["pledge of allegiance"] >> clerk: vice president elias, if i could take roll?

>> vice president elias: yes, please. [roll call] >> clerk: vice president elias, you have a quorum. with us tonight is chief william scott and diane from the office of police accountability. >> vice president elias: good evening. this is also commissioner hamasaki's last meeting. >> commissioner hamasaki: if we can get through the tears, we'll be okay. >> vice president elias: there will be a lot of tears. okay. next item. >> clerk: item 1, general public comment. the public is now welcome to address the commission

regarding items that do not appear on tonight's agenda but that 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 d.p.a. personnel. under police commission rules of order, during public comment, neither police or d.p.a. personnel nor commissioners are required to respond to questions presented by the public but may provide a brief response. at this time, if you'd like to make public comment, approach the podium or press star, three. >> hello. my name is reeta larkin, and i'm here this week, and i was here last here. there's a bill that died called a.b. 1837.

the bill's title is no place like home, and they have a partner with the police officers and the parole agents who have been hard times trying to locate their parolees to arrest high risk neighborhood that, in my neighborhood, in the complex, tenants are always been terrorized, held hostage, all kind of stuff. and the one family that i spoke of, one sister is running around, and they can't seem to locate her, and she's between marin city and here. if you can just look that bill up, and if the bill needs to be rewrote or whatever, do what's

needed. thank you. >> clerk: good evening, caller. you have two minutes. >> yes. my name is david elliott lewis. i'm a long time member of the police department crisis intervention team mental health working group. this is an advisory group of volunteers that advises on the apartment c.i.t. program, so i've been a part of this since about 2014, and i've noticed great progress in officers' training, in deescalation, and less use of force by those trained. it's been a really successful program. it's a small department of six, i think led by lieutenant mario molina. they're all hard working. half of them are training, half of them are field, and they do field operations, and they're amazing. it's taken a while for the core

message of taking time, distance, and building rapport to take effect, but it's happening. we're seeing less use of force in apprehending suspects, and good work to the officers who have been trained to running the program, and my name is

david elliott lewis. thank you. >> clerk: hello, caller. your two minutes starts now. >> hello. my name is [indiscernible] they're not only disturbing on their own terms, but the department has a history of treating every disturbing event as if it's isolated events. the most important fact that has come out of the arrest of officers who have been accused

of destroying evidence illegally, contrary to their duties as police officers, they told the hotel staff when they discovered what had been stolen credit cards and stolen drugs, that it would take too much time to document it. the only explanation is that the culture of the department has led these officers to believe that they've ignored their duty so openly. with respect to the retired officer who put the machine gun out on the property room to be found, obviously, through a property inventory, his quote according to the press is he was just borrowing it.

it is amazing how blatant this conduct is, and if you don't do something, it will keep happening over and over again. thank you. >> clerk: good evening, caller. you have two minutes. >> my name is susan black man, and i volunteer with wealth and disparities in the black community. i have grown tired of talking to the police commission, the sfpd, and to the board of supervisors. where is the urgency? if the tables are turned and these statistics represented white folks, i know there would be an urgency. when are you going to take a stand and address these fines and i think thises within your responsibility. i think you need to take an oath to uphold the law for all

san franciscans. sfpd latest 96-a report for fourth quarter 2021 show that the disparities in policing were far worse than the quarter before. according to the report, these disparities are worse than the prior quarter and worse than when reporting started six years ago. sfpd admitted it left those quarterly rates and disparity grounds out of the reporting for the first time in years. you can't help but think these were omitted deliberately because the antiblack racism is done so deliberately. we need a quarterly report on antiblack disparities.

thank you. >> clerk: good evening, caler. you have two minutes. >> hello. my name is david aaronson. i'm with wealth and disparities from the black community. the following is a quote from our founder, felicia jones. i've grown tired of talking to the police commission, the sfpd, and the board of supervisors. where is the urgency. if the tables were turned and these represents white folks, there would be an urgency. when are you going to take responsibility and address the harsh biased and unjust statistics as you took an oath to uphold the law and seek the good for all san franciscans. i'm tired. not tired enough to quit, tired to look at my quotes calling on deaf ears. we've sought help from attorney general banta.

