Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20171124

Welcome to the medal of valor ceremony. I ask you that remain standing by the San Francisco color guard and the singing of the National Anthem by officer kyle church. O say can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there o say does that starspangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the home of the brave thank you, and please be seated. Thank you for attending tonights medal of valor ceremony. Im essentialisergeant rachael. Im pleased to recognize those on page and acknowledge those who helped make this medal of valor ceremony possible. Sorry. First thank you to the San Francisco Scottish Rite Masonic Center for their continued generosity in allowing us the continued use of their facility. Next id like to thank the members who are instrumental in organizing this ceremony. Miss reesa thom, sergeant ray padmore and officer jones. Thank you to officer church for singing the National Anthem. And thank you to the sfpd color guard. They all deserve a round of applause. [applause] now id like to introduce your San Francisco Police Commission, Commission President Julius Thurman, commissioner joe marshall, commissioner dejesus. Commissi commissioner sonia malers, commissioner robert hirsch. Two commissioners couldnt be here tonight buzz send their congratulations to all of the honorees. Now ill introduce your command staff starting with chief of Police William scott, scott from the chief of staff bureau, hector signas. From the airport bureau, Deputy Denise schmidt. From the Field Operations burro, deputy chief michael redmond. Deputy chief robert mosier. And from the professional standards and principle policing Bureau Deputy chief michael connelly. Now for your commanders from the Field Operations bureau, golden gate division, commander ann manic. From the administration bureau, commander rob osullivan. From the Field Operations bureau, investigates Division Commander greg mcgreckr, Community Engagement division, chander david. From the Field Operations bureau, metro division, canneder daniel parea from the chief of staff bureau pete walsh. From commander gregory ye and from the special Operations Bureau Traffic Enforcement commander theresa ewing. Were here tonight to honor a select group of officers from the Police Department to engage in exceptional act of bravery and displayed courage that far exceeded what was required of them. Their Commanding Officers will describe the extraordinary and selfless acts these officers took that will explain why theyre being honored here tonight. Before we hear about their acts of valor, Julius Thurman would like to say a few words. The members of the San Francisco Police Department, to the command staff, the captains and all the personnel. I want to start by first saying thank you. Thank you for the support. Thank you for the resources. Thank you for the strength that you alone to these men, these women, these people who will receive our honors tonight. Thank you. Second, i want to say as Commission President , im proud to be a san franciscan. I live in San Francisco. I worked in San Francisco. I exist, i worship, i pray in San Francisco. And each day, there are dangers and threats around this city and around this world. But each day, i rest just a bit more safer. Each night i rest just a little bit more restful, and each day, i feel secure, and i owe that in large measure to the men and women and people of the San Francisco Police Department. And the extra measure that we offer today is to those who have gone just above and beyond. It is on behalf of the San Francisco Police Commission that i stand here as its president grateful for everything you do each and every day. Are the men and women tonight we honor heroes . Certainly. So is every other member of this department. Every other member of this department. So if you have made an error, a mistake, or had an issue with your career, you are still worthy to be called a member of this department and still worthy in the eyes of the San Francisco Police Commission. It has been my honor it serve. As my days as Commission President and as a member of this commission draw to a close, i want to say to all of you the families who have supported their members in this department, thank you. Thank you for keeping that strong will, that guiding hand, that loving heart to allow these men, these women, these people, to do their jobs. Thank you for giving the trust in this department to do what it must do and to cheer it on as it takes the powerful steps of reform and meeting the challenge of 21st century policing. Im sad to say that before i came to the commission, i didnt know one Police Officer. And now im blessed to walk down the streets or into a Grocery Store or just to sit on my stoop and have officers step by and say hello. Im able to recognize and shake their hands for all the good work they do. As san franciscans, i hope everyone gets to enjoy that privilege. Thank you for everything you do. Thank you to the entire department. I celebrate those who we honor tonight. Thank you. [applause] thank you, president thurman. Now well hear from chief william scott. Good evening. To commissioner president thurman, marshall, hearst, de jesus, to the command staff of the San Francisco Police Department, to the captains, to the awardees and their families and all the members of the San Francisco Police Department, id like to say good evening and thank you for being here. Valor is defined as great courage in the face of danger. Tonight, youll hear the stories of 18 members of the San Francisco Police Department who