good morning everybody. thank you. it brings me such joy, gratitude, pleasure to welcome you to the re-dedication of ellis gardens. i hope you will join me in welcoming to the podium our mayor, london breed. >> mayor breed: i thought you

were going to the project and talk a little about it. fine, i will get started. thank you everyone for being here today. i am excited about this project. this is the city and county of san francisco working hard to fulfill a promise. a promise to so many people who live throughout san francisco in public housing, in conditions that no one should have to live in. a few years back when i first started as a member of the board of supervisors, i met with mayor ed lee to talk about priorities. my number one, two, three priority as supervisor was public housing in san francisco as a whole, not just my district. mayor lee supported the fact that we needed to do something different because the kinds of conditions that existed for so many years and the amount of money that we received, there

was no way to get to a better place. over 20 years of my life in plaza east, i live in those conditions. the neglect, the bathrooms that didn't work, the mold, the conditions that you live in when you have had to live that way for over 20 years is something you never forget. this is why nothing is more important to me than changing the kinds of conditions that people live in. here with 94 units of housing for people who are part of our very vulnerable community, our seniors, people living with disabilities, people who have challenges, not only physically sometimes but also many of our low income residents. they deserve the kind of place that exists here today. they deserve to live in

conditions where when they flush the toilet it will work. where they have showers and some of the most basic things that some people take for granted. they have pest control so that they don't have to deal with the kinds of conditions that existed in the city in some places around public housing for far too long. when we brought in the program there were so many people who were skeptical. they were worried about displacement, what happened in the city in the past. there were some mistakes made in the past. i continue to go back to my own personal experience of living in public housing 300 units torn down and only 200 units built. yes, a lot of people i grew up with were not given the opportunity to come back. that is why it is so important that we have partners and we work with each resident

individually to help them understand that this is about them and to make the move and the transition while we are renovating these places as smooth as possible. that we make sure we are able to gain their trust and their support. in this city we have demonstrated through this program that we can be trusted to do the kinds rehabilitation work that is desperately needed to make sure people are living in great conditions, people are living in the kinds of conditions that they deserve. i just want to thank tndc for being our partners, for doing the work with compassion. this place, i don't know if you have been in here before. what we see now, i am overwhelmed by the walls and floors and everything i see

today. it is so amazing. we know that san francisco continues to have so many challenges. yes, we have to build more housing because we know even outside these doors, sadly, there are people struggling with homelessness. we also have to make sure that we are taking care of the people who deserve a safe affordable place to call home. preservation of existing affordable housing, building new housing in this city, that is what we have to do to make san francisco a better place for each and every one of us. i am so grateful to be here, so proud of this work of this project, and i want to thank the people from project managers, to the financing. it does take a village that is expensive to do and to do

rehappentation work in san francisco. we -- rehabilitation work in san francisco. i am happy for the residents. congratulations on this incredible property and thank you, don, for all of the work you continue to do. this is not our first project together and it definitely won't be our last. [applause.] >> i know i speak for a lot of people when i say we are grateful for your leadership, mayor. join me in welcoming louise. [applause.]

>> good morning. i am the president of the ellis gardens council. i want to thank the mayor london breed for making it happening for providing housing. i came to san francisco in 1962, when i was 12 years old from el salvador. most of my life i lived in the mission district before losing my housing. thankfully, there was room for me at ellis gardens in 2012. ever since i have moved to ellis gardens, i have become involved in the community such as volunteering in the boys and girls club. volunteers is a positive and happy experience in my life. i love ellis gardens.

it feels like an extension of the park now that the renovation is complete. it is now time to enjoy ellis gardens, have respect for one another and improve our community. on behalf of the residents we are very appreciative for the renovations and the support. thank you very much. [applause.] >> thank you. please welcome supervisor matt haney. [applause.] >> thank you, don, mayor breed. i want to give a special recognition to louise. he is not just the red of the tenant council here, he is one of the greatest community leaders in the tenderloin.

