tv [untitled] February 18, 2012 8:18pm-8:48pm PST
8:19 pm
8:20 pm
were this open. i will be showing my colleagues. also, i have been contacted by the sacramento police department, who would like assistance. they would like to use our video as a training, and they would like to use the video. with that, we will go ahead and play the video. >> i am the chief of police. i was a young man, and i
8:21 pm
wouldn't believe all the time. -- i would get bullied all the time. i cannot imagine what is like these days. it does get better, and we in the san francisco police department. >> i am a commander. >> i am a sergeant you're a good -- i am a sergeant. >> my name is michelle martina's. -- martinez, and i am an officer in san francisco.
8:22 pm
>> southern california. >> is very strange to me, because i have to start acting like one and working like one. goo>> i have this gro-- this cle friendship with my girlfriend. >> there was nobody i could talk to vetoes are was different. >> by the age of five or six, i knew i should keep it on the downloaw.
8:23 pm
i knew i was not supposed to talk about it. >> i knew i was not honest with myself or my family. >> you are raised with this idea you're supposed to grow up and find a family. >> find a man of your dreams, that i would have a husband. >> a wife, two children, but it stands. >> i did not have a positive a role model i thought was out there. >> all of the imagery associated with gays and lesbians was the liberals did -- limp-wristed hairdresser. >> i did not have anybody that showed me it was ok to be who i am.
8:24 pm
>> i had times i did not want to get out of bed or face the day. >> i wanted to not be around. good >> i thought about suicide. i was the press. mostly i thought something was wrong with me and that i should die. it did not feel good to want what i thought i should want. goo>> there was a part of me tht no felt ashamed. >> when the pain got too bad i realize i needed to tell my parents. >> i think it was harder for me to tell my mom than for my mom to hear what i had to say. >> i was a police officer thinking of was the only gay
8:25 pm
male police officer in the world. >> some people probably suspected foreig quite some tim. >> he looked up to me and said, are you happy? then he said, who cares? he>> may be playing football was not such a good idea. softball was the fruit of wahoo gayness. -- of all gayness. >> i started crying, before i come out there, i want you to know that i am gay. there was a long pause. my grandfather, who is what everyone would think to be the
8:26 pm
typical person that would not accept somebody who was gay, he said, stacy, we love you. ♪ >> my whole world suddenly opened up. >> telling that first person was a big deal. >> after the first few people, i just started acting like everybody should know. i'm gay. >> this is who i am. >> i will never forget this. i open the door, my dad is not there, he looks at me, i am so sorry if i ever said "fag." >> my life is great.
8:27 pm
>> i can be me. >> the first time being held by someone i loved. loving. the joy and jubilation of life, the people the show me amazing new things, new ways to work that the -- look at the world. being a police officer, i thought it was something i could not do. >> it does get better, and i tell you if it gets better. >> i will help you and protect you and listen. >> we will help make the transition as smooth as possible. it gets better. >> that there are so many people just like you. >> things start getting better as soon as you reach out to them. >> people, non-acceptance. forge ahead and do what you
8:28 pm
love, and it gets better. >> nothing in life is worth harming yourself. nothing. if you give up even trying, they have one. won. >> you are completely normal, you just need the be you. >> know you're ok, you are a person with tremendous value and you have something to give. >> stop putting up with everyone's crap. >> people might talk about you, but you know what? it's ok. >> there is help out there. >> call the police if you have to. we will help. >> don't lose your sense of humor. >> it gets better, a lot better. >> your life is full of amazing
8:29 pm
special experiences and it gets better. president mazzucco: really good. very good. >> they do good stuff. we have gotten more comments from my a -- obviously, a lot of comments from the gay community. cay, stra -- gay, striaght, boay , girl, whatever. everybody has the story and nobody likes getting bullied. >> for the members of the police department to drop their guard and show their emotions, feelings, what they have been through, it is overwhelming. they said earlier, it makes you proud. as a former prosecutor, it makes you happy to introduce members of the san francisco police department as opposed to other departments because we are very diverse.
