city. right now, they are afforded special privileges as a private company working within the city. some of those privileges include access to police data. on some of the web sites, which promote the activities of the patrol special, they actually say the patrol special goes into the police station, checks the crime line, listens to the police radio. they are civilians. they are not sworn personnel. they should not have access to that information. currently, the patrol specials have police radius. granted, they have purchased them on the run, but they are connected to the police channel. in california, there is a specific commission that oversees the use of those radios. patrol specials are not granted the authority to utilize that system in the state of california. they are being afforded a privilege they should not have. when we talk about liability, because there is some extension here of your commission and the city and the san francisco police department, you will be liable for the actions of the patrol specials. they carry limited amounts of liability insurance as patrol specia

specials. commissioner chan: i know you listed a cup -- couple other cities. what's the closest parallel to san francisco? >> interestingly enough, there is nothing quite like the patrol specials. there are some things like public-private partnerships. there is one in cincinnati ohio. that is dwindling. i think they are down to two folks. they were under the auspices of the city but the chief himself had the authority to take a look at exactly where they were working. that's gone by the wayside. when you look at other cities. they are a security company. they will tell you they are a security company. they can only work on property that is privately owned. they can perform the services. portland, oregon, there was portland, oregon, there was a service formed by former law enforcement personnel, and they wanted the ability to perform, and so the district hired additional security and is actually working with officers that the benefits district is paying for. they pay for three officers and the police department is paying for one. that's something you can ask for

specials. others may be working or not being workled. it is impossible to tell what areas of the city have patrol specials. by and large, you have a few that are using them in an active way, warehouse building, private homes. >> but a point of clarification, are they not acceptable or not available to certain other areas of the city and the business yes in those areas, because the beat is -- perhaps we don't know who opens the beat, but the person who does own the beat has just allowed it to become inactive. the special patrols that belong on the all-in-one beat can't provide services in a beat they don't own or what. >> they can share the beat, but it has to be authorized. >> by the beat owner? >> yes. >> if an area doesn't have an active beat or someone actively working in it, they can't call up an individual patrol special and ask them to come and be there person unless they have a guard card, and there are many other guard cards across the city. they can phone up and say, can you come and watch my building. can you stand guard at my a.t.m.? they can get the services, but not the o

specials start, we also had the pony express. things change, but times change, the needs of the city changed. what we're saying is the patrol specials can keep their businesses. we're not taking away anyone's livelihood with this recommendation. what we're suggesting is you allow them to become security guards. right now, the assistant patrol specials actually have their security guard card, said that leaves a few patrol specials that would need to transition to that. we know that cannot happen overnight. in the interim, we suggest there are clear steps taken to limit the exposure, mitigate the risks when it comes to the city. first and foremost is the color of the uniforms. our report says use light blue because that was in the original rule. quite honestly, to what it does not matter. if it is light green, light tan, light blue, as long as it is decidedly different from the san francisco police department. let the san francisco police department keep the star and the patrol specials keep the shield. let's separate the difference. let's make sure they are a different color. this whole issue o

that is what makes it such a very special city. indicated, we are meeting some challenges now, facing ourselves, with reference to conduct our people, but be advised -- we will get through this, as we have gotten through everything in this city, and we will only be better for having done so. so we will do so in the manner in which we always have. [applause] thank you very much for being here. [applause] >> as the evening goes on, we will hear from supervisors chiu, chu, and mar. i would like to invite our public defender up to share a few words with us. jeff. [applause] >> thank you very much. good evening, everyone. tonight, we celebrate our individual and collective histories, our culture, our language, and our art. there is an old saying -- we can not only live for ourselves, one that and fibers connect all of us to our fellow human beings. that is not true of only asian cultures. when i grew up, it was japanese against chinese against koreans. we did not even know why we were fighting. it was because that was what we learned gr

like so many other nights in this great city, tonight is special. not just because of the award being received, which honors otter this from generations who have made this city great and have been made great by the city. no city invites the hard to soar like san francisco does. and renowned san francisco and may have set a better when she said the some of them -- synonym for san francisco is inspiration. most people think that cities inspire leaders and leaders inspire cities, but i would like to add that artists inspired cities and cities inspire artists. who knows which in print -- which inspiration comes first? it does not really matter, what matters is that happens. right here in our city, generation after generation. we are proud to participate tonight in the recognition of one of music's greatest artists. to continue to fulfill the pledge from one year ago to expand the coverage of the arts and support arts in our community. we want to thank you for allowing us to move out on this rewarding mission, thanking you for the opportunity to serve ton

specials. what you are talking about is not even a real thing that's happened. the city has had to pay off millions of dollars in lawsuits against the sfpd. so really by having more patrol specials there with their own private insurance, that is decreasing the state's liability, not increasing it. she said you can't let your police department be subpoena -- be supplanted. choice helps the public. i think it will help keep the police officers on their toes if they know there are other officers out there who are doing similar work at a lower cost to the public. [bell] the patrol specials should not be put under the control of the police department. that is causing a lot of problems we are seeing here. thank you very much. >> good evening. my name is andrea aiello. when i first took this position, i was really shocked. i thought, oh, my this is interesting. but san francisco is unique. people explained to me that this is in the city charter. i think the problem is, after i finished reading that report last night, i thought, this report doesn't talk about the benefit patrol

. >> we're live at city hall where a special council meeting is on its way. there's only one thing on the agenda and that's to approve a disaster area. it is very clear to be the that nerves are heightened around the bay area. >> we're going to take shelter in place. >> reporter: fear and panic set in this morning after parents reported smelling gas at this elementary school, less than a mile from the san bruno explosion. >> the school staff contacted pg & e on pg & e's assessment and recommendation they said we should evacuate the student body and staff. >> reporter: the 500 students at portola elementary school were taken out of classrooms and taken away in school buses. >> we got our folks out here, the first thing they did was check the meter. they found there was no leak at the gas meter. >> classes were cancelled for the day. parents were visibly shaken as they picked up their children. >> a feeling for our safety whenever they smell a gas leak that we immediately react on it. so i think it's pretty good for a safety precaution. >> reporter: the áf at t

specials. we were under contract with the city comptroller's office. the discussion on patrol specials and the study began in late 2008. at that time, the commission started to draft the rules that were put into place in 2009. we initially started our study in april, 2009. we came to the city and spencer will days reviewing all of the records -- and spent several days reviewing all the records, meeting with everyone of the then-29 patrol specials and assistance, members of the commission, members of the san francisco police department, clients of the patrol specials, and members of the general citizenry and the extended government. during that time, we looked at every bit of paper that we could possibly get our hands on. we did research on historical documents from the patrols specials. some of them were kind enough to give us lots of material on the history of patrol specials and some of the evolution. we also looked at the rules and procedures and the evolution of those and all the changes that occurred since the commission started with rules and proc

they know that there is something special and magical about this city and this region. and that is why we are here. that is why i am here. and i am grateful that you are here. i am grateful for the extraordinary contribution of the people from mexico and central america. i think that this is interesting and appropriate to notice that san francisco county has the distinction as it relates to the latino community that is unique among the 58 counties. we have more latino representatives. -- >> this is not the case with the other counties. we have these in el salvador and nicaragua, as well as mexico. not everybody understands this and we are celebrating this remarkable collection. the city of san francisco took the lead as the city of refuge after the civil wars in the 1980's. we established, firmly, the foundation that marks so much of what makes this city a special place. it is mocked by those who do not understand and who did not want to understand, and this is trivialized by political campaigns and this should not be diminished by sound bites and in political campaigns