Quorum is present. Also with us tonight is chief of Police William scott and the director of the department of Police Accountability joyce hicks. All right. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, and members of San Francisco public, welcome to the wednesday, april 5, 2017 San FranciscoPolice Commission meeting. Tonights meeting will be primarily devoted to amany of the personal backlog disciplinary issues we need to deal with but we will be open in the beginning to some comments on specific areas. With that in mind, secretary kilshaw would you vote for scott the line item item number one press presentation of certificate mr. J allen dikeman will be presented with a certificate of appreciation for coming to the aid of a sergeant who is doing with an individual attempting to grab the firearm of the sgt. Good evening. Good eveningccommissioners. Dir. Hicks did chief. Thank you so much for taking time tonight to recognize what is truly a heraldic heroic event by citizen coming through your International Airport on november 4, 2016. A man who just happen to be in the place he was meant to be at the time where something was happening and unlike others do not stand by but really stepped up and saved one like we know of and perhaps many others. The man is sitting right here today. I just want to take a few minutes to kind of explain the scenario of what happened and bring him up so you can recognize him. So, as you know we police the International Airport. Its better than 5100 acres of property. There is 24 International Gates and 71 domesticate service and 58 airlines to come and go from your airport. There are nine train stations to police and theres also that includes a bart station so theres a lot of coming and going at the airport. In fact 53 million passengers went to that airport in 2016. On any given day theres thousands, tens of thousands of employees, 36,000 employees down at the airport was a very active nonstop 24 seven environment and at the end of the day its a wideopen campus. So people from the public come and go whether theyre dropping people off or whether they happen to end up there. The men and women to police that they know we get people from all over the spectrum of the world coming in a lot of our job is customer service, making sure people get where they need to go. Reuniting people with their family getting them to the proper gates, getting the property back to them and then preventing and intervening in criminal situations. One of the men that posted on there is jim wilson hes a 22 year veteran for the Police Department. He learned his Community Policing in the tenderloin and the terrible up here in the city. Hes either a former k9 officer who served with the station down at the airport and he was promoted to sgt. And left us for a while but in june 2014 he returned him to the airport to provide guidance and leadership as a sergeant jim, ive known since willie his second year in the business because he came to a station that i was at so ive seen him grow throughout the years and he did tremendous asset to the department because he really takes the time to get to know people. Very caring, open approachable presence and that works very well for us at the airport and as a sergeant, he leads that way. He gets that from his troops. But its a tremendous large property that we police in a sergeant cannot sit on their heels and theyre always walking throughout the terminal. On this particular day, jim was walking just going from the International Terminal into the domestic terminal. When he noticed a man that stood out to them that looked in obvious distress. As a 22 year cop, he knew the signs. He knew someone just wasnt looking right and a lot of times people at the airport and up there and theyre just lost her they become separated. They are confused. So wed first try to engage this person in conversation may contact to establish something but that was no response. The man just kept moving. So then jim asked on the air is there anyone whos missing this person. He gave a description do we know this is lost individual that it just ended upthere was no affirmation of that so we continued walking with him in and actually having just viewed the video again today you can see jim for over three minutes walking with this man continuing to try to talk to them, continuing to ask them questions to try and help him to try to determine what he needed. But the man had a fixed stare and does not engage with him. Does not talk to him. So as the contact progressed they were came across the path of mr. Dikeman and his wife were just returning from an International Trip and were just hoping to get to their enacting flight so they could go home. Despite being tired from what couldve been a full day of traveling, mr. Dikeman noticed this interaction between the sgt. And the subject. He noticed that the gentleman the sgt. Was doing with just wasnt all there and he actually thought to himself, that man has thousand yard stare. So he kept his eye on him even though he and his wife were continuing on their way and as jim and the gentleman moved into the domestic terminal the subject turned to jim and made a declaration that really set the tone for the rest of the encounter. He just directly said to the sgt. I want to die. He moved right into grab the sgt. s gun from his holster. So in addition to being under physical attack