exemplify valor in every sense of that definition. Although the brave men and women of our department go about their jobs every day with no expectation of recognition, there are times that our officers, because of their commitment to Public Safety face dangerous situations that go well beyond the normal call of duty. Many of which were here tonight. They call for honors of our highest regard. These situations are splitsecond situations that if the officer hesitates or makes a bad decision, the officer or the public can suffer Great Bodily Injury or even death. If that might on fight or flight syndrome we all learned about in the second when training. We were told just revert to your training. Have courage and honor, and everything will be all right. Our 18 medal of valor recipients tonight, they followed their training. They acted with courage, and they acted with honor. And im humbled to stand here to award them the medal of valor award tonight, because they exemplify what the San Francisco Police Department is all about. Committed to training, committed to courage, and committed to honor. Thank you for all you do. And thank you for exemplifying what the finest Police Department in this country is all about. Im proud to be a part of it. Thank you. [applause] thank you, chief scott. And now the Commanding Officers will read the citations for each of the officers. First we have captain carl fradbury, Commanding Officer tenderloin station and officer ying. On april 16, at approximately 8 42 a. M. , officers ying, star number 1117. Harper, number 1205. Responded to a possible hot prowl burgary. When they arrived at the location, they were unable to gain access. Officer harper went to the back of building and officer lowe secured the front of the building. And officer ying was able to gain entry through an open above access door and started to systematically search the building from the top down. Officers harper and lowe gained access to the building as an unknown victim ran outside and yelled that the suspect was inside with the gun. Officer ying heard noises from below and went to investigate this is when officer ying and came facetoface with the suspect and had a gun and pointed it at officer ying. He quickly moved to cover and notified dispatch of his location and chased the suspect. Officer lowe and harper started to move towards officer yings location. Officer ying chased the respect out of the building on to west pacific avenue. Officer santana joined in the foot chase and chased the suspect into 1380 pacific street. The suspect ran to the rooftop and started to jump from roof to roof with officer ying and santana not far behind. Several other officers responded and started to secure the perimeter. Officer santana, keeping visual contact with the suspect, saw him drop the gun as he jumped and climbed on to another officer. On to another roof. Officer santana told officer ying that the help dropped the gun and was on another roof. Officer ying climbed on to another roof to see the officer the suspect jump from the roof. He attempt to jump into a tree. He fell on to a parked car and then on to the sidewalk. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident. Officer ying exhibited duty above and beyond. He unquestionably risked his life while pursuing the suspect and had time to evaluate the risks. These officers were working as a team accomplished their objective to apprehend an armed, dangerous burglary suspect who posed a clear danger to the citizens of San Francisco. Due to their valiant officers, theres one less dangerous criminal on the streets of San Francisco. Based on his actions, officer anthony ying has been awarded the bronze medal of valor. [applause] next captain alexa obrien, Commanding Officer richmond station and officers lee and ing. Good evening. I have the honor and privilege to be part of officer warren ing and officer gordon lee receiving the bronze medal of valor tonight. Let me explain to you why were here today and why theyre receiving such an honor. Officer ing and other than assigned to the richmond station on april 7, 2017. It was a rainy night, but the wind were Strong Enough that they caught the smell of fire. They looked around and saw smoke in the area of gary boulevard and 23rd avenue. As they drove toward the smoke, they saw several residents outside of 451 23rd avenue and noticed flames and smoke coming from the third floor of that roof and immediately notified dispatch to get the San Francisco Fire Department to respond. Faced with uncertainty, if there was anyone else in the home, they immediately without hesitation and full knowledge of the dangers that awaited them inside the burning building, they entered the home and began to tell the residents of the fire of the burning home that there was fire and escorted them to safety. As they checked each floor of the home, the smoke became increasingly thicker. Officer ing and lee noticed there was a detached back residents and saw several people in the process offette evacuating. They saw two more people in the dematched building and one was a male with limited mobility whose primarily language was cantonese. They were evacuating the residents to safety when the fire was then declared a 3alarm fire. As they approached the tradesmans entrance where they were going to escape to safety, they noticed it was obstructed by molten tar and flaming embers which was fully engusted in flames. Officer lee asked one of the resident if there was another residents would be through the building which was already on her fire. Officer ing decided to climbed the adjacent fence. He got a ladder, propped