he shows up in the neighborhood. you make this such a wonderful place to live. please give him a round of applause again. >> i have been friends with who louise for a few years. last year he invited me to visit the believe. -- to visit the building. it looks so beautiful. this area back here, the units. i got to visit on the tenth floor. this building is gorgeous. this is what people in this community deserve. this is what people in the tenderloin need in terms of open space, green space, finally living up to the name of this building, ellis gardens. this is a beautiful building for a neighborhood that is truly experiencing a renaissance of affordable housing, renovation

for a community on the move in a positive way. i had a couple friends who visited the city recently. they are worried about the tenderloin. i said i was walking around and saw gentrification. i said what are you talking about? he said i walked around taylor and eddy and saw the condos popping up. i am worried we are building condos and not affordable housing. i said those are affordable housing buildings. yes, they are beautiful. yes, they represent what people in this community need andy serve. people are going to walk by this and say, wow, i wish i could live there. that is what we want for everyone living in the city and the residents. thank you for allowing us to celebrate. thank you for going through this

process. i am sure there was a level of disruption. thank you to bank of america and all of the project managers. i live one block from here right on hyde and ellis. this is my neighborhood. i walk by here every day and i am so happy for the residents and this entire community that this building has been expanded in the way that it has. thank you. (applause). >> thank you so much, matt. please welcome the executive director of glide community housing. (applause). >> good morning everybody. it is my pleasure to be here today. flied community housing is honored to be in partnership. thank you, mayor london breed and supervisor haney.

welcome everyone. we are so proud of the building we are being presented to you today the new ellis gardens. this project has been a labor of love. i would like to just pause and highlight the development team for a minute. thank you so much for your level of excellence devoted to this project. ellis garden reflects a strong commitment of collaboration and the team went above and beyond to make this a beautiful project. as you tour the building you will see their efforts truly exceed the baseline for the project. the structure here is sound and we are providing units of quality housing for years to come. as a service provider, glide community housing believes communities like ellis gardens are built on the strengths and talents of the members in the community. we are here to provide

supportive services through effective case management. the goal is housing stability for the entire population of not only this building but other believes in the community. our service team develops programming offering an array of multi-dimensional services and opportunities to travel new pathways to health, autonomy and growth. we believe that housing is the essential first step in supporting individuals to reduce barriers and thus breaking the cycles of chronic homelessness. in closing, i want to thank a few people in the room today. i really want to thank our staff. glide community housing supportive services staff has gone the extra mile. it was our first time delivering services in an active construction site.

not only did you take care of your yells, you continued to deliver quality services and make sure the folks here were taken care of. bank of america we thank you. we were able to deliver welcome home kits to every individual that received a new apartment got a kit full of basic household needs, dish us, towels, bathroom supplies to help them settle into the community. gabe, thank you. your leadership on the development team is exceptional. you went the extra mile. we thank you for your leadership. d and h construction exceptional work. san francisco arts commission. we applied for the community challenge grant and were ag ablo

partner. there is a beautiful mural on the wall. we are proud of the mural. our partners with hsh, thank you. you allow us to work through supportive services. this community means a lot to us. there is a tremendous amount of gratitude being a lot of thank u.s. from the residents coming to services every day. very appreciative of what we have done as a team. thank you. we appreciate you. (applause). >> bank of america played a crucial role not only at ellis gardens but across the entire portfolio of rental assistance demonstration properties. please welcome our long time

friend heidi. >> good morning, everyone. thank you so much for the warm welcome. thank you mathank you, mayor br. for those who may not know, bank of america was founded here in san francisco in 1904 as the bank of italy by the son of italian immigrants who wanted to serve immigrants, women, those who were just the common person, and not necessarily the financial elite. fast forward over 100 years and bank of america represents over 4,000 teammates, clients, community partners in san francisco and if it is iconic moments like financing the bay bridge or restoring the ferry building or providing almost 100 residents in the ellis gardens with a wonderful new living

condition and the well-being that comes with a place that is truly a home, we are so proud to be part of it. how important san francisco is to bank of america. it is fitting out of $4.8 billion. i am a banker. i will talk about money. invested in the community development across the country over $2.2 billion is here in san francisco. we are tremendously proud to be included today in the celebration. congratulations to the entire resident bays, community partners and friends. thank you all so much for including us. (applause). >> finally, gabriel, it is your turn. >> thank you, don andthal you

all for come -- thank you all for coming. my heart is filled with so much gratitude today. i recognize that i am the last speaker right before lunch. i will keep it quick. first, i want to thank the tenants especially for putting up with construction and relocation. today is an open house of sorts. it is not the first open house. when we completed the first floor of the top floor we finished the first unit and held the apartment open for the tenants to come and take a look. everything was done. we had it staged modestly with flowers. people came out on to check it out. i will never forget one tenant walked in to the apartment and said is this what you are doing to my home? the tenant reactions were great.

