i was at a meeting last night and won the thing that you told the community members there -- it would be more than your advisory committee. it would be sticklers. chief godown: that is still the understanding. i will come back to the commission in 30 days as to what particular less legal option we are looking at. then we will go out and do the research as far as training and everything is concerned. commander mahoney is going to start the presentation with a real-live scenario we do with on a daily basis. we handle scenarios like the one you are going to see hundreds, if not thousands, of times a year. this is a controlled environment. stay in your seats. the floor is yours. >> thank you, chief. good evening, members of the commission, chief, members of the audience.

i am from the office of the chief of staff. i come before you almost one year to the day to request approval to equip ourselves with a conductive energy device. it was a pilot program developed and presented to commissioner approval. we would like to put on a short reply exercise to demonstrate real life situations which may call for an increase in use of force. this is unfortunately a common occurrence in san francisco, officers responding to a domestic dispute. can i have my role players, please? >> computer display? >> yes. what you will be hearing first is a simulated broadcast from communications, two officers responding to a fight.

they need to stay here. [sound of dialing] >> hello? this is san francisco 911. do you have an emergency? what is going on? [crying] what did your husband do? where is your husband now? [crying] outside of the house? [crying] he is outside the room? and what is your -- are you hurt

in any way? where are you heard? -- hurt? [crying] does your husband have any weapons? >> no. >> no weapons? how did he hit you? was it best sex -- it fists? >> yes. >> how many kids do you halfve? >> two. >> are your children ok? >> yes. >> the officers are responding to the scene. [yelling and fighting] >> what are you doing here? this is my house.

>> ballplayers, stop, please. the officers had responded. their first role is to try to calm everybody down. please continue. >> what is your name? >> get out of my house. >> what is your name? >> get out of my house. you do not have a right to be here. >> tell us what is going on? >> get out of my house. >> we are here to help. >> get out of my house. i am done talking to you. get out of my house. >> put the knife down. >> get out of my house. >> put the knife down. >> get out of my house. >> that's enough. >> role players, thank you. what you have just witnessed is an encounter when some level of force must be used. use of pepper spray or the baton

requires the officer to get close to the violent suspect, meaning they are put in harm's way. presently, the only other choice is firearm. we believe in giving the officer in an extra tool which will mitigate injury to all. your vote today will dictate our future response to this type of incident. one year ago, we presented medical studies, industry opinions, think tank assessments, and real life incidents. will continue to show best practices of ced uses and how this tool will benefit not only the community we serve, but our officers themselves. it conducted energy device is used tactically to concur -- to gain control of a person whose behavior requires forced to comply with lawful orders from the officer. the use of a fist, flashlight, or baton would result in a high likelihood of trauma.

the use of a firearm involves a high probability of death or disability. the conducted energy device may mitigate that result. it can prevent the escalation of force. this is not a replacement of a firearm, but another tool. we in the department represent the competing balance between inshore and safety of our officers and the safety of the individual try to do harm. we believe the ced can do both. we are looking at this issue globally. this is not about any single ancillary are competing issue. it is about officers having every available tool to protect the public and themselves from those who wish to do harm, for whatever reason. there are those who wish to intertwine the issue with those suffering from mental illness. the presence or absence of the ced in the wake birthplaces crisis intervention training. -- in no way it replaces a

crisis intervention training. will we use it on someone who is in an altered mental state to the alcohol and drug consumption? probably yes. will we use it on someone who just wishes to create malfeasance upon society? probably yes. national police associations such as the iacp have endorsed use of these devices. the same holds true for the national alliance for mental illness, who have a white paper endorsing the use of ced. we heard that a recently conducted a five-year study on officer-involved shootings showed need for a tool that could overcome the threat of violence from an individual in close proximity. the study showed that out of 15 officer-involved shootings, 14 occurred within 15 feet of the officer. five involved a suspect using guided weapons or physical force.

a further review of recent officer-involved shootings that occurred after the study was concluded was undertaken. in 2009-2010, there were six shootings that occurred in the perimeter. that was within 15 feet with a suspect using a non-firearm. historically, other agencies experienced a decrease in officer-involved shootings following the issuance of ceds. that is a likely outcome in san francisco, which is our overarching goal. other agencies reported a decrease in workers' compensation claims and dollars spent for qualified injured workers. we hope to achieve that same goal. officers in 2010 filed 81 assault claims and were placed on disability leave, more than on disability leave, more than 1000 cumulative days, the