the -- many compliance measures are not technology related, they are about training. the fact that sfpd is not using already available data in the january reporting to the body here [indiscernible] to train officers and supervisors is ridiculous. why don't sfpd supervisors use of disparity data in these existing reports in discussions and training with officers' bias, let alone hold anyone accountable for biased behavior. sfpd appears unwilling to

change this on going antiblackness. again, where is the consistency, where is the accountability? thank you. >> clerk: good evening, caller. you have two minutes. >> hello. my name is jean bridges, and i volunteer with wealth and disparties in the black community. the following is a quote from our founder, felicia jones. i've grown tired of talking to the police commission, to sfpd, and to the board of supervisors. where the urgency? if the tables were turned and these statistics represented white folks, i know there would be an urgency. when are you going to address the harsh, biased, and unjust statistics as you took an oath to protect all san franciscans.

i am tired, not tired enough to quit but tired of beating a dead horse and tired of our calls falling on deaf ears. this week, sfpd made headlines for corrupt criminal behavior. three officers, including a 21 year veteran reportedly engaged in criminal behavior. the police officers association was quoted at saying, we are familiar with the alleged incidents and believe the evidence will show that these facts were not warranted. we ask everyone to realize that these people are presumed innocent until province guilty

beyond a reasonable doubt. -- until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. we demand sfpd demand accountability for corrupt behavior. thank you. >> clerk: good evening, caller. you have two minutes. >> francisco dacosta. i want to bring to your attention, as i did the last time, that the commissioners should look into the redistricting task force. this measure now has gone to court, and this is the right time for the commission to look into the redistricting task force and see what you can do to better improve quality of life issues in san francisco. there are a number of public housing that have had incidents

of require on ingalls and oakdale. i would think that some sort of investigation would have to be done, linked to the patrolling of this area by the housing people. it has to be died to the -- tied to the san francisco police department in order to address the quality of life issues. the people are distressed. thank you very much. >> clerk: vice president elias, that is the end of public comment. >> vice president elias: thank you, sergeant. can you please call the next item? >> clerk: item 2, consent calendar, receive and file,

action. >> vice president elias: do any of my commissioners have any questions or would like to agendize any of the items? otherwise, we can take a motion. >> commissioner yee: i'll make the motion. >> i'll second. >> clerk: on the motion to accept the consent calendar -- [roll call] >> clerk: you have six yeses. >> vice president elias: next item. >> clerk: line item 3, chief's report. weekly crime trends and public

safety concerned. provide an overview of offenses, incidents, or events occurring in san francisco having an impact on public safety. commission discussion on unplanned events and activities the chief describes will be limited to determining whether to calendar for a future meeting. >> chief scott: i'm going to start this week's report with the announcement of the arrest of two current san francisco police officers and one retired san francisco police officer. that announcement was made yesterday, but i'm just going to repeat the release. the sfpd announced the arrests of two officers and one retired member. the retired member was working in a part-time program under the city's prop f program which allows retire officers to work

a limited number of hours. on august 12, sfpds internal affairs division was notified of the missing firearm. sfpd investigators immediately launched an investigation which immediately established that retired san francisco police officer mark williams was in possession of the firearm. retired officer williams was immediately terminated from his position with the police department. on tuesday, april 19, williams voluntarily surrendered himself at san francisco county jail, where he was booked on charges of unlawful possession of a machine gun, as 32625 of the california penal code, possession of a silencer,

32510. on july 3, 2021, investigators from the sfpd internal affairs division were notified of an incident involving the destruction of evidence prior to -- the prior evening on the 700 block of mission street. sfpd investigators launched an investigation which established that officer kevin lyons and kevin sien destroyed evidence. they were immediately transferred to assignments with nonpublic contact. on friday, april 15, 2022, a san francisco superior court judge signed and issued arrest warrants for lyons and sien. on tuesday, april 19, 2022, the

two surrendered themselves to san francisco city jail. these actions of these sfpd members violate the law and regrettably fall short of our shared values. as sworn peace officers, we have no higher obligation than to earn and maintain public trust and we are disappointed that this detracts from our sworn officers and work that our nonsworn members do every