i wish we had hgtv there to capture it. those are a real reason why many of us are in this business and do the work we do. i will skip over the list of hundreds of people i want to thank. i would like to thank the dozens of people who will look after this building here on out and look after the health of the people in it. i am very proud what we accomplished together to be here today. we did so under budget, mind you. i am proud tha that we will accomplish all of this in the future. thank you very much for coming. >> thank you. i want to just offer a few reflections. one is that i hope you will hear from all of us just the expression of gratitude. we realize we are in a

privileged position to do the work to serve others. that is what a lot of us are very motivated by while in this room. seven years ago mayor lee and ed had a vision p.29 properties. $2 billion and where was that going to come from? how was it going to happen? a new program that none of us knew or understood very well. i understand the housing director at the time telling me five single-spaced pages of exceptions to the rules. like this is what it took. that speaks nothing of all of the people and the institutions who are part of it. i hope you will takethe time to not just read but to grasp what is involved with every one of the people. most of you here and everyone on

the list made a real contribution. i hope you will feel that you own this, if you will, because we were in this role at the center of the work but it is other people doing the work. i don't know what it means to own ellis gardens. this is a community asset. this is affordable housing forever to serve people with low incomes forever. there will be a whole generation of people here 40 or 50 years from now celebrating the next rededication. it is a profound moment that i hope we can all appreciate how important not just the rededication but renewal. grateful to be a part of it. thank you all for coming. [applause.] >> five, four, three, two, one.

[cheers.] [♪] >> i just wanted to say a few words. one is to the parents and to all of the kids. thank you for supporting this program and for trusting us to create a soccer program in the bayview. >> soccer is the world's game, and everybody plays, but in the united states, this is a sport that struggles with access for certain communities. >> i coached basketball in a coached football for years, it is the same thing. it is about motivating kids and keeping them together, and

giving them new opportunities. >> when the kids came out, they had no idea really what the game was. only one or two of them had played soccer before. we gave the kids very simple lessons every day and made sure that they had fun while they were doing it, and you really could see them evolve into a team over the course of the season. >> i think this is a great opportunity to be part of the community and be part of programs like this. >> i get to run around with my other teammates and pass the ball. >> this is new to me. i've always played basketball or football. i am adjusting to be a soccer mom. >> the bayview is like my favorite team. even though we lose it is still fine. >> right on. >> i have lots of favorite memories, but i think one of them is just watching the kids enjoy themselves. >> my favorite memory was just having fun and playing. >> bayview united will be in soccer camp all summer long. they are going to be at civic

centre for two different weeklong sessions with america scores, then they will will have their own soccer camp later in the summer right here, and then they will be back on the pitch next fall. >> now we know a little bit more about soccer, we are learning more, and the kids are really enjoying the program. >> we want to be united in the bayview. that is why this was appropriate >> this guy is the limit. the kids are already athletic, you know, they just need to learn the game. we have some potential college-bound kids, definitely. >> today was the last practice of the season, and the sweetest moment was coming out here while , you know, we were setting up the barbecue and folding their uniforms, and looking out onto the field, and seven or eight of the kids were playing. >> this year we have first and second grade. we are going to expand to third, forth, and fifth grade next year bring them out and if you have middle school kids, we are starting a team for middle school. >> you know why?

