Transcripts For SFGTV 20140619

Enforcement will create a stronger, more vibrant community where we can feel proud and assured that our children will grow up and also feel safe in their interactions with Law Enforcement. So i thank you for your diligence and i strongly encourage you to continue to support the efforts and to really consider that this is Just One Team in a league that you have colleagues at the department of Public Health who work so hard every day with the mobile crisis unit that there is room for engagement and it is not really necessarily the funding it is just about communication and that there is an opportunity to support interdepartment relationships. And so that we can shift the burden of first responses away from the potential lethal out come that my sister encountered two years ago. So i thank you for your time, and i sincerely appreciate the work that the commission has supported with this working group. Thank you. Thank you. So, i just, i will just jump in, i think that this issue takes so much bravery on the sides of consumers and on the sides of families to take it out of something that we cant talk about. And while it is something that Police Officers understand, often because they are dealing with the police in crisis, i think the bravery of all of the people on the Mental Health working group and i had to say that i had a recollection and it was back when we had the public hearing and any person who is coming forward and talk about the improvements that were made, and so we had that Community Conversation about what more we needed to do and i recall that really the chief doubled down on the efforts on what they were saying and it is incredible to see the progress and i just cant give enough credit to the chief for taking an opportunity where there is this thing and he wants to, and we are not going to get the tasers and i think that it is exceptional that in that moment, he is trying to and we are trying to figure out even if we have 2. 6 percent of use of force with Mental Illness and that is too many and that is too much and what can we do for those instances that we recognize that we dont want to create the tragedies for the community or for the officers and really chief, i am just reminded for what you are doing when no one is watching and that is so exceptional and my colleagues that wrote this resolution before i was a member of the body, hearing one meeting it was clear to me that they needed to come and tell you about the progress, because i cant say enough, you say the departmental order, and the departmental bulletin to the public and that got snuck in there. It is important to see the models that works and it really works, because of everyones commitment to the top and i am sure that people might have questions but i just wanted to open it up to the mic, colleagues. I just wanted to follow up and thank the commander and lieutenant, and also the Community Working group that has worked so hard on this, and it is obviously a success when everybody is praising the police for what they have done and really i want to thank vinny and i know that i met with him and he shared a story with me, and i want to acknowledge his bravery and i think that it really puts a human face on the numbers that we are looking at and saying why this is so important to do and i am absolutely committed to it and i had one question and that i knew, and jennifer, and it is great that we have trained so many officers in the 40 hour training but what we are doing with the other officers and is there something that we can do so those that have not gone through, they can have the exposure to the ideas and some, even though the shorter training or the roll call or the videos or something that we can do to expose them to the idea . And what can we do and i have heard a number of 25 percent of the officers, and all of the officers trained, and so where are we in terms of that number . We answer in terms of the basic training, of the officers get, and coming through the academy, includes these topics. And you know, i dont have the learning to tell you how many hours exactly, but it is a significant part of their academy, curriculum and, then there are updates, and training bulletins that come out, training options but yes, the answer is yes, there are opportunities to take the notions of, and of the cit, and the Crisis Intervention Team and just spread that a little wider and i think that the chiefs commitment, so far has been four class as a year and that is 120 folks for training a year, coming through, if we could get a fifth one in there we will. And yeah, i think that it presents an opportunity, but i think that the cit pin, that is worn by these officers is carrying a strong message around the department now that it is Something Special and important and we sent this bulletin and it was distributed to every officer in the department and it is an important document and we sent it out specifically to the cit members, and although, at least a half a dozen officers will not be back thanking me for some of them and two, for asking for the input, but i do think that we are presented with opportunities for shorter trainings and i think that the, you know, the refresher that we are talking about for the cit officers and more training and maybe we can take the pieces of that and make it into the roll call training and i think that all of those things are doable and particularly the culture shifts under the chiefs leadership about slowing down and deescalating and things that are novel a few years ago and sort of well received and natural training items, and so, i think that we are there, and i will certainly put it on the agenda. And i think that it is important too, that the Department Bulletin that went out in may 2011 is binding on all of the officers to create the time and distance and to call for a sergeant and for help that is to be the floor and that is the minimum and we want to get the officers interested in the sharp looking pin and