day. commission, as you know, this case may end up before the commission, and that is pretty much what we can say publicly at this time. >> vice president elias: okay. is that all your updates? >> chief scott: no, i actually have more, but i'll be brief. this is out of the reporting period at 12:11 overnight, the victim was sitting in his parked car when two subjects approached and began firing at

the victim. one person was able to get out of the vehicle and find cover. the victim got out of the vehicle and was struck numerous times by gun fire. two suspects fled on foot, and the victim was transported to a local hospital and succumbed to his injuries. we do have some leads that we're following up on. nobody's in custody at this point, and i will keep the commission posted at this investigation continues. we had another shooting in the bayview, on april 2, 2022, at 1:35 p.m. no further information and no suspect in custody at this time. on the 14, at 3:35 a.m., on

acker place in the taraval, a victim was shot as a relative's resident and he was driven to the hospital. the investigation is still on going. at an unknown location in the bayview, the victim transported himself to the hospital after being shot in the face. he did not provide any information, including the location of the shooting. we have been unable to locate where the shooting occurred at this time, and that investigation is on going. a firearm was recovered in the victim's car, but that's as much as we have at this point. retail theft incidents, two occurred on april 15.

four subjects committed an organized retail theft incident at two walgreens within minutes of each other. no officers or any of the subjects were witness to this incident, but the suspects were tied to a burglary that occurred on thursday, april 14, so really good arrests by our officers. a robbery with a firearm.

a robbery occurred on 19 in the taraval. on april 10, central officers located the suspect vehicle in the bayview district, and a warrant was retained. -- other suspect, a total of four, were taken into custody in connection to all of the incidents that i just mentioned. during the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the suspects were going to oakland to switch vehicles, with four returning to san francisco.

all suspects are involved in the investigation, and very good arrests by our police officers. and then, the last incident, we are up in total part one crime 10%. that's really being driven by our property crime, with about a 2,000 larsly crime increase over this time last year. that's -- larceny crime increase over this time last year. we will continue to focus on our violent crime as well as our property crime, and we'll

keep the commission and public posted on progress. that is my report for today. >> vice president elias: thank you. commissioner hamasaki? >> commissioner hamasaki: thank you. good evening, chief. >> chief scott: good evening. >> commissioner hamasaki: so obviously, you know, the big story or discussion this week is the arrests of the two sfpd officers and one former officer still working at the department. let me start with a question that one of the callers asked, which was why were details omitted from the sfpd press

release regard specifically regarding the introduction of credit cards, meth, and then also, the nature of the theft of the submachine gun? why was that decision made? >> chief scott: generally, commissioner, on these types of investigations, we coordinate our timing of our investigation. it was an sfpd investigation from start to finish, and a -- what we had to do was report the pernent information, which i believe we did, so there's no intent to hide anything here.

that investigation was exactly what was described. >> commissioner hamasaki: well, i think what the concern wasny, you know, we received a press release. it involved the charges, the warrant seeking the arrest, but it didn't really address the arrest. one of the big issues has been the culture, and i think the caller alluded to that or maybe specifically stated that, which

has been something that's been in the news a lot. heather has written a series of stories in the chronicle detailing the efforts of sfpd officers to respond to crime, write reports, kind of dissuading people by saying the d.a. isn't going to do anything. and in this case, we have a veteran officer, 21 years involved, doing exactly what people have been concerned about, which is, you know, not doing their job. i mean, i guess -- excuse me. i think it would have been helpful to release that, but it

also speaks to the broader cultural issue. you know, we've been discussing this for many years now, that we're changing all these policies and making all these advances, and we're still seeing the same types of issues arise, and maybe more so over the last year that it's been in the media. >> one of the ways to address that type of behavior is to hold people accountable. the case was presented to the district attorney's office. there's an administrative investigation that's happening that may be coming before this

commission. i don't know how you can hold officers more accountable than what's happened during this investigation. as far as the culture, there's always a concern about how widespread of this, but at the end of that concern comes what are the actions of officers that give us an indication? when we find out about an action, either impose the discipline or recommend the to the police commission. policy wise, the things that this department has done over the last few years, i think we