it up against the adjacent fence and then officer lee spoke cantonese to the male that they had to evacuate now. They were able to safely evacuate those two males to save. As you can tell from this incident, they both acted without any hesitation to protect life. This clearly demonstrates the officers bravery. Their actions actually saved lives. Thats why were here tonight to honor these two officers and acknowledge their bravery and also say thank you to your dedication and heroism. Theyre receiving the bronze medal of valor. [applause] [applause] next captain john j moreno, and officers mcbride, palarico and zerga. Our incident starts on may 5, 2016. Theres a suspect wanted for two violent incidents. In the first one, he accosted a transgendered female in the common area of a bathroom of a hotel and dragged her into her room and robbed her at gunpoint. The same respect returned to the same hotel. His brother happened to live there, got into an argument with his brother and then shot his brothers dog. Officer mcbride here was very familiar with the suspect, knew that he often carried a handgun, that he often fought the police, and before he had been involved in a Critical Incident as a barricaded suspect. On the 25th, these three officers teamed up to go look for our suspect and patrolled the area where is the suspect normally hung out and saw a car speeding through the neighborhood. Saw an individual get out of the car. They came up with a plan, where two officers got out of the car and chase them on foot while officer mcbride cut off a vital escape route. They chased the suspect through the fillmore mall which is full of people and chased the suspect into an ice cream chop. It was may and hot. This ice cream shop was full of adults and children. They saw the suspect crouch down behind a cabinet. They knew they could have another hostage situation going on or another barricaded. They entered the ice cream shop. Our suspect is athletic, 6 feet tall. And decided to charge at the officers. Now all three officers were there. He tried to run through them. They tackled the suspect. The fight was on. A pretty good fight. Every time the officers grabbed the suspects hands and put them behind his back to handcuff them, he would slip away and reach for his waistband and kept going for the waistband repeatedly. One time he did get to his waistband, he pulled out a loaded handgun. Let me re3450i7bd you this is an ice cream shop full of people. These officers continued to wrestle with him and at some point were able to rip it out of his hand and watched it slide under a cabinet where it was semisafe. They were able to take him into custody. Good evening, everyone, welcome to the medal of valor ceremony. I ask you that remain standing by the San Francisco color guard and the singing of the National Anthem by officer kyle church. O say can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights [applause] [applause] next captain steve ford Commanding Officer bayview station and Sergeant Davis and cavanaugh and fatino. On june 24, 2016, a violent incident occurred in the bayview district. On this date and time, a 32yearold male with a history of Mental Illness board aid muni bus. The suspect passenger requested of the bus driver to take him to a particular location, outside his normal route which the bus driver declined to do. The passenger became irate and brandi brandished a firearm. The bus driver continued on his route a short distance fully stopping where the suspect and other passengers exited the bus. As the bus driver sped away, the suspect fired several rounds in the area. Eventually officers arrived on scene where they triangulated around the officer. As officers gave chase, sergeant ca cavanau cavanaugh held on to the shoulder straps that caused the suspects firearm to fall on to the ground. Sergeant davis, officer baca and fatino were closing in on foot. Officer propelled himself through the air tackling himself to the ground. After a brief and violent fight, the suspect was taken into custody and a loaded firearm was recovered. Its for these acts of dedication and service i present sergeant khavanov, officer davis, officer bac achlt and officer fatina the bronze medal of honor. Congratulations. Its well deserved. [applause] next captain greg mceccern Investigations Division and sergeant batchelder, griffin. What did i say . We were classmates. Sorry about that. Theres always one messup. Right, chief . Commander greg mceccerns. Sergeants batchelder, griffin, mcguire, mason, and officer daw dawes. [applause] good evening. Id like to introduce the members of the Investigations Division that are here tonight that i have an honor of speaking on their behalf on the award theyre receiving. To my immediate right is officer dave goff. To his right is Sergeant Matt mason. To his right is Sergeant Patrick griffin. To his right is Sergeant Eric batchelder and to his right is sergeant tom mcguire. Before i get into the circumstances that led to the award that theyre going to receive tonight, i want to talk a little bit about them. I have the honor as i mentioned of working with this fine group of officers, and they are assigned to our departments special investigations and Major Crimes Division where their role and responsibility is to do investigations on some of the most violent criminal acts and some of the most violent criminals that this city sees. Oftentimes you see crimes that will occur during a day, youll have an individual that will go out and commit one crime. They might be arrested and there might be an investigation that follows that person will be charged with a