>> why? because we are? >> bayview united. >> that's right.. >> working for the city and county of san francisco will immerse you in a vibrate and dynamic city on sfroert of the art and social change we've been on the edge after all we're at the meeting of land and sea world-class style it is the burn of blew jeans where the rock holds court over the harbor the city's information technology xoflz work on the rulers project for free wifi and developing projects and insuring patient state of at san francisco general hospital our it professionals make guilty or

innocent available and support the house/senate regional wear-out system your our employees joy excessive salaries but working for the city and county of san francisco give us employees the unities to contribute their ideas and energy and commitment to shape the city's future but for considering a career with the city and county of san francisco

>> clerk: -- and please rise for the pledge of allegiance. [pledge of allegiance]

>> clerk: commissioner, i had like to take roll? >> okay. [roll call] >> clerk: commissioner, you have a quorum. also with us tonight are chief scott of the san francisco police department and director paul henderson from the department of police accountability. >> president hirsch: okay. good evening, everyone. this is the november 6, 2019 meeting of the san francisco police commission. we do have a long closed session agenda, so we'll allow two minutes for public comment, and with that, we're ready for the first item. >> clerk: line item one, adoption of minutes, action for

the meeting of october 2, 2019. >> president hirsch: is there a motion to adopt? >> so moved. >> president hirsch: all right. any discussion? we need comment on that. any public comment on the adopt of the minutes, the motion? all right. seeing none, all in favor? opposed? carried unanimously. >> clerk: motion passes. line item 2, consent calendar. police consent disciplinary action third quarter 2019. >> president hirsch: all right. is there any discussion on this that we need to have? all right. can i have a motion on the consent calendar item? >> so moved. >> second. >> president hirsch: i need public comment on the adoption of the report, third quarter disciplinary actions. seeing none, public comment is

closed. all in favor? opposed? that carries. >> clerk: line item three, reports to the commission, discussion. 3-a, chief's report. crime trends. produce a report on crime trends in san francisco including sexual assaults. chief's report will be limited to a brief report of the significant incidents. discussion will be limited to describi describing an incident for a future meeting. commission discussion on unplanned events and activities the chief describes will be limited to determining whether to calendar for future meetings. staffing and overtime, status of current staffing levels and over time.

>> president hirsch: okay. thank you. >> thank you, president hirsch and commissioners. overall, part one crime, overall serious crimes, we are down overall 6%. our total property crimes are down also 6%. we continue to have few you are reported incidents in all categories of property crimes, includi including auto burglaries which are down 20% compared to 2018 and 19% when compared to 2017. in terms of violent crime, we're down 8%. specifically, we have 33 homicides to date. we've had no homicides for the last week, and the last reported homicide incident was

october 26. we had four homicides in the month of october, unfortunately, and three in the month of september. 22 of the 33 cases have been cleared, 21 cleared by arrest and one cleared by exceptional clearance. looking at our gun violence, we are at 112 victims of gun violence and that includes two shooting incidents. this represents a 12% decrease from 2018, so we're really pleased that we have a reduction in gun violence, as well. of the 112 victims, 20 have sustained fatal wounds, 20 with a firearm to date. which is a small reduction. we had 21 last year. when you look at the five-year trend in firearms year-to-date involving a firearm, this is the lowest in the last six

years, actually, at 20. our year-to-date homicides, when you look at the trend line, this is the lowest amount of homicides that we've had this point in the year the last six years. we hope to keep that trend going in the upcoming year and beyond. there are two shooting injuries in the last week that resulted in injuries to victims. one occurred at an unknown location which the victim was self-transported to a local hospital. the victim provided no information as to where the shooting occurred, so police are still trying to investigate where that shooting occurred. the other incident involved a robbery attempt that occurred at navy and griffith in the bayview area. that victim was injured but is expected to survive and that incident is also under investigation. halloween last week, we had a very heavy deployment for

halloween. it was a peaceful night with no major incidents. we had good weather and very few problems. five districts that are particularly very busy were the areas that were most impacted by halloween crowds. there were a total of eight felony arrests, one felony arrest warrant, one served for 647-f of the penal code, which is public intoxication. 19 medical calls for service and one arrest for driving under the influence halloween night. during this past week, we also had three major injury traffic collisions resulting unfortunately in one fatality and four injuries. the fatal incident was a vehicle versus pedestrian which occurred on halloween after evening, actually. it was about 330 in the evening

at south vanness. in this case, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle as she tried to across the street. the driver stayed at the scene and the investigation is ongoing, but unfortunately, the victim did not survive her injuries. the major events this week, we have already 30 events around the city this week highlighted of course by the chase center where the golden state warriors kicked off their season last week, and they will be back in town next monday against the utah jazz. there have been no major concerns, although traffic continues to be a challenge. and again, that's evolving. as the season wears on, we hope to straighten out some of the traffic calendars in conjunction with m.t.a. other major events include cirque du soleil which kicked off their season in the parking lot of the oracle park.