have a way to tighten up the order those are the ways that you effectively address a police culture, accountability, consistency, strong policies, and i think we're doing that. with the commission's help, i think we're doing that. when officers conduct this type of kbafr, it's not condoned by this organization, and that's -- conduct this type of

behavior, it's not condoned by this organization, and that's the biggest thing that we can takeaway from this investigation. >> commissioner hamasaki: it just seems like, you know, we've been doing and going down this road, and what we're seeing this year is the way that this happened so openly or apparently openly suggests that this path or method of changing the culture hasn't worked. >> chief scott: well, being that you've been working this

for five years and i've been living this for 40 years, i respectfully disagree. it's not like when this commission gets the evidence or the department gets the evidence, it's not like we don't hold anyone accountable. i think you have seen the change, as well, just by the cases that come in front of this commission. >> commissioner hamasaki: i think my fellow commissioners will have to carry on that discussion, but the other

question that i have was the destruction of evidence case happened in june or july of last year, and the machine gun case happened in august. why were these not brought until now? why was the public not notified? why were arrests not made? they don't look like cases with any degree of complexity. you know, this is my day job. i get cases like these that are investigated, arrests made, charges filed in three days. what is -- >> chief scott: so i know you haven't seen the case yet. cases were investigated, they were investigated briefly, they were investigated within the

statute. don't want to misquote myself. august 9 was when the inventory was done. august 12, 2021. this is the first case, the williams case. we talked about eight months from start to finish, and an investigation was done in six months. we consider that definitely satisfactory. we consider that a good thing. within a year is definitely what needs to happen, and we are well within that time, so i -- i don't know what your question is going to, but i think seven, eight months for this type of investigation is perfectly reasonable, and i don't think it's anything to be

ashamed of. we also have other cases that we have to investigate. this is a matter of managing the cases and trying to get them done in an appropriate manner and time, which all of those were done in these investigations. >> commissioner hamasaki: i think, you know, when you look at the destruction of evidence, you have the hotel staff, you do some interviews, you have a case -- >> chief scott: well, with all due respect -- >> commissioner hamasaki: do you mind? let me finish. the question is, for all of this time that the department was aware that these officers had committed crimes or alleged to have committed crimes, from

july, but was their duty modifies at the outset? >> chief scott: yes, yes. >> commissioner hamasaki: but you made the decision at that time to take them off the street. >> chief scott: yes. >> commissioner hamasaki: but you couldn't bring it to the district attorney and file charges? . >> chief scott: not until the investigation was complete, that's correct. >> commissioner hamasaki: you know, what triggered it for me was how the department was so eager to litigate the m.o.u. issue mid trial and create an issue within the d.a.s office,

which kind of cuts the other way. when you had something where you were so eagerly will i gaiting it through the public in press releases, and you're sitting -- eagerly litigating it through the public in press releases, and you're sitting on cases in the department, it doesn't create a very good look. >> chief scott: do you want me to respond to that? >> commissioner hamasaki: if you have one. >> chief scott: we have a procedure. we have a caseload. the case was done, beginning to end, in eight months, including charges filed. i don't know under any stretch of imagination that anyone can characterize that as sitting on a case. >> commissioner hamasaki: i think, were there witnesses -- you know, it's a -- i don't know. this is, like, a one-witness

case, hotel staff. hey, this is, like, what these guys did. okay. we take reports, we take statements. >> well, it's not a one-witness case, and i think we'll get into an area where it may come before this commission. >> commissioner hamasaki: not coming before me. >> chief scott: well, i'm not going to jeopardize investigation by discussing this further. >> i'm sorry. if we're going to keep discussing this, i'd like to agendize this. >> commissioner hamasaki: thank you. that's all of my questions. >> vice president elias: chief, can we get the dates of the

case? >> chief scott: august 9 was the first, and july 3. >> vice president elias: when were they taken off of duty? july 3? >> chief scott: july 3 was when the internal affairs case was assigned, but when it came to my attention, that's when they were taken out. >> vice president elias: oh, they were taken out before the case assignment date? >> chief scott: it could have been july 2 or 1 or so when i found out about it and hoarded them out of the field. >> vice president elias: and