crime. Theres also times where you have individuals out committing multiple crimes over multiple days over multiple jurisdictions. We saul thocall those serious c we assign those to investigators who painstakingly over a period of time will go out and determine who the suspects are, take all of the crimes that they have committed, go out to try to arrest them, and bring justice to those victims who were unfortunate victims of multiple crimes n this instance, thats what this group did. So im very honored to speak tonight and to tell you about the actions of these officers over a period of time that culminated one night. On november 19, 2016, sergeants matt mason, tom mcguire, patrick griffin, Eric Batchelder and dave i goff were working in plain clothes this series was termed the green glove bandit series. The individual had committed multiple robberies in multiple cities over a period of time. He was known as the green glove bandit as the suspect in the robberies was often wearing green gloves in the commission of the crimes and its how we connected those robberies to the suspect. The series of robberies c consinted of wall greens pharmacies, gas stations, grocery outlets. On this area about 9 45. Sergeant mason observed the suspect victim drive into a chevron gas station on orchard lane and san leandro. The vehicle parked behind the gas station and one of the suspects exited and walked into the chevron. Sergeant mason approached the window of the chevron and noticed the suspect standing at the 41 counter and that he was wearing yellow and black gloves. In police work we often call that a clue. Well give that to Sergeant Mason to see that. As the suspect pointed a firearm at the cashier. The suspect then removed u. S. Currency from the register and was yelling something inaudible to the cashier. Sergeant mason advised account the other surveillance units that a respect was taking place and the robbery was taking place and that the suspect had a firearm. As the suspect was exiting the chevron, Sergeant Mason, with his departmentissued firearm drawn bravely, confronted the armed suspect who based on this investigation was involved in multiple Armed Robbery of commercial establishments. Sergeant mason had ample time to contemplate the danger he was in and having done assigned to investigate the robbery series and personally observed the last robbery as it was occurring. The objective of arresting the suspect responsible for the robbery series was of sufficient importance to risk his safety, given the countless victims of armed robberies whose lives were threatened and at civrisk bite suspects actions over time. Sergeant griffin and mcguire and officer goff were all present and Sergeant Mason and confronting the suspect. All were aware of the danger and having been briefed of the robbery series and conducting the surveillance of the suspect. Upon being contacted by the officers, the suspect was hold account firearm in his hand. In response to the officers commands to stop, the suspect immediately began to run. Sergeant griffin, while the suspect was Still Holding firearm in his hand ran directly at the suspect and tackled him to the ground. Officer goff ump judged on the suspect with Sergeant Griffin so he could not access the firearm. Sergeant batchelder and mason moved in to physically control the suspect who was on the ground frighting to get away. All of the above listed officers were attempting to catch an Armed Robbery suspect in the commission of one of the most dangerous crimes there is. As this was their objective, all of the officers were fully aware of the risk of the operation and the dangers that they faced. They had more time than most officers do to evaluate the danger, and they were prepared and did expose themselves to that danger. The actions of the officers were unquestionably brave and courageous. And the objective they were trying to and were successful in achieving was absolutely sufficient to justify the risk. For their actions, the officers in this incident received two awards. The first award that they received is a meritorious conduct award that is given when there is a pain stakingly long investigation over a period of time that goes beyond the normal investigation that an individual or a group of individuals investigate over time and solve. And these officers for their actions in this green bandit series were given the meritorious conduct award. These officers were also, because of their brave actions, given the departments second highest medal of valor. It is my honor to present to you tonight the silver medal of valor recipients in this incident. Congratulations. [applause]. [applause] next captain john hart ingleside station and officers gill and horn stestein. Good evening, everybody. Im captain jack hart from ingleside station and let me tell ow a story. On june 18, 2016, officers were minding their own business and patrolling in san jose streets when they noticed thick black smoke emanating from a building on the 3300 block of Mission Street. They noticed several rez flents residents and patrons were freeing there the buildings. The reason they were fleeing, because the roof of one of the buildings of on the fire and the flames were spreading quickly. These officers were the only two officers that were present. The San Francisco Fire Department had not yet arrived. What they didnt know was this was very soon going to be a fifthalarm fire, the largest response the San Francisco Fire Department has. They observed thick black smoke emanating from every window and door at 3808 Mission Street where approximately 28 individuals were fleeing. They