>> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> roll call of the commissioners. commission president mazzucco. >> prefpblet. >> commission vice president marshall. >> present. >> commissioner dejesus. >> present. >> commissioner hammer. >> present. >> commissioner chan. >> present. >> commissioner kingsley. >> present. >> commissioner slauger. >> here. >> commission president you have a quorum. also on the dais, we have dr. joyce hicks, and would wow like to introduce our other guest?

>> we have a very special guest tonight. our special guest tonight is our brand new, just sworn in, chief of police, greg suhr. i want to give him a warm welcome. [applause] just by way of background for those of you in the audience, there was a swearing in today, it was an honor to be part of that ceremony. the commissioners were president. we look at you, greg, as the reflection of the work we've put in for the past 100 days, a long, significant 100 days, and it was a very, very thorough process that led to your selection. we had 77 applicants. we interviewed an untold number of candidates. unlike last time, the commission not only interviewed the finalists once, but twice. commissioner chan and i had the

pleasure. and it came down to three names presented to the mayor and this commission had some guidelines we were looking at, community policing, an inspirational leader, respect of the rank and file. as they said earlier today, as we moved through the process, one thing became very, very clear. you were the definition of community policing. every neighborhood we went into, there was people that had been in your district, bay view station, or as a commander, and talked about what you've done for the community. then we found out things you weren't sharing with people, work in the boys' and girls' clubs, soccer leagues in the district, volunteering in different programs, the ymca. we realized you were out there

in the community, not just because you were a police officer but because you felt compelled to do it. you were out there. once the story came up, in one district you had a mentoring program where young kids you wanted to mentor along with other officers to be part of things at mission station, and you told us one of those young men from the mission district is serving under you as a police officer at bay view station. that's community policing. the other thing that was abundantly clear, the rank and file saw you as the leader they'd follow on the street and work for. they said today you were a cop's cop. everything that they're doing, you have done. it was unanimous. every dict -- district we went to, every single young officer and older officer were saying that greg suhr is a chief we

will work for. he's our leader. we said earlier today, that's how you got to where you are today with this commission. i have to tell you, some people said in an article, you had friends in political places. this was a practical decision. this was a decision based on what you've done in your 30 years as a san francisco police officer. the most weight that went into this, in my decision, were officers who had been part of the force for many years, the working cops, they talked about you and to me that meant more than anything i would hear from somebody with stars and bars. and i have to tell you, it's a great, great honor to have you as our chief. i did let out that i coached you in fastball a -- football in a long, long time ago. that was an experience. it was a great experience as i

first got to know you, i know you're a true leader, you give it 150% and you lead with your heart. one of the factors of an inspirational leader, after your speech today at the swearing in, you gave credit and credence to the most important people and their family today when you thanked your own family but you dedicated essentially your promotion and your career to the men and women of the san francisco police department who died in the line of duty. that, to me, was extremely emotional and inspirational. chief suhr, as i said earlier, you're a cop's cop a native son, you really are a man for others. you know what i mean by that. it is an honor to be on this commission and have you as chief. i want to thank you and turn it other to other commissioners.

>> vice president marshall? vice president marshall: all i can say, if at fivers you don't succeed, try, try again, and the first time, the whole working with young people, we have that in common, so i look forward to that. glad to have you here. you've got to come on my radio and talk to the community when i ask you, but i'm sure you will, every time. welcome aboard. >> commissioner hammer. commissioner hammer: i'm a native san francis can. my parents are here, my grandfather was from here. among the many great things about you, chief, you have an incredible love and commitment to this city, you didn't take this job just for a little while.

you have a commitment to san francis cans in every walk of life. the broad array of people who spoke highly to you are the entire, every corner of san francisco. that's what i think is so telling about you. so i salute your integrity and your commitment and i think the hard work begins now. you have a lot to do and the city demands a lot of you. what you do in the next weeks will say a lot about what's to come in the next couple of years. i'm proud san francisco has you and i thank you for your service. >> commissioner kingsley. commissioner kingsley: chief suhr, i haven't had the opportunity to get to owe now as much as some of the other commissioners have, but i can say that i'm very impressed with your professionalism and your

station when you i won't repeat the accolades that have been printed in the paper before today but to say that i feel confident that you're going to continue to take this department forward into the future and progress along the track that it is presently on, welcome aboard and i look forward to the commission, the police chief and department working in a collaborative effort with the public to further making san francisco and its streets a safe place to be. welcome. >> i want to congratulate you,