with again, the concerts and events creates traffic congestion but no major events associated with the event. quickly on staffing and overtime, for the first three months of the fiscal year, we spent, according to budget, about 25% of our budget, so we're right on track if we continue to -- the spending trend that we're seeing for the first three months of the year. we do have a few preplanned events, including new year's eve, and we do have events toward the end of the fiscal year, which is pride. halloween is the third largest event during the year, so we're reconciling those numbers. i would like to point out our mutual aid requests for the w

sonoma fires, including a 24-hour a day, seven-day a week operations center in support of the logistics and the deployment of our 227 officers. preliminarily, we expended 3,333 overtime hours, and we do expect reimbursement, however, as this is a reimbursable event, so we'll keep on top of that. in terms of staffing, we are at full duty sworn staffing of 1,859 officers, which is 112 positions below the mandated 1,971. we just had an academy class that graduated last friday with 28 recruits. we also had a new class that will be starting on december 12 of this year, and that will be

class 269. and then, we have class 270 that'll start on march 23, and class 71 that'll start on june 15, so we're excited about that and hopefully, we can increase our attendance in the upcoming academies to our recruitment efforts. the last thing i want to update you on on our staffing is our union organization efforts. as you all know, the budget that was passed this year included 25 civilian positions. of that, we have filled 13 of them. six of the positions were officially posted last month, and we have six positions where we're still working on examination analysis materials, and we still have the posts. so 13 filled, six that we just posted, and six that we were still work being through the

examination materials to actually see the new positions that we have to actually create requisitions for, so we're in that process, as well. and the last thing in this portion of my report, i want to speak to a news article that i think it was friday in one of the local papers regarding j f jttf. most of the information was taken from a blog site. the article highlighted a document authored by the f.b.i., and for us, just want to point out to the commission and the public that we are still not actively involved in the jttf, and as you all know, the commission -- any jttf discussion will be brought before the commission, at which time if we decide that that's the direction we'll go, working

with the commission and the mayor's office and the police department. we are working to make the best decision in the interests of the city. that's where we are and what i can comment at this point, but i just want to make sure that the public understands that our position has not changed, and that's where we are at this point. and that's it for this portion of the chief's report. >> president hirsch: thank you. any questions? commissioner elias? >> commissioner elias: thank you. i have several questions. on the classes that you mentions, 269, 270, 271, do you have any idea of what the class size is going to be? >> we're still in the process -- part of budget process this here is they actually cut down the class size that we were authorized, so we're hoping, you know, in approxima

the mid30's, but up until we fill that class, that process really goes until the academy starts because we're always having classes. sometimes we lose some, sometimes we gain some, but we're hoping we are at our authorized number, which is 30 for those classes. >> commissioner elias: and then, my other question was regarding the sort of articles that came out. so i was wondering what -- i was wondering about, in the articles, it mentioned sort of a white paper, and i'm wondering what -- you know, if you know what this white paper is and sort of some of the stats that were mentioned in the article that cased that -- that indicated that the police department had, that those stats were being provided to the v.p.a. so they could be included in their reports because i understand some of their reports are blank or don't have these records, but

it's because they haven't been provided the records. so i'm concerned or maybe wondering these records, if they exist and are not being provided to the d.p.a. >> yes. in regards to the first part, i am aware of it or was aware of it. there is still investigation on that matter, so inappropriate to go into detail on it at this point. in regards to the second question, there -- and that's part of the issue at hand in terms of what can be turned over to d.p.a. and what can't. everything that was connected to those investigations, from my understanding, that was before i arrived in town here. but everything that is connected to those investigations are classified and cannot be turned over and was not turned over to d.p.a. i think that's part of the

discussion connected to as we evaluate 810 and d.g.o.s related to that issue. >> commissioner elias: and then, my third question, am i question in understanding -- i know you had said a few years ago there was an m.o.u. that you it signed regarding a drug task force in the tenderloin. is that the only operation that sfpd is engaged in with the federal government in terms of sort of law enforcement activities? >> there are operations ongoing, and they, in terms of our work with, whether it be the d.e.a. or other -- f.b.i., other federal agencies. the department was provided with a copy of our m.o.u., so there's hundreds of m.o.u.s. so in terms of your question, are there other m.o.u.s with the federal government, there