in jims head must have been the thought that goes through all our heads, that this is a person who is desperate to this the person whatevers going on in his life this is going to be a fight that i must win because his intent is for himself to die and theres many ways that can go badly for everyone around. So jim had to protect himself. He had to protect this man and he had to protect everyone around him. He knew he had to get into this confrontation get the confrontation erupted rather quickly with this man intent on going after the firearm. Now mr. Dikeman by this point had passed where the encounter was but he kept his attention on it and he saw this turned into a fight that quickly went to the ground and he saw what was going on and even though he knew that this man was clearly troubled, and that this was a very violent confrontation that this was an officer under attack and he knew how dangerous that could be, he moved right into position to help. He took direct action that saved our sergeants life, save this gentlemans life and save the lives of the people around because there were other people in and around could you can see them on the video many of them for whatever reason, continue to move about their business. None of them step up in a way that esther dikeman did. He not only approached from a safe direction which i dont know people think about that but he really did tactically approach quite well and he got himself in a position where jim was on the Ground Fighting by the with this minimum pleading with him to stop resisting and you just surrender, he jumped in and put his full weight on the man. It was only because of that that they were able to keep him contained on the ground. The struggle had gone on for a full minute by now. The time it took mr. Dikeman to move from where he was into a position and get on top of it continued for another minute. So i dont know how to express just how grateful i was as the chief looking at that and seen somebody whos a friend, who is a huge talent and as such was and who is just trying so hard to help someone to have someone step forward and say im going to be that person to help you im going to get this contained with you. Five other officers arrived and it took the sum total of them to help control this person safely to get them into custody safely to put them in a position of recovery to get into the medical attention he needed and then further down the line but mr. Dikeman stepped back when he knew there was other help. He stayed in the area and gave statements about what had happened and made sure that everyone was okay. I know it was important to him that jim was okay. So that is really one of the most truly heroic things ive ever seen someone do who could have for all things just gone about his business and said, as others probably did, well the police will handle it were someone will handle it but thats not this man. We are very fortunate so thank you for recognizing him tonight. I believe, we have a certificate for him. Thank you. [applause] i will read it out loud to everyone can hear it. Mr. Dikeman, on behalf of the Police Department i like to read the certificate of appreciation. In deepest gratitude for your performance about sending bravery and service to others, and great personal risk such an example of bravery is worthy of the highest esteem by the San FranciscoPolice Department. Thank you for your service. [applause] i would just like to say how honored i was to be able to help a cop in need. So it did not seem like a very big deal to me at the time and this is going to go on my wall and home. [laughing] thank you very much. Thank you thank you [applause] mr. Dikeman, sgt. Why dont you take a few pictures as well. He did bring his wife and mother. Yes. Mr. Dikeman who did you bring with you tonight . [inaudible] [photograph] [applause] mr. Dikeman, can you come back to the podium, please . Commissioner tran laura thank you so much for what you didbut i am curious did you make your connection . We did, yes okay. Do you live in San Francisco . No. We live in portland. You came down for this . Yes, we did thank you so much. Thank you so much. I have to say, there are so many people as deputy chief schmidt said that just wouldve said someone else will handle it and they wouldve walked away. We appreciate your courage. We appreciate your sense of citizenship. We depend on people like you and on behalf of this commission and the people of San Francisco, i think you so much for caring so much. I appreciate it so much it i have children and a lot of coworkers and they will tell you i dont like a lot of nonsense. [laughing] you are not done yet. First of all thank you for bringing your beautiful family with you on behalf of the commission i want to thank you for what you did this day a lot of antipolice rhetoric. Thank you for supporting our office if it means a lot to us as a commission to it means a lot to the public means a lot to our officers think the sgt. For your service and i want to thank you for the way you handled that. This couldve ended up a lot differently and the way you handled it say probably your life that of the individual you are dealing with so we thank you for your service. Mr. Dikeman, really appreciated. Thank you. Thank you so much i like to add my congratulations and thanks as well. My thanks as well. We are looking forward to your returning