you know, they say be careful what you ask for, but they've given you the ball and you're running with it. i'm sure you'll do well, you've demonstrated that in the past. commissioner chan: you certainly put in the time in the department to earn this spot and i look forward to working with you on the commission as a member of the community in san francisco. i remember asking you questions about things and i remember how you talked about what you do. in going to different community

sessions, your name did come up over and over again, certainly you are a popular person in the community and your name came up over and over again with members of the police department who speak extremely highly of you. i look forward to working with you. >> congratulations, chief. the reason i'm most excited about your tenure is because this department has been in deep uncertainty, through no fault of anybody's. it's been in desperate need of direction and leadership and we are really looking forward to you providing that leadership to the department commission and as just one member of the commission, i'll tell you we'll do everything we wan to support you in your efforts to keep san francisco safe and work together as a community. you've got a big job ahead of you. we'll do whatever we can to help you out.

>> congratulations on your appointment. i had the opportunity to observe you in action during national night out and it's clear to me how connected you are to the community in the bay view and i wish you all the best. i have been here now for 3 1/2 here's and you're the third police chief in three and a half yearings. i know that san francisco -- years. i know that san francisco and the department welcomes a long tenure from you. >> before i ask for comments from you, i want to take this opportunity to thank our police commission staff. [applause] many long, long hours went into putting this together, including my assistant, who made sure the candidates didn't see each other. a lot of people put a lot of time and effort into this. i want to thank them for their hard work and many hours put in

and i want to thank mayor lee. he made an incredible decision, a very practical decision, not a political decision, he showed incredibly strong leadership skills. quite frankly, he was thorough. as i said earlier, some of the young attorneys in my firm said, who is the new partner in conference room one? we said, that's not a partner, that's mayor lee he spent a lot of time in our offices working on thinkings, it was a long process. i'd like to thank all those who are involved. now we'd like to hear from you. >> thank you, commissioners, for those kind words. i'm humbled by the honor and the time you put in, 100 days, all the hour, i know it's after work, without compensation and all out of love for the city and the commitment to the department.

>> we get a raise? >> i don't think i have that authority. again, i'm humbled by it. i will absolutely do everything in my power every minute of every day not to let you done and i will be here as long as you'll have me. thank you. >> thank you very much. members of the audience, after we move the consent calendar, we're looking forward to hearing your comments on the new chief. this is the second time we've done this for many of us. >> we don't want to do that again. >> we don't want to do it again, i'll repeat that for the record. i'll conclude, there's a conversation i had with chief gascogne a while back who said i'm putting captain suhr at bay view station, he'll either sink or swim there. guess what, you went there and

won a medal. >> item number one, consent calendar, quarterly report by the department and the o.c.c. regarding policy proproposals. >> you have -- you have those in your packet. >> thank you for your hard work on this. >> this is a joint report from the department, sergeant mitchell as well as sandra marion. >> do i have a motion from the commissioners? >> move to adopt. >> second. >> public comment on this regarding the consent calendar? any public comment regarding the consent calendar? hearing none, the item is passed. line item number two, please. >> general peculiar comment.

the public is now welcome to address the commission regarding items that do not appear on tonight's agenda, but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission. speakers shall address their remarks to the commission as a whole, and not to individual commissioners or department or o.c.c. personnel. under politician commission rules of order, during public comment, neither police or o.c.c. personnel, nor commissioners, are required to respond to questions present 3wid the public, but may provide a bereave response. individual commissioners and police and o.c.c. personnel should refrain, however, from entering into any president mazzucco: good evening, lieutenant, how are you? >> good evening, chief suhr, members of the public. i have two things for you this evening. the first is my name is lee and we represent the 250 officers in our police department.

the first thing i would like to say is as president of our organization, i could not be more happy and more proud to congratulate chief suhr on his appointment as our police chief. i have talked about the issue of diversity and what i want to say is, i think if you have a commitment to diversity, it's not just something that is a cerebral commitment but you have to believe in your heart. i have known you for 30 years and i believe with everything i am that you are the right man at the right time and i know your commitment to diversity and i know you have it in your heart. and for that, what i want to say is, you have our unwavered support. anything we can do to assist you, our community, you have it and we will do it. we could not be prouder of you. and i could not be prouder of

you personally, congratulations. the second thing i want to talk to you i asked officer michael evans to come. a few weeks ago, you guys had an issue regarding an alleged misconduct by a patrol special. and some of the comments that were raised during that commission meeting ended up being interpreted by the media i think wrongly. and somehow the issue that was before you, which you moved back to the police chief, became not about the issue at hand, but somehow about the officer who had the initial contact with this individual. he was not treated very fairly by some members of the media. officer evans is somebody who believes in community policing. he is somebody who volunteers

his time in the community. he lives in the castro. he eats in the castro. and he has the three-car in the northern district. he is somebody i couldn't be prouder of. unfortunately the press twisted things a bit and he became the focus of some really uncomfortable comments by the media and when he's out walking in his neighborhood rkts he's being taken on by citizens for something i believe that he truly was just doing his job. so i came here tonight. i wanted to do this earlier and mike was out of town and i was out of town and i came here because i feel like i'm hopeful that one or more of you will correct this because i think the financing -- fingers are pointing to the person.