are some, but i don't -- i can't list them all off the top of my head, but the commission was given copies of that when we -- the commission passed, i think 2.04. >> commissioner elias: right. and i know when we asked for all those m.o.u.s, that was prior to your announcement that you had resumed sort of working with f.b.i. on a task force. and i guess my concern is i want to make sure -- i know that they have different interests than sf papd and tha has led to lawsuits in terms of best practices, so i want to make sure that things like that don't happen again. >> some of the best practices don't involve m.o.u.s, but like any operation, we have to abide

by city and county policies and police department policies. so that's the first safeguard. we have to abide by our policies. we can't get around that, nor do we want to. you can rest assured in terms of any immigration issues or those types of things, that we are very mindful and careful of that when we engage in any operations with any federal agency. and you know, that's high le l levels of reviews that we have in our d.g.o. required for interagency operations. it's actually a protocol that we have to follow when we do an interagency operation. so there are levels of reviews to safeguard against our officers not following sfpd policies or getting into a situation where that might be a risk to that. so good policies in place, and you know, we do follow them, and i think that protects us from that concern. >> president hirsch: commissioner mazzucco? >> commissioner mazzucco: thank you. thank you for filling us in on

staffing. we've heard that san francisco police officers are lateraling or looking to transfer to other agencies. i've heard that from several different sources, so i'm worried about having enough officers go through the academy and making their way through, and wondering why officers want to leave. >> we have lost some officers, and we do conduct exit interviews with those officers because we want to know why. some of the answers we've heard lately are commutes. a lot of issues, the officers live far away. they get offers closer to home, and it's more desirable for them. some other officers leave for different reasons, including discipline. some officers leave for better pay. some officers leave because they're just dissatisfied, you

know, with either the department or policing in the city, so it kind of runs the gamut, so we do a lot of work to try to determine why officers are leaving when they lateral out, and those areas that we can work on and fix, we try to mitigate those. but it's hard to contend -- the other reason, just one other, is family reasons. we had a few officers -- and these are mostly newer officers to the department, that they leave for whatever their family situation is that makes it not, either timing wise or just not agreeable to their family situation. >> commissioner mazzucco: one of the issues you just raised, officers with discipline, hopefully, these police departments understand if officers have discipline events with us, that information is given to other departments. >> their background investigation, depending how thorough they are, they do follow up, and there's a process for that.

>> commissioner mazzucco: and then second, i notice that commander perea testified before the board of supervisors about the number of traffic citations that the officers are issuing, and there was a concern that there's not enough citations being issued, and he gave an explanation, so i just might add, i met with a couple young officers and asked how long does it take to write a citation now under the new format, and it's literally a 15-to-30-minute process because they have to synchronize their clocks with the body worn camera. i think it's important for the board of supervisors to know that they're following what we asked them to do. and also, it's kind of hard to

make traffic stops when you have calls for service that aren't being responded to. you don't have time to make traffic stops, so i think that was good to make that classification from the boots on the ground -- clarification from the boots on the ground. >> thank you for that. we are always looking for improvement, but that is one of the areas where information to the public and education to the public, there are a lot of administrative tasks that officers have to do that they didn't have to do three years ago. the department didn't have body-worn cameras three years ago. the department didn't have the racial profiling act three years ago. all of those administrative tasks, they do the work on the back end. and we are looking into how that impacts our deployment, which it does have an accouimp. we're going to do the best we can, but it does have an impact, and they do take time. >> commissioner mazzucco: i just wanted to get that out

there. >> president hirsch: commissioner dejesus, and welcome back. >> commissioner dejesus: thank you. i just wanted to get some information. you said in your report, the department wasn't involved. did you say with the f.b.i., under an m.o.u. >> with the jttf. >> commissioner dejesus: you said in your report, the department's not actively involved. >> commissioner elias: i think he said actively involved in jttf. >> commissioner dejesus: okay. thank you. thank you. and then i guess going back to the article, when you first came on board, i think you suspended the jttf that was in place. >> correct. >> commissioner dejesus: i'm assuming that m.o.u. has expired. >> yes, it has. >> commissioner dejesus: and you mentioned that if any new contract came with a jttf, it would come in front of this commission. >> yes, as well as any new contract with a d.g.o.-10.