the officers covet nice stuff on their uniforms and they all want the pin. I want to thank the commissioners who brought it here today and i want to thank you so much for speaking and our hearts go out to you. And this, the tragedy that can happen to anybody, and we do appreciate your courage, and the efforts and i also want to thank commissioner chan and this was one of her babies and she stuck with it and i remember after the first year of finally deciding some type of training and curriculum, one of the questions was, how do we incentivize the officers and get them asked interested and there was a lot of discussion in how to do that and just by putting the program in and having the officers enroll that is an incentive of itself and that is wonderful to hear that they are understanding how important it is, and especially as the First Responders and some of the tragedies that have occured during my time on the commission and that they understand the importance of it and they want to be a part tf is really exciting to hear and i want to commend you and everyone else that is inspiring them to do that. I also want to recognize since we are the First Responders and it is the first step as you say and the training, has come a long way, and the 801 codes, are significant, because that was one of the initiatives, and the cit, and the officer on the scene, asap and that there is a code now. And there is a code, and there are questions that follow up for the officer safety and regarding the questions to be asked, in terms of sending out an officer on this particular code, and it is also really well thought out, and something that was really needed and i know that there is a lot more to go but you guys have made tremendous efforts and tremendous steps, forward. And in this program, and it is just commendable all the way around, but it is again, going back to the first step we do appreciate you know that there is funding to be and that is necessary, and there is programs that are necessary, and there is just still a need for the mentally challenged individuals to get the help that they need. But i do, and i am proud to sit on this commission and be a part of the cit program and i dont have a question, per se, other than what else are you going to do and what else is on the horizon and because this is all exciting and it is moving forward and i hope that we all Stay Together and hope that we will make a difference and continue to make a difference. And could i get, and could i get your comment about commissioner chan, and having set through a lot of meetings, with her, she was quite good at keeping the agenda moving. And so i found out, and i came in one day and something that i wanted to accomplish had not happened. And she said, can you do it by next time . And i said, yes. Well, maybe it would have been a time or two later before i got to it and there are a lot of those points where she punctuated the discussion with lets move this along. And so that was good. And i also think that in terms of resources, you know, consistent with the notion that the solution to many of these problems, reside in the community, and not in the Police Department is the partnership, that none of us at the table are putting stuff off on other people to do. And so, we have certain resources that we have in the department and the Mental Health association and the certain resources and nahmi does too and we are way away from that model of things are outsourced to the Police Department and we are sharing what we have and putting people together and that is one of the secrets to success to the program. You will have to keep that going, because commissioner chan was a task master. Commissioner loftus has called me a few times this week and i dont think that we will have a problem. Dont worry about that, we got it. Thank you. But she is missed. Marshal . It is great to see the progress and one thing about this is this is something, and we all thought that it was a great idea. I mean that we all thought that it was a great idea, and not all of the great ideas always work and this was not necessarily something that was, and i really dont know how much, you know, the department had here on this and i know that particularly commissioner chan had done a lot of this research and brought it to the department and bring something from the outside that can always resonate. And so it is just great to see what looked like a good idea to everybody and made sort of common sense to everybody, to get not only the collaborative work, but to get, you know, the department and from the top to the bottom buy into it and that is probably the most satisfying thing about this whole thing, and you know, something active and it is really good and made the common sense, exactly and being embraced and so i am looking forward to, and i dont know about the, and so you are evaluating it, but is this part of it and out of the letter to you and i dont know if it has to do with the letter of approval. And i dont know of any, and i mean that i went to write too and i know what he is struggling with, and how does this evaluation piece here and i was curious and this is just an idea that is being proposed or. It is just, and it is interesting, and he has gone to the other departments and he has not gotten through the bullet proof glass in the lobby and he has joined us in the working group and so that will present an opportunity and i think that he should treat the letter so, i guess that his effort in letting him know what you would like to do and there are certainly, internal issues about the privacy and about the structure of his study that are presenting these complexities but i thought that in coming here tonight and talking to you about what he would like to do is a good idea and his participation in the working group brings a real needed component of, it has not really been studied, and in because the data like our data before the old system, and it suffered through the deposition codes you could not pull the