Transcripts For SFGTV SFPD 20240705

And ask quou are remain standing for the color guard and singing of the National Anthem by Molly Mcfadden. [color guard] [singing National Anthem]you remain standing for the color guard and singing of the National Anthem by Molly Mcfadden. [color guard] [singing National Anthem] [color guard] please be seated. Thank you for attending medal of valor. Pleased to introduce the people on stage and acknowledge those behind the scenes that helped make the ceremony possible. Thank you to Masonic Center for continued generosity allowing us to use the facility. Next thank the membersf Othe Department instrumental organizing the ceremony. Mrs. Resa tom, christine sings [indiscernible] rachel killshaw and thank you to Molly Mcfadden and singing the National Anthem and the color guard. They all deserve a round of applause. [applause] next i are like to introduce those with us on stage tonight. The hahnable mayor london breed. [applause] and your Police Commission, Commission President cindy aliss, max carter orb stone, commissioner larry yee, commissioner byrne rnsh, commissioner benedicto. Commissionerim introduce your command staff starting with chief of Police William scott. Assistant chief david lazar. Deputy chief robert osullivan. Deputy chief daniel pereira. Deputy chief ras juany. Deputy chief walsh and deputy chief ng. Now your commanders. [applause] we are here to honor a select group of officers in the San Francisco Police Department who ghaijed in ookts of bravery and displayed courage far exsided required of them. The commander aufssers will describe the selfless acts the individuals took which explain why they are honored tonight. Before we hear about the acts of valor, mayor breed is here to say a few words. Thank you very much. And good evening to all the honorees tonight as well as their family and friends who are joining us to acknowledge the exceptional work of the people of the San Francisco Police Department. Today as we talk about the medal of valor and you hear the various stories, the consistent theme of each incident will just remind you of the extraordinary courage and heroism it takes in order to do this very very challenging work of the San Francisco Police Department. I want to express my appreciation for each and every one of you, because you could choose to work for any other Law Enforcement agency anywhere in the country and you choose to be a part of the San Francisco Police Department. We know that the work is not easy. We know that so many of the issues you face every single day when you walk out the doors of not only your homes, but your stations, you never know what youre going to experience each and every day, but what i appreciate about each and every one of you is that in every single instance it was not even a question whether or not you were going to put your life on the line in order to serve and protect the people of the city and county of San Francisco. You just automatically did it. We appreciate your hard work, your dedication, and your commitment to San Francisco. We know that often times you dont always get the appreciation and the respect and the praise you deserve and we know that you dont do it for praise. We know you do it because you are true Public Servant in every since of the word. Let me say to all the men and women of the San Francisco Police Department. I want to express my appreciation for what the city came together to do during apec. It was absolutely extraordinary, and i saw so much pride in San Francisco from the people who not only work for the city and county of San Francisco, but especially from Law Enforcement. What we did to put San Francisco on the map in a light in a way that demonstrated that San Francisco is not what everyone is trying to say it is. We are a great city, and we have Extraordinary People who make it a great city. The people who serve and protect our city every single day are the reason why so many people from far and wide get to see and experience the magic of everything that San Francisco has to offer, so thank you all so much for being here tonight. Thank you for your commitment, for your courage and just like many family members here today, as you walk out the door of your home they continue to wish for your safety, i continue to wish for your safety, and continue to hold each and every one of you in my prayers for a safe return to your loved ones every single night after doing this job. Thank you all so much for being here. [applause] thank you mayor breed. Now well hear from Commission President cindy elias. Good evening. Sidy elias prez dependent of the Police Commission honored to be here tonight to participate and listen to the outstanding sories we are about to hear regarding the bravery and courage these officers have shown. And etam many officers who dedicated their lives protecting thais greatatesy of our. I hur heroing stories most of us will never ever have to experience, thankfully. Still, each and every day our officers put on their uniform and make this city a safer place for all. Tonight i would like to extend me sincere appreciation for the officers who demonstrated this bravery and gone above and beyond. I also like to thank those in the audience for the sacrifices and resilience demonstrated in supporting officers, because these officers while they are able to do their jobs, still need a support network at home and thats you. The missed dinners, the missed family times, the missed practices. All the sacrifices officers make on a daily basis to make our city safer while you at home stay at home and hold it down so thank you for your dedication and helping officers able to come