that's one of the things that regardless of how jttf goes, that's one of the things that we are looking at, as well. >> president hirsch: for members of the public, there was a civil grand jury that was convened in 2018-2019, and in the summer of 2019, this year, they issued a report, and it focused on the police department's lack of involvement with the joint terrorism task force with the f.b.i., and a response was required from the police chief, from the mayor, and from myself. my response is posted on the san francisco police commission website, and i think i made it as clear as i could to the grand jury and to the city that we are not -- the police department is not part of the joint terrorism task force right now, and if that ever becomes a ripe issue where the city seeks to participate again, i committed that i would make sure that the civil rights organizations that helped draft

general order 810 will be part of any working group along with the f.b.i., along with the department, along with other interested parties in working through the many issues that existed, and there are issues, and there's a reason why the department hasn't participated in the jfft for the last 2.5 years, so that's available if anybody wants to read it. commissioner hamasaki? >> commissioner hamasaki: thank you. chief, you may have covered this before i arrived, and i apologize for my lateness. traffic here is lovely. and i had actually e-mailed you, requesting that you address the articles in the white paper that it come out regarding the department's past participation with jttf. and the things i wanted clarification on are all of the incidents and all of the issues that were discussed happened prior to the department leaving jttf. there's no conduct that was alleged that's occurred since

we withdrew from all participation in jttf under your watch. >> that is correct. >> commissioner hamasaki: okay. and so it's -- it's -- there's some issues there. it's not that those issues are in the past, but if there ever becomes a point, like president hirsch says, where we are to consider rejoining jttf, i think those issues in the articles would certainly become relevant. but i think a couple people reached out to me concerned that there was still conduct that was ongoing since leaving the jttf, and you just clarified that that is not the case >> that is not the case. >> commissioner hamasaki: okay. that's all i wanted to clarify. thank you, chief. >> president hirsch: vice president taylor. >> vice president taylor: hi, chief. >> hey. >> vice president taylor: not to pile on, but i wanted to clarify a bit of what commissioner mazzucco was saying because i've heard from members of the public who are

desperate, for lack of a better word, for police involvement, kind of boots on the ground in their neighborhoods, and there does seem to be a real issue in the city and neighborhoods that are underserved because of the lack of -- of officers right now and folks leaving the department. i know just -- we have a brand-new class, and i was very happy to be at that graduation last week and have the ability to speak, but it's a problem, and i hear more and more from community members all over the city so i wanted you to have a little bit of an opportunity to tell us what we're doing in the future to help folks feel safe in their city. >> yes. first, let me frame this in a larger context. myself and many other members

of our department attended the international conference for chiefs of police in chicago last week. this is a national challenges about recruitment challenges, and the challenges we're facing. we're not alone, but some of the things that we're doing in terms of trying to make the situation better, of course, we are recruiting nationwide. of course we definitely focus and try to encourage people that are interested in policing that live in the city -- i mean, we want to get the home-grown talent first. but beyond that, regionally and nationally, we are recruiting all over the country. that includes military, colleges. we have made some modifications to our testing process. one of the things, 2.5 years ago that we worked with the department of human resources was our -- at some of the entry

level physical testing. for instance, we used to do a trigger pull, and a higher degree of women were not -- could not basically perform that test, so the h.r. worked with us, with the experts in that field, and we ended up doing a strength -- a grip test rather than trigger pull, and what we found was the rate of women -- number one, the test is more amenable to the job. and secondly, that test is no longer a barrier to women, so we have seen a number of candidates that are recruiting and going to the academy. so that's one of the things that we're doing looking at the background process. i think part of our challenge is we compete with other agencies, and oftentimes if an

officer has applied to several different agencies, they may hold out to work in a bigger city like san francisco, but oftentimes, they're going to go to the first department that offers them a job because they don't want to pass up an opportunity so we have to be competitive in terms of how long it takes for us to finish a background process. [please stand by]