8:30 pm
people criticize the police department, we are at the forefront of criticism. people realize that the police department has been at the forefront of everything from diversifying -- probably the most diversified police department in the country. acceptance. when people call 911, nobody asks the national origin, race, sexual preference. you respond. you don't ask, you guys respond. being the son of a police officer, the officer that has my dad's star numbers, he came to my family to ask permission for that star number. he became part of the family and nobody cares. for you to do that is brave, courageous, and it will help other kids. i can't thank you enough. commissioner chan: i work on
8:31 pm
bully issues in my day job. this video went viral. it was on my facebook stream. pretty much everyone i knew was facebooking it from far left to far right. it was impressive how much respect people have for this video. they said they love the video, and part of the reason why is that the officers were willing to share personal stories, be vulnerable, be honest, talk about their family. i think it is a really impressive story. what is great about the video, there are humorous moments and there are some very tearful moments. it really captures the moments -- emotion of bullyingç and trying to survive it.
8:32 pm
it also is breaking stereotypes about who can be a police officer. it was a lot of officers, lgbt and straight. across nationalities. i appreciate the comments from the office are saying that he thought he was the only game male police officer in the world. that is probably a sentiment felt at many times by people who have not come out yet. it was admirable. every newspaper that i read from the left to the right and from the examiner to the bay guardian covered it. in an impressive way. positive news. when we were looking at a police chief, one of the criteria was looking for a chief that actively promotes diversity, and you have certainly done that. it is commendable. lastly, i hope that the military
8:33 pm
does this. without a video like this. -- puts out a video like this. president mazzucco: it is really well done. i want to complement the officers that participated. you can have great personalities and a great story, but if you can't do video well, it has to translate. who shot the video? >> his name is shawn -- president mazzucco: the editing was great. that is what film can do, that is what the medium can do. i want to complement the officers and i want to complement the filmmakers. you told a really good story, so kudos to them. commissioner kingsley: a deep thanks to all the officers that participated in this, their thoughtfulness, their hearts, their courage, and thank you to
8:34 pm
everyone else that participated in this production. the filmmakers' contribution, their time and talent, things to the chief for his leadership and moving all of this and forward. thank you to everybody, it was wonderfully done. commissioner turman: i join my fellow commissioners in commending you from the chief of the way down to everyone participatthat participated. as a young lgbt person, if i saw what i just saw, my road would probably have been easier. it does get better, but it is a powerful message to hear and a hard message to understand. thank you for making that illustration, i really appreciate it. for me, my community, all of san francisco, thank you very, very
8:35 pm
much. >> great job, guys. we will get shawn here to be recognized. he is available next week, so we will get a certificate passed around. he's quite a guy. before we go to the special victims' presentation, we have a traffic company. we came across a problem with the preliminary allocable screening devices. i thought the commission should hear about it. it will be relatively brief, but it is important. >> i and the deputy chief of special operations, per my oversight is the traffic company. i will tell you about an issue that we discovered for the preliminary alcohol screening device used in dui
8:36 pm
investigation. tad yamaguchi is loading up a brief power point to show you some of the points. he also served as the subject matter expert in the device. i believe he has a device that i will hand out so you can take a look at it. while he is living it up, i will do it the old-fashioned way. the preliminary alcohol screening device that you are looking at now is a hand-held device to measure blood alcohol content in an individual's
8:37 pm
breath. it is one step of -- it is one p of a dui investigatio on of several. yamaguchi will go through the steps of an investigation, a check point, or some other patterns of driving that may call an officer to pull an individual over how to suspecto. one is a wet test, it uses a chemical. one is a dry test using a gas element to test the accuracy and calibration of the device. in late january, we received a call from the district
8:38 pm
attorney's office regarding the accuracy and calibration measures being investigated in dui cases. the chp actually questioned how we certified use of the unit. between february 1 and february 10, members of the district attorney's office and of the company command -- devices were originally purchased by sfpd in 2001. since that time, it was unclear of when we stopped doing the second of two-pronged test to certify its use. on february 10, the problems discovered in the audit were due to only one of two pronged test
8:39 pm