to work and make our city great. Thank you again for having me. [applause] thank you president elias. Now chief scott would like to say a few words. Good evening. Thank you sergeant youngblood. I too want to start my remarks with thanks. First of all, thanks to awardees and officers and sergeant here because it is your work we are here for tonight. For the families, i dont know how many of these stories once you hear them that you heard, but usually our officers dont do what they do for praise, they dont do what they do for medal or award, they do what they do because they are committed to service. They do what they do because they are committed to the city and committed to this Police Department and more importantly, committed to the people we are sworn to protect and serve. Valor has a distinct definition. It takes courage to walk into a situation that you know will put your life at risk, but walk into the situation anyway. It takes courage to walk into a burning building knowing that you may not make it out. It takes courage to run toward the gun fire instead of away from it. It takes courage to do what each and every one of these members that are here tonight to be decorated and awarded did, but this is what they do day in and day out. The actions that brought us here tonight are above and beyond the call of duty, no doubt about it and when you hear the stories i think you will agree with me. But, make no mistake about it, every member of this Police Department has a commitment and has a heart of service to go out and do the job day in and day out. So, i want to thank them, thank you all for being here. I want to say thank you to the command staff. This process isnt a easy process to get to this point. There is committee and panel. We hear the incidents, we evaluate them, and we vote. And only those that we feel that are worthy of this type of award, the highest honor this department gives, only those are it people that make it here and you are the those people. You are those officers, so congratulations to you, congratulations to your courage, valor and what you do day in and day out. This Department Needs you, depends on you and we love you and appreciate everything you do every day. Thank you. [applause] thank you chief scott. Now the reading of the award citations for each of the officers. First commander Derek Jackson reading charlesin memoriam. Good evening and thank you for being here tonight. Truly a honor to be here before you. Tonight i want to share with you the story dating back to 1913 that exemplifies the core values and selfless acts that define who we are as a Police Department today. February 5, 1913 San Francisco Police Department patrolman charles carl wallford lof grn on foot patrol. A large meat wagon attached to 4 horses stopped at grant avenue and broadway while the driver is inside the shop making delivery. A group of youth celebrating the Chinese New Year set fire crackers near the wagon which resulted in startling the horses which ran down broadway pulling the wagon without a driver. The team of horses turn on columbus avenue. Officer lof grn observed the out of control team of horses and saw numerous citizens crossing the street in front of the horses at jackson street. He knew many would be severely injured if not killed if there was a collision. As the horses gained speed he ran towards the team of horses and jumped alongside them grasping at the reins. Officer lof grn grabbed the reins and slowed down the team enough fl crowd to disperse. Patrolman hung helplessly trying to pull the team to a stop. He was swept under the horses and the 10 ton meet wagon ran over his right leg, severing to the bone from his knee to ankle. The team of horses turned to jackson street and came to a stop at montgomery street where the wagon overturned next to a cable car. Despite his injuries, officer lof grn attempted to rise and pursue the team of horses further. He could not stand and rushed to the harbor Emergency Hospital for treatment. When officer lof grn first arrived at the hospital Doctors First believed his injuries would prove to be fatal. Officer lof gran survived, however lost the use of his leg and therefore enable to ever return to duty. When nrlt viewed regard ing the incident for february 6, 1913 newspaper article, officer lofgran stated to the San Francisco chronicle, there isnt much to it. I grabbed the lines and could do nothing. But i all to try. For im a policeman and it is my duty to do so. Any other policeman would have done so. Officer lofgran actions february 5, 1913 demonstrated the disregard for his safety in favor that of the members of the public. Displayed outstanding bravery conducting a life saving act above and beyond the expected line of duty. Knowing he his risking his life he committed selfless act of service. A run away team of horses would surely have severely injured or killed pedestrians it collided into. The result of the action rendered him permanently disabled. Despite sacrifice his legacy of service lives 4 more generation of Law Enforcement aufshers and family. For his efforts, officer lof fp gran has been awarded the gold medal of valor and purple heart. It is my honor to introduce officer lof grans great grandson, california Highway Patrol commander christopher sherry. [applause] [applause] next, captain Thomas Harvey of mission station reading the bronze medal award citation. Officer [indiscernible] and officer shilling who was not able to be with us tonight. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is my honor and pribolog to present the follow award. March 5, 2021, at approximately 1120 a. M. , sarge nlt nevs store 1016 officer brian lopez, 1385, and officer carson shilling, 2247 who is not here tonight of mission station responded to 112 eureka street regarding a 911 call of possible fight inside a residents. A neighbor called dispatch after hearing someone yell, dont hit, dont hit in a panicked fashion. This neighbor believed a fight was occurring inside the residents. The initial responding mission unit had contacted two people at the residents. The officers had prior knowledge of Domestic Violence incidents between these two parties and being aware of their history, the mission yaunts wanted to do a welfare check to make sure everything was okay and to insure there was no current Domestic Violence occurring. The person who had greeted the officers explained the only other resident was upstairsing have a schizophrenic episode. The officers were told the individual is angry and acting irrat eratic. When those officers arrived upstairs they encountered an aggressive and naked suspect wielding a knife with a 6 inch blade. For context, the officers were encountering this suspect on the top floor of a multiunit building and the only access to this part of the building was through a narrow flight of stairs. At this point, the officers tried to establish dialogue with the suspect who then ignited a fire and throw a glass object at one of the officers. Fortunately that officer had a ballistic shield to protect himself. The sus spect fled foon to a nearby room. While this occurring smoke began pouring out of the suspect room. Due to the dangerous conditions of it growing fire, the officer had to relocate and while doing so lost sight of the suspect. At this time, the San Francisco Fire Department had already been summoned to the scene to deal with the fire. The building along with several neighboring structures were evacuated due to the imminent danger of fire and smoke. Sergeant nevs officer shilling, and officer lopez rotas arrived on scene and present when sffd members were preparing to enter the building to extinguish the fire. At this time the suspect location was unknown, and it was possible the armed suspect was still inside the residents. San francisco fire reported the flames were imminent threat to the neighboring homes and if they did not move quickly to extinguish the flames the homes were risk of catching fire. Sergeant nevs, shilling and rotas entered the burning building against San Francisco fire personnel to prevent their members who the location fsh unknown. These members escorted Fire Department personnel up the stairs where the smoke was quite heavy and visibility very low. Sergeant nevs officer shilling and officer lopez rotas remained at the top of the stairway despite the heavy smoke and immediate dangerous to their lives. They placed themselvesases a barrier between the Fire Department members and where the suspect could have been lurking. San francisco fire was able to extinguish the flames and only them determined the suspect fled and escaped the residents. After a yard to yard search the suspect was located and placed into custody. In conclusion, Sergeant Timothy nev, officer brian lopez rotasand officer shilling exhibited bravery above and beyond which is expected when they chose to enter a burning residents without breathing aids or fire precive equipment. They risked their safety and wellbe with full knowledge of the fire, smoke or armed outstanding suspect. The objective was sufficient importance to justify the risk as they were acting to protect the Fire Department while ready to take the suspect into cud custody. The Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire. When seconds and minutes mater the quick decisive bravery exhibited helped save the day. For their efforts they have been awarded the bronze medal of valor. [applause] sergeant nevs [applause] officer lopez rotas. [applause] [applause] next commander reading the bronze medal award citation for sergeant yee. Officersinclair, custudio could not be with us tonight. Jensen, laura could not with us tonight. [reading names] that thank you. My hahn r to be here tonight and tell you a story which happened halloween on october 31, 2022. Basically 8 mile vehicle pursuit of Armed Robbery carjacking crew four juveniles armed with weapons on three day crime spree and if not for the officers [reading officer names] worked together it could have definitely been work on that noget. Summary, halloween, october 31, 2022 at three p. M. Southern station officers responded to avenue h Treasure Island on a report of armed car jacking that just occurred. Southern station officer s met with victim who stated he parked his car. He observed 4 males outside a infinity g35 parked near his vehicle. Victim got in his car and suspect approached on foot and asked questions and apparent small talk. Three suspects approached the vehicle while the initial suspect forcebly opened the victim car door pointed a semiautomatic pistol. Yelled they were taking his car. Two suspects brandished fire arms as he exited the vehicle. The victim feared he would get shot if he diditant comply. Fled the area in the carjacks mercedes. Determined the infinity g35 left at the scene bay the suspects was taken in a separate car jacking in San Francisco one day before. All this information was provided to dist patch and they put it on all channel broadcast. Approximately 30 minute later in the bayview, on patrol of cesar chavez and connecticut where they observed 4 suspects on board. Confirmed with dispaich they were dehind a car jacked vehicle and requested back up to respond prior to conducted high risk felony car stop. Suspects realized they had been spotted and fled prior to backup