out come and nuance and now we are presented with the data and so we are data rich in researcher poor, and so, i think that it is a discussion at our next meeting and certainly for the chief, and to, you know, see how this might fit into the program. Yeah, well, certainly. Yeah. And i am not necessarily, advocating for a fellow write, but it does not hurt. But at some point, and some evaluation will come out of this and you are looking at that and because any hard data that you come up is only going tobutress everything that is going on, probably ours will be a model and it be only be amplified with some of that data. And many of the cities that you are doing it by force and i found through the country that they were required to do it and they have relegated it to portions of the organizational chart that the city back east had it next to the boston pound and the dog unit and there were three officers assigned to cit. And we. I kind of forget the point that i wanted to make as i was thinking about jessy over here and i am just inspired by this young man has big thoughts about what he would like to do and he told me that he was nervous coming in here tonight and so he said, dont feel the pressure and they will just arain you when you get up there and just wants to come in and show you what he was interested in doing. I will jump in here and just being a member of Crisis Intervention Group and the least that we can do is do the best that we could to get this information, so for the people listing the four points, right . Do the cit trained officers use the less force like the bean bag shot gun and do they initiate the future transmissions that the officers initiated fewer, 5150, psych holds and offer more referrals to the Mental Health programs and we are going to figure out a way to convey the status for you, and then, on the promise that you will come back and deliver that to the commission where you are finished with your dissertation. And try to get it punished. You can invite us to your graduation. Two years in the making. Thanks. You know before we wrap up, i would like to say, again, thank you to the commander, but certainly, thank you to the working group because there is no way, that this gets done and, to vinny in the back there, we are trying to get this information together, and get it out to as many Law Enforcement agencies as the commander said that they looked at it back east and so maybe, like you said we cant bring your sister back but the level that the brother might get it out, nationally and maybe it does not happen again. And mr. Turm an. I just wanted to ask the chief, i mean it happened, and we have already done that and so i have nothing more to say, that the last commission and is added and so thank you very much. And i agree, i just want to thank everybody for their leadership. Everybody. And as the commissioner dejesus said, you will be part of this commission on many occasions and this is one of them and i am very proud, of our ability to work with the community and do something different, i thank you for all of the work that you do out there and everybody here, and vinny you are a leader and thank you for your courage today. And you know, corea and lieutenant and i could brag about this department, both of those men from our department presented and are not just Police Officers, they are both lawyers and one is a graduate student getting his phd right now. And they are proud there and thank you, thank you very much. And you know, i know when this first started i didnt think that it would come this far and it really has, and so i am really impressed. Thank you. We will call the next line item 2 b. 2 b, occ. Directors report, discussion, and review of recent activities and the presentation of the occ statistical reports and summary of cases received in may, 2014, mediation in may of 2014 and adjudication of sustained complaints in may of 2014 and companion reports good evening. Good evening president mazzucco and you have a written report in your packet this evening, and some of the case statistics and mediations and adjudications in may and so tonight we will give you a snapshot of our statistics as of today, and a report on some recent activities and a summary of the may adjudications. And in 2014, to date, the occ has opened, 329 cases compared to 309 cases as of june 11, 2013, this is a nine percent increase in cases filed. And as of june 11th, 2013, the occ had 305 pending cases, but the four vacantcies, in the temporary investigations contributed to the pending cases this year. And as of today, the occ has 331 pending cases, and the other s, but in the time that we would like to see. And as of today, the occ has mediated 26 cases compared to 24 through june 30th of last year. Moving to the occs budget, mayor lees proposed budget for the occ takes no cuts and begins to remedy the step adjustment and attrition adjustments that reduce the occ personnel budget, in 2013, 14, by, 300,000 dollars that is the equivalent of nearly 3 investigator positions. The mayor has proposed a partial remedy, by reducing the step adjustment cuts by 84,000 dollars. Which is the beginning and that will allow us to fill two of the four vacantcies of the First Quarter of 2014, 15 and in a latter quarter and we have to leave one position open, to deal with the step adjustment and attrition adjustment that would still remain. And it is my intent to continue to advocate to further reduce these adjustments and for the 2015, 2016 budget. And the mayors also included two cars in our budget to replace the one surrendered car that had cng tanks that expired in february and our other car will have expired cng tanks next july and the first board of supervisors finance Committee Hearing on the Police Department budget of which the occ is a part is next wednesday, june 18th and the final Committee Hearing is june, 25th and another wednesday, i dont yet know what the board of supervisors budget analyst response will be to the nearest proposed budget for