being done. it was done for calibration but not for accuracy. further investigation revealed that the gas used had expired i last year in 2010. with that in mind, on february 10 when it became apparent, hall of the screening devices were pulled from use at every district station and at the traffic company. a new gas supply was ordered and the vendor was requested to respond to recertified the screening devices, train the trainers and look at policies and procedures. currently, we are reviewing the written procedures in use. i have been tasked to conduct the investigation on where we are today. we are working with the district
8:40 pm
attorney's office to look at the impact of dui cases, if any. at this point, i would like to turn it over to sgt yamaguchi to talk about how it is being used in these investigations. >> if i could jump in. if we became -- when we became aware of this situation that has been taking place for quite possibly over a decade, we suspended the devices, pulled them off of the shows. this is a device or a measure as a sergeant will explain, not all police departments do. it is the brick and the wall, but it is not a foundational piece of the drunken-driving cases. it is still not acceptable that we were not doing what we should have been doing with regard the certification -- to certification. to that end, we will find out
8:41 pm
how we got to where we are. it is not ongoing and as soon as the defender gets us recertified, we will make sure that it is done right going forward. >> as a police officer, all of our officers on patrol, our primary goal is to get intoxicated drivers off of the road. it is concerning to us that it is a public safety issue, it could result in severe injury or death. if i see someone that i appear to be intoxicated based on their driving behavior, straddling lines, driving with headlights off, i will initiate a traffic stop and contact the driver. upon contact, i will ask for driver's license, registration, approval of insurance.
8:42 pm
i will often discover that that person shows signs of being under the influence at which time the dui investigation starts. i will ask the driver to exit the vehicle, conduct a field sobriety test that consists of gaze, the eye movement. also standing still with arms at your side, leaning back and counting to 30. walking in a straight line. nine steps in one direction, turning around, nine steps in the other diretion. ction. finally, one leg down as you look at the roadway. we look at these tests to see if you can continue driving. if you pass, we let you go at the scene. after i conduct those tests, if i believe that you are under the
8:43 pm
influence, as my final test, i will ask you, voluntary on the drivers parked, to take a pass test. preliminary alcohol screening device tests. it is up to the motorists to staay yes or no. if they say no, i can arrest or release. i don't have to have that to make an arrest. if the motorist submits to teh he device, i allow 15 minutes, making sure i look at the driver and to monitor them. i use the machine as prescribed by the manufacturer and putting every machine. i would give the first reading
8:44 pm
to the person, having them blown into the machine. i would document what that reading was. i would also administer that same test. i would document, agianain, what the readings were. it would just add them by investigation. if i felt the person was still under the influence, i would arrest them and take them to mission station, san francisco general, or county jail i where they can draw blood or use a breathalyzer machine to determine the blood alcohol content. after that, we book them for driving under the influence. >> to sum up, the reasonable suspicion to detain is at the onset. the probable cause to arrest is
8:45 pm
developed to the field sobriety test. the pass screening from the device we have withdrawn ads tdo probably cause which had already been formulated. in the final test is not optional, after the person makes their choice. then they go through the booking process. again, unfortunate that the circumstances presented itself. measures were taken to address the situation and we will make sure that it does not happen again going forward. >> i will say that not every single dui case the pass device is used. it is not a requirement that we have to or shall use it. it says that if it is
8:46 pm
available, we should, but it is not a requirement. quite often, we don't have that available so we go off of the initial observation of tehe test. >> it brings back a little bit of my flashback as days o as a young d.a. the most important piece of evidence is the results of the blood, breath, or urine taken. it is one of the field coordination tests, and the final one. if it is a field coordination test, most judges hold it is not admissible. i am glad you found that and pick it out. it is important that the evolution dui starts with red, watery eyes, slow and slurred speech. having a hard time getting out
8:47 pm
of the car or pulling documentation. stumbling, performing badly in the field coordination past, they are on their way. commissioners, any questions? commissioner turman: thank you, deputy chief and sgt. yamaguchi. a couple of questions. i want to make sure i understand, reasonable suspicion, field sobriety test, circumstances failing the sobriety test would lead you to initiate the pass. and from there, breathalyzer, urine, or blood. >> generally, yes. >> as i make the initial contact, i am constantly evaluating ifhi
165 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
SFGTV: San Francisco Government Television Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on