arriving. Initiated a vehicle pursuit from bayview to southern. Officers term naeted the pursuit when suspect drove into lanes. Ultimately the vehicle was lost in Southern District multiple unit suched for the vehicle. All located the vehicle at folsom and third. Officer reengaged in pursuit to fled on south bound 280 exited at 18 street. The suspect drove back to the jairmia where pursuit began and blocked by muni bus on 900 of connecticut. All suspects quickly fled and ran from the officer. The driver exited holding a tech 9 pistol discarding during the foot pursuit. All the officers you here today worked together to safely take all 4 suspects in custody. Officers recovered discarded tech 9, 9mm ghost gun, the ghost gun was modified to be fully automatted. Located a air soft pistol. The fire arms recovered 300 feet from star king elementary school. Conducted from the victim from Treasure Island who conformed all suspects were the same who robbed and car jacked him. The robbery crew was investigated for two similar armed car jackings one which occurred in San Francisco on 30 and also occurred in San Francisco on the 29. Important to note that during the vehicle pursuit and apprehension no members of the public officer or suspects were injured despite wreckless flight which spanned over 8 miles from residential streets, freeways to multiple business corridor. The only collision was as a result of the suspects fleeing from the car jacked vehicle before it slowly rolled and collided intaa parked vehicle resulting in minimal damage due to the fact they didnt put the car in park. All 4 suspects two 16 and two 15 year olds booked for numerous felony violations with da filing charges on all. Two suspectss have no bail felony warrant. The other suspect had a warrant for aggrated assault with dangerous weapon. In conclusion, all the officers were directly involved in a long stressful coordinated effort which involved superior observation skills, tactical decision making, Emergency Vehicle operation and physical abilities all which occurred during moments of high stress as there is perhaps nothing more dangerous in police work then high speed pursuit, especially involving arms dangerous suspect. Risked their liferbs given the circumstance. These suspectss were on vilchbt armed 3 day crime spree. No doubt the officers were directly responsible preserving Public Safety and preventing countless other robberies shootings or Violent Crime throughoutf is and bay area on that night. For their efforts they have all been awarded the bronze medal of valor. [applause] sergeant yee. [applause] officer oricunda. [applause] [applause] officer st. Clair. [applause] [applause] officer jensen. [applause] [applause] officer lara. [applause] [applause] officer fabel [applause] [applause] officer hildago. [applause] [applause] officer alcarez. [applause] [applause] next commander derek lew reading the bronze medal award citation for chapten malenjure not able to be with us tonight. Sergeant uber and officer watts. [applause] good evening. On october 29, 2022, a little after 6 p. M. , 911 operators received several cars regarding a shooting of safe way Grocery Store within the ingle side district. Callers inicated numerous shots were fired and the victim of the shooting face down in the street was a store security guard. A number station patrol units began to respond. Within three minutes of the call dispatched, officer arrived on scene and initiated a search for victim sus spect and crime scene. One of the first to arrive is 9 Year Department veteran tom watts. Observed the victim with a gun shot wound attended by several bystanders mptd insuring medical personnel, a witness told officer watts the suspect was in geneva and mission. Officer watts broadcast the information he just received and devised a plan to search for the suspect with then lieutenant malenjure a 26 year veteran of the department. Due to it the knowledge thof ingleside district officer watts knew there was a bus stop and coupled with training and experience the suspect often utilize Public Transportation to flee crime scenes. Drove to the bus stop. Upon arrival officer whauts and lieutenant malenjure saw a bus at northeast courner of geneva and mission. The pair boarded the bus with Sergeant Carl huber entering from the rear door. As a Team Approached the middle portion of the bus officer watts noticed a male sweating and breathing heavily and had a gene jacket tucked between him and seat back. Believing the male to be the shooter, officer watts pointed the suspect out and ordered to show his hand. The suspect began to violent resist officers efforts to restain by kicking and thrashing at the officers. Additionally, the suspect continued to tuck his arms and hands near his waist band and especially dangerous circumstance when engaged in physical fight with armed suspect who minutes before shot someone. During the struggle sergeant huber observed a fire arm fall near the suspect leg and able to direct officers to seize it. The suspect was overpowered and takenen to custody. During the investigation ingleside officers coordinated a show during a eye witness was able to positively identify the suspect as the person who shot the safeway security guard. Additionally, it should be noted the guard told officer he observed the suspect steal 29 worth of merchandise and tried to stop outside the door only is to have the suspect produce a fire arm and shoot himism the victim survived. The suspect fsh a multiconvicted felon with outstanding fire arm related warrant out of San Francisco and bureau chal tobacco and fire arms. These officers responded to aid a victim in need. Used teamwork to