to San Francisco many many times. [laughing] commissioner marshall just to add to it, sir, for me i live in a world of its not my business and i do want to get involved, so just thank you for being a good samaritan. Thats what the world needs. We are all citizens. So we have a responsibility and obligation. Everywhere. But we certainly have it here on our home ground to Pay Attention to whats going on around us and to protect what we hold dear. So thank you. [applause] commission on next line item item number two discussion and possible action on selecting a commission parliamentarian, action. All right. As ive been reminded, we dont always follow our rules. We certainly during our commission retreat we had a long discussion about the rules. We were shown some Important Information about our rules and so therefore were going to take this step of making sure following the rules from here on out. Certainly, this item is [inaudible] possibly me [laughing] i can sometimes [inaudible] but we need someone to mind us and keep us on track. So, with that in mind, im ready for discussion. Yes. Based upon what we discussed in our retreat and we do need a parliamentarian and we have a naturalness commission so before we move into Public Comment on it, i would love to nominate nominate sonja melara whos been our unofficial parliamentarian to be our official parliamentarian. Second. Any other comments, commission us before we go to Public Comment on this . Yes. With all due respect, i want to speak against the establishment of such a position i dont think its necessary. I think if we exercise common courtesy toward each other as ive seen this Group Exhibit mostly, that i think that we do fine. We are all familiar with the rules of parliament and i think that we do fine and we dont need that kind of extra formality. So i speak against the motion. Okay. Any other further comment . Okay. Public comment. Public comment on this item . Yes. Public comment possible action in selecting a commissioner parliamentarian Michael Petrellas. I wish that there were some information here on the agenda as to why this item is on the agenda. Why do you need a commission parliamentarian . I feel you have plenty of layers of bureaucracy, transparency, and how to run yourselves. So i think you really owe us an explanation. This commissioner ong hing raised his objections for his own reasons really, why do you need this Commission Excuse me why do you needthats a question, too. I think we ask once in a while why do we need this commission, but i misspoke. Why do you need a parliamentarian is my question. Thank you. Thank you. Further Public Comment . Hearing on Public Comment is close. [gavel] all right. We have before us a motion thats been moved by commissioner trends massey second by commissioner marshall. Do i need a individual hand vote . Okay. Roll call vote on the motion to elect commissioner Tran Laura Malley commissioner parliamentarian turman aye mazzucco aye marshall aye dejesus is excused. Melara aye ong hing ong hing nay the motion passes, 41. Okay. Thank you. Commissioner melara is duly elected commissioner parliamentarian. Next item, please item number three general Public Comment the public is now welcome to address the Commission Regarding items that do not appear in tonights agenda but are within the subject matter of the jurisdiction. Under Police Commission rules of order during Public Comment either police or dpa personnel or commissioners are required to respond to questions presented by the public that may provide a belief response. Divisional commissioners and police in dpa personnel shall refrain however from entering into any debate or discussion with speakers during Public Comments. Please, limit your comments to two minutes. All right. Public comment is now open. Hello. Michael petrella second. Just a few months ago down the hall to sunshine speeded task force ruled against this commission for how you conduct general Public Comment. My complaint had to do with the september Commission Meeting where i was interrupted by susie loftis because i was naming the acting police chief at the chief by name you have to deal with the First Amendment and respecting the First Amendment and not interrupting speakers during Public Comment. Rachel will fill you in on that. What i want to discuss this evening in addition to changing how you conduct Public Comment is i want the representative from the office of citizen complaints and the chief to no longer sit on the dais. There has to be a very symbolic and actual separation from the commission and the department, and the occ. As i see right now, there are no nameplates in front of the chief, or in front of the occ representative can that is because they are not members of the commission. Only members of the commission should be seated on the dais. It is very important. It is beyond symbolic that the chief and the director of occ are not sitting on the dais. That they are either in the audience or they are in the wells. I want this matter considered for a future agenda item. Yes, we need the chief here. Yes, we need the occ rep here in the room, but the dais should be seated with only the commissioners. I think if we have that, and if you have a discussion about it, it will bring some more accountability to how the commission has to oversee the department and the chief. Thank you. Okay. Just for the