they were assigned to d.o.c.? >> chief scott: nonpublic contact, either records or d.o.c. >> commissioner hamasaki: one final question. were brady procedures met at this point in time? >> chief scott: it does go to the brady committee. they evaluate it, and if it meets the criteria and is appropriate, the district attorney's office is notified. >> commissioner hamasaki: so the d.a.s office was notified for any open cases that these officers were involved in? >> chief scott: the way that works is when we make a notification that there's brady material, the d.a.s office does what they need to do for those

items, but our office is notified that there's potential brady material. >> commissioner hamasaki: was this a d.p.a. case? >> chief scott: if there is d.p.a. material, d.p.a. is notified. >> commissioner hamasaki: okay. i didn't know if this fell within things that they would investigate, as well. >> chief scott: no. the public didn't come forward. >> vice president elias: that's why d.p.a. didn't investigate, because the public didn't come forward? >> chief scott: yes. >> vice president elias: commissioner yee? >> commissioner yee: thank you, vice president cindy elias. i met with urban alchemy, and

one of the things they asked me was if staffing could continue at that level. me and commissioner jim byrnes was out there. nice day, sunny day, and it's great what they're doing, working with police. we walked from 200 mcallister to golden gate and hyde, and it was a pleasant surprise to me. i worked in this district 40 years and all conditions of the city, and i was pleased with what i saw today. i was hoping that you could continue that staffing, and i hope the community, as well, appreciates it. do you have anything else you would like to add?

>> commissioner byrne: one of the people brought it to our attention that allegedly 15 drug dealers were operating and seven alchemy approached them, and they called the police who would not respond because there was no active drug dealing going on. as you're aware, chief, there has been an incident involving an alchemy employee already. they're doing good work in the

tenderloin, and the fact that they have no weapons, not even a baton, is critical to their success in changing the neighborhood. i promised the alchemy people that i would raise that with you tonight. >> chief scott: thank you, commissioner. if i could comment on that. alchemy does good work, but they're not officers. we have a really good

relationship with them. it has helped, but that issue that you just raised -- >> commissioner byrne: second question related back to the two officers involved in the marriott incident, is it true that the two officers approached the marriott for the investigation and not the d.a.s office? >> it originated from a call to

service, but it originated from the actual tenderloin command, and it was discovered after he looked into the incident. >> commissioner byrne: so -- so because the m.o.u. being in the news the last few months, it's important -- so the d.a. was not involved in any investigation. as you stated earlier, you turned over the investigation to the district attorney's office. >> chief scott: yes. there was no use of force or anything like that, but it was believed to be inappropriate conduct, so that's why it was handled that way. >> commissioner byrne: okay. thank you. >> vice president elias: any other questions? okay. public comment. >> clerk: at this time, public is welcome to make public comment on matters associated

with item 3, the chief's report. at this time, you may lineup at the podium or press star, three. good evening, caller. you have two minutes. >> yes. this is david elliott lewis again. i wanted to thank the chief for his report, but i think i just want to comment -- as a member of the public, listening to the commissioners asking pointed questions, i think those questions need to be addressed, and i'm not sure they were all fully addressed. i understand investigations need to be done before charges can be brought, but sometimes these investigations can be drawn out way too long, sometimes almost a year. we want to create as much trust in the public and what the police are doing, so i think speedy investigations, transparency, speedy reportings

all help to create that trust and encourage the public to want to cooperate with the police and help out, and regarding urban alchemy, it's a work in progress. they're not meant to be more friendly police officers, they're meant to be ambassadors, and i think that needs to be understood what their role it and -- is and what their role isn't. that's all. david elliott lewis. thank you. >> clerk: vice president elias, that was the end of public comment. >> vice president elias: next item. >> clerk: item 4, d.p.a.