noticed an elderly woman, 91 years old standing at the top of the stairs. The very steep set of stairs, and they noticed dozens of people pushing past this 91yearold woman at the very top with the black smoke and the orange flames coming from behind her and not one of those people stopped to help, but they did. And even though everyone else ran out, they ran in, and up those stairs, past the people that were fleeing, and grabbed the elderly woman. Officer hornstein hoisted the woman over his shoulders and officer gill provided a clear path down the stairs and out of building and off to the location where she received treatment for smoke inhalation. In addition to these officers, they both suffered moderate smoke inhalation and were treated at the scene. Due to the fact the fire was spreading quickly, several believes were consumed, officers hornstein and gill were both placed spot position they had to make a splitsecond decision about whether to enter the building when everyone else was running away. They chose bravery and courage and chose to save a life. They both performed these quick and unselfish acts of bravery that could have led to the several loss of life. I want to thank the families to giving these officers to us every day as they continue to do their workday in and day out. They are hereby awarded the departments second highest award, the silver medal of valor. Congratulations. [applause] [applause] next captain una bailey Commanding Officer park station and officer bandy. Good evening, everybody. It is my sin secere honor to ree to the officer bandy receiving the gold medal of valor award, the highest medal of valor to be awarded. It began on july 8, 2016, at 2324 ours. Officer riley bandy was offduty and had just completed a night jog around the city of oakland. He noticed a black male appointing what appears to be a rifle at a hispanic male on the 1800 block of lakeshore avenue. He started to approach and could hear the suspect yelling at the victim to give him his cell phone. He approached the suspect and identified himself as a San Francisco Police Officer and ordered the suspect to put down the rifle. The suspect turned towards officer bandy and pointed the rifle at him and then fled the scene. Officer bandy told the victim to call 911 and then officer bandy started to chase the suspect on foot. While chasing the suspect, the suspect pointed the rifle at officer bandy several times at which point officer band heto take cover behind parked vehicles. He continued to chase the suspect knowing that he was armed and he himself had no way to defend himself if the suspect decided to fire at rifle at him. Officer bandy continued to chase the suspect several blocks until oakland p. D. Arrived. Officer bandy identifies himself to the Police Officers and told him he was still chasing the suspect. When officer bandy caught up to the suspect with Police Officers, he saw the suspect throw the rifle into some bushes at that point. Officer bandy tackled the suspect and assisted oakland p. D. Officers in taking the suspect into custody. In conclusion, officer bandy, while offduty, exhibited outstanding bravery, above and beyond what was expected of him. This officer unquestionably risked his life, and while pursuing the armed suspect, did have time to evaluate the risks. Officer bandy accomplished his objective to apprehend an armed and dangerous robbery suspect who posed a clear danger did to the citizens of oakland. Due to his valiant efforts, theres one less criminal on the streets of oakland. For this outstanding exhibition of bravery, officer riley bandy is to be awarded the highest medal of valor, the gold medal of valor. Congratulations. [applause] [applause] can i ask all of tonights award recipients to turn and face the audience. Ladies and gentlemen, these are your heroes and awardees for tonights San Francisco medal of valor awards ceremony. [cheers and applause] thank you, and please take your seats. Chief scott would like to say a few closing remarks, and then i have some final announcements. Thank you. So to the families. First of all, thank you for sharing our officers with the San Francisco Police Department. Now i hope that this is not the first time that youve heard these stories. I know many officers when they do what they do, they go home, and its just a part of the job. Theyre not looking for recognition. You might ask them what they did at work today. They might say yeah, just a regular day. Its no big deal. This is a big deal. When you hear these stories and hear the risk of life, when you hear what these officers did, facing enormous danger. When you hear they did it without firing a shot, these are the stories that we dont hear in the news. These are the stories that make up this department, that make up a great department. It is a big deal. My hats off to each and every one of you. My hats off to the leadership to the department, the Police Commission, and most of all to the families. Thank you for allowingitous do what we do. Thank you. [applause] thank you, chief scott and thank to you everyone who came here tonight to honor these courageous officers and a special thanks to their family and friends who support these officers daily. The chief, command staff will be available for photos with they is recipients and family and friends. And please rise for the retrieval of the colors. At this time you have a quorum, i would like to call roll. Larry bush. Robert carlson, kristin chu, kevin hughes, brian larkin, brenda kwee mcnulty, alexander tonisson. Item two, opportunity for the public to comment on any matters within the committees jurisdiction n