record, ms. Hicks is the director of the department of Police Accountability now. Notwe no longer have an occ. But that was what mr. Petrella was referring to. Good evening ms. Brown good evening. Would you like the ordered . Yes. I would like to use the overhead. I am here again as i come here every wednesday. You guys here at city hall [inaudible] and just bring you up awareness about homicides and trying to get some of these homicides solved including my sons homicide. I just want people to listen out there. To know that,that we are still workingi cant was waiting for his picture to show. There it is. Yes. His name is Aubrey Abrakasa. He was murdered at the age of 17 years old. He died saving someone elses life. He hollered out and said, run and when everyone ran, my son was the only one left and so they used him as their target for opening his mouth. I want to say today is the fifth right . Tomorrow is his birthday. So im not really feeling some kind of way. You know, ive chatted a few tears, but his birthday is tomorrow and i dont know how im going to feel , but this is something i need to do here today to let you know that holidays, christmas, his birthday, all these things still come up for me even though its been many years. So , im saying this because i still have no closure. I still have no closure concerning my son, and you know and bring about other homicide victims. These homicides are not solved either. I want to bring up, to my son was a good boy i to walk across the stage and receive his diploma. He had a father and a mother and we are no longer together because we blame each other for our sons murder. This is all i have left of my son and i want people to see my pain, not cure my pain. This is his father. His father is from nigeria. He is in a lot of pain, but he doesnt show it is much as i do. I want to let people see this this is what ive left of my son. This is what keeps me going and i know people dont like looking at it but this is for me. Please, solve the homicides. For our children. Thank you ms. Brown. If anyone has any information about the death of Aubrey Abrakasa and you are listening and you are here the Anonymous Tip Line is 415 the Anonymous Tip Line is 415575 the Anonymous Tip Line is 4155754444. Please, get in touch if you have any information at 415 please, get in touch if you have any information please, get in touch if you have any information at 4155754444. Next member of the public to please. SeaweedPublic Comment is closed [gavel] im item number four Public Comment on all matters pertaining to item 6 close session. Okay. So, before we begin Public Comment, as i said at the beginning of the meeting it primarily tonight we are devoting[inaudible] we are devoting this meeting primarily to cases on our disciplinary and Personnel Matter issues. So, we will be going intoill be intestate will be going into closed session after Public Comment, but Public Comment on going into closed session is now as well as the items on the agenda, is now open. Mr. Petrellas. Just general Public Comment . No. This is Public Comment on whether or not we can go into closed session. Mr. Petrellas. Hello Michael Petrella second i am again going to ivan done this in the past and im going to do it again can im objecting to you going into closed session regarding disciplinary matters. Every time you go into closed session about disciplinary matters, you do away with transparency. You do away with accountability of complaints against cops. Every time you go into closed session, what i see is special privileges given to cops. Spafford special privileges that i was never given when i was accused of crimes and anyone whos accused of crimes in the city and across america, we dont get the right to closed sessions like the cops get. It really does a disservice to Community Policing in all of the good you are trying to do with reforming the San FranciscoPolice Department that complaints are lodged against cops for potential violations of various codes and statutes, and we dont even get to know their names. We dont get any information about the hearings. That is not right. It is undermining all of the good you are trying to do. I also have to file a public records request because i believe, there may be a way to get your minutes you are keeping minutes, i believe, of what happens behind the closed doors. It is time to see if the section of the sunshine code will apply to a request for your minutes of what youre discussing. I believe that the allow for such a request after a six year period. In any event ill file the request and we will take it from there please, dont go into closed session. Thank you for members of the public listening at home and folks in the audience we dont go into closed session because we want to hide anything we dont want to be transparent. There are state laws that require us to go into closed session and what mr. Petrella was nodding his head, yes, i wish he had added we are mandated to [inaudible] Supreme Court decision not to disclose certain information. If we could, provide certain information i will be gladly do it. Go to your legislators we have to follow the law. Not only do we have to follow the law because were citizens of california but most of us are lawyers and we are bound to follow the Supreme Court precedents. We are officers of the court as well. So it is not that we are hiding anything. So,