director's report. report on recent d.p.a. activities and announcements. d.p.a.s report will be limited to a brief description of d.p.a. activities and announcements. commission discussion will be limited to determining whether to calendar any of the issues raised for a future commission meetings. >> my name is diane rosenfield, and i am with the d.p.a. i will go over some stats and answer any questions that you may have. at this time, the stats look a little bit down compared to stats from last year. we've opened 186 cases and closed 184, compared to 233 and 304 last year. we currently have 277 cases pending. last year at this time, we had 295. we have sustained ten cases so far. last year, we sustained 20.

we mediated six cases. last year, we mediated seven around this time. currently, we have 12 individual cases pending with the commission and six cases pending with the chief for a decision. in terms of weekly trends, this week, we've received 14 cases. 15% of the allegations in those cases involve an officer behaving or having in a manner that is unbecoming an officer. 7% have to do with an officer issuing an invalid order. 7% have to do with an officer failing to writing an incident report, 7% have to do with failure to investigate, and last but not least, 7% have to

do with an officer conducting an improper search or seizure. these cases are spread out among central, southern, bayview, mission, and park station as well as tenderloin and one coming out of the airport. i believe the stats specific to each station have been provided to sergeant youngblood, who is going to put them on-line. the audit will look to three years of data and focus on sfpds handling misconduct investigations, which we are excited about. it has to do with their handling of officer bias and their compliance with reporting requirements for misconduct investigations. d.p.a. has notified the police department and police commission of this via e-mail

on april 13. in terms of operations, we had a kick-off meeting for our civic bridge project. it's an excellent program sponsored, i believe, by the mayor's office where different agencies are paired up with the private sector, and they are going to help us create an on-line system where our complainants will be able to track their complaints on-line which is great, because a lot of times, they're calling and their investigator may not be available, they may not get the information in time. i believe there's other innovations, i don't know, but you'll have to ask director henderson next time he's here. in terms of outreach, on april 12, d.p.a. conducted outreach

at the virtual safety meeting. i have been in touch with lieutenant wilhelm from i.a. unfortunately, the training that we have developed in conjunction with i.a. to basically roll out to the different stations, what we do and how we do it may have to be bumped because the new d.g.o. training may bump that. going to have a lot of busy wednesdays, so i will not be able to see you. in closed session, we have two cases, and we currently, in the audience, have a senior investigator in our office. if there are any issues, anyone can contact him, and if you need to contact us, the public

can call 415-241-7711 or find us at www.sf.org/dpa. i have a few agenda items, but i'll reserve my comments when those items are called, and i'll be sure to put my name in the queue. if you have any questions -- >> vice president elias: i do. you said there were six cases past the seven-month mark that were told? >> yes. >> vice president elias: do we have any indication when they were done or if there's any 3304 issues? >> i don't know because i didn't create these numbers, but i can certainly go back to the office and crack the whip. >> vice president elias: 7% for

invalid order, 7% for failure to write a report, and then, 7% for illegal search? >> correct. that is how the cases aligned that we got. >> vice president elias: okay. commissioner yanez? >> commissioner yanez: thank you, vice president elias, chief, everyone in standing. i do have questions about -- you know, this has been an on going line of questions. the chief's point, one of the accountability measures that we have is the department of police accountability, and i'm wondering, considering that some of the consistent allegations, 7%, failure to write reports or investigate have to do with certain officers not necessarily following through with, you know, requests to investigate.

you know, there's an inherent deterrent there in my mind when we're asking these same people to go to the same police stations to inquire about how to file a report. i've had this conversation with director henderson, how can we improve, right, the mechanisms for reporting, and obviously, going on-line make it easier, but not all constituents are as savvy as far as documenting or submitting their complaints on-line, so i'm interested in finding out what else is being explored to be able to capture as many of these reports as possible, and that's for you, diana. and then, for the chief, is there a mechanism in place to, you know, maybe a control mechanism to be able to capture

when people -- when community members come to a station, request information about how to file a report, and then, knowing that that report -- in order to preserve confidentiality, in order to preserve, you know, the nature of the process, is there a way to log those reports and then cross-reference with d.p.a. to make sure that the reports are actually making it to d.p.a., and so i guess those are my two questions about how to improve the system. >> thank you for that. i'll answer that first. i do know in every station there is a display right in front of every station that