the occ, but, i have met with them and explained the dire situation in terms of staffing in our office. Moving on to personnel matters, the department of Human Resources worked with our staff to develop a recruitment for the 8124 vacantcies and the Job Announcement ran was open for days and resulted in 300 applicants and the testing will begin between late june and july. Moving on to out reach and training, Deputy Director and i conducted four out reach activities over the last 30 days. We met with a newly hired attorney for the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Office of the Inspector General, so that she could learn about our operations and she and the new Inspector General for the la county sheriffs department, max huntsman set up their operations. Second we met with a delegation of 24 state officials from india and visited our office as part of a twoweek, uc berkeley, Golden School of Public Policy training on negotiations and we traveled, next we traveled to santa rosa to address the nine member Law Enforcement of the local Law Enforcement task force. And this task force is created as a result of the tragic shooting by Deputy Sheriff of 13yearold andy lopez who was carrying a bb gun that was a replica of a assault rifle. We described the functions of the occ and the value of the Law Enforcement and the goal of that task force is to recommend the model of the civilian oversight in october and then fourth, we advised an open city county member and his aid on the structure of the San Francisco Police Commission and the office of citizen complaints. Meeting in the area of training, the attorney and i attended the similar pose um on eye witness investigation sponsored by the Santa Clara Law School and chief suhr was one of the panelists and moving on to additional training, two weeks ago i attended the annual symp osium hotel and as the chief pointed out, he and the San Francisco Police Department were the local hosts for the event and commissioner loftus was there as well and there were many interesting panels, and including one on the procedural justice in Law Enforcement. And in march, of this year, published a paper on this topic, and that paper is on its website, and just to briefly describe the procedural justice by Law Enforcement and it addresses how the Law Enforcement interacts with the public and first allowing the people to tell their side of the story and acting and making decisions based on consistently applied legal principles and the facts of an incident and not on an officers personal opinions and biases, treating people with dignity and politeness and respecting their rights and giving cues that communicate trustworthiness and listening to peoples accounts and sensitivity explaining the reasons why the officer took the actions that he or she took. And sounds a little bit like the medation program. And then also the research has shown that when the individuals feel that they have received justice, they are more likely to view the Law Enforcement actions as legitimate and to cooperate the Law Enforcement. And other topics, there were two other topics, of note, and there were several topics and two other topics that i will talk about tonight, and one was body cameras and Oakland Police chief sean who was a sergeant when he took me on a tenhour ride along many years ago, described how open Police Departments use a body camera if it has caused a reduction in civilian complaints, and a fas ter resolution of the complaints and a higher percentage of the definitive findings and instead of not sustained and then finally, they invited them to make a presentation and described the functions of the civilian oversight as restoring the Community Confidence and building bridges and shining a light on internal Police Investigations and practices. And then, finally, just to return to the may comprehensive statistical reports that is in your packet, i will just address the two, the chief adjudications that occurred in may and both were for neglective duty and to failure to collect the traffic data and an officer was retrained for that and failure to comply with the juvenile protocol by failing to mirandaize her, and failing to record the interrogation and two Police Officers one of whom was a Field Training officer, the other the recruit, and then the sergeant who reviewed the incident report, and were admonished and retrained. And that concludes my report. Thanks very much, director hicks and as usual it is thorough and i am glad to hear that the message is being heard in reference to the funding and staffing and so thank you for the work on that and that is very good to here. And very good to hear. Commissioner wong . Thank you. I just had a concern when i read about this second sustained complaint, it looks like there is more to it than maybe what is reported here, it seems like there was a total break down in this juvenile being detained and brought through the process and intergated and not mirandaized and what happened with that case . Was it filed . Was it a case where they thought that they were never going to file charges and so they did not brother to follow the procedure and it just likes this one went all the way through, there was more to it and i am happy to look it up and speak to it off line because of the office of the juvenile. Okay, sure. Commissioner turman . Please call item c. Commission reports. Commission reports, and discussion and president s report. And i want to report that since last weeks meeting and myself and commissioner wong, visited yesterday with the officers for justice, and one of our groups, and we met with them out on the third Street Office and it was very good and we heard some of their concerns and we just to learn a little bit about what we feel about how things are going and we talk about everything from disciplinary process, to recruitment of minority officers and i think that sounded helpful and i want to thank the sergeant for allowing us to come out there and dr. Monroe taking