>> i hope others agree with me, nothing whatsoever we said was in any way intended to bring discredit to officer evans. i'm proud what you did that night. you patrol tough neighborhoods. you make them liveable for the citizens of san francisco and we are grateful for that. the only comment we had was on certain decisions on filing charges and how things should have happened. as a member of the community, someone who lives around these neighborhoods, i know you personally and i know your work and you are the highest caliber police officer in san francisco and nobody should cast aspersions on you or your work. >> i want to say thank you and that was the reason for my visit here on the second issue. and thank you for your comments. it means the world to him and our members. and hopefully now he can get this behind him. >> give him my number, officer evans.

and i'll's clear things up. >> good evening. congratulations. i know the chief suhr. we have a long history long time ago. but like i heard some of the commissioners speak today, they said that you basically inherited everything that they passed on to you. so one thing i want to talk to you about tonight, my brother, charles harrison, he was membered on january 2 the beginning of this year in the tenderloin district. we are trying to overcome different things. nobody's perfect. always good to see growth and evolution where you see things start at one level and they grow and become something that is better and that's good. that's what we see with you

becoming the chief. but my brother, you know, he's dead. he has two children that's young and they need -- they needed his fatherly protection which they don't have. there is a man or an individual who was caught on tape murdering my brother, you know. and i can see if it was something where, you know, there was no tape or no witnesses, but when you got a man on tape that can shoot somebody, wasn't in broad daylight, but shoot somebody on video and he's getting away with it. my brother was trying to overcome poverty and there's an individual in the tenderloin who is taking advantage and he is a poverty pimp because he is taking advantage of people in the do you understand situation. and something needs to be done about that. i know when i was out there doing what i was doing, you all

came through and i don't continue to do that. i don't think it should be right that that individual should be down there and just have a basically free pass to be doing dealing death, basically. we are hoping we can get some justice. i appreciate all of the work that's been done, you know. the detectives have been calling for the last two weeks. they have been in contact with the family. before that, it was on and off, like i stated last week and i was taken out to the hallway because i guess i didn't say it the right way. i'm not a public speaker and do the best i can. yeah, we just want some closure to this situation. and we hope that we can get that with the new chief and we'll be down here if not every wednesday, every other wednesday until we see some forward motion or justice for my brother charles harris.

thank you. >> next speaker. >> chief suhr, congratulations. i want to stress a point that hasn't been mentioned. you are a cop's cop i would hope you would be committed to the law above all else. even if it is a diverse cop from the gay community, whatever letter you want to put in front of it, the law is supreme in this country, city and state and i would hope you would take that into account above all else. that leads me to next point. commissioner chan you were not here last week but i was but i have gone over the videotape and there were things said about patrols. >> you can't address one particular person. >> i would like to go over some of my notes.

president mazzucco pointed out that the compliance of the patrol specials has been quote shoddy at best. the report he referred to said they routinely violate the rules. vice president of the commission, dr. marshal, i don't want to address you directly, but i want to thank him for keeping on it and not like some of you others, looking for ways to let them off the hook yet again after years and years after following the -- refusing to follow the rules. i want to note one of the commissioners, this commissioner hammer, on three separate occasions referred to his devotion and love for jane warner as the basis for his support of the scoff law unconstitutional racketeers and doesn't care about the law and doesn't care about the constitution but only cares about his good friend the late

may god have mercy on her soul jane warner. she is not in the law. i have checked the constitution and checked the statutes and your rules promulgated and her name isn't anywhere in those rules. she is not the law. the law is supreme. she is not. i wish you could put aside your friendships and if you cannot i wish you would recuse yourself. it is not proper to invoke her name as a basis for your justification for their criminal activities. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is eric king. i filed a complaint with the o.c.c. against the san francisco police department. in the complaint i state that over an extended period of time, the san francisco police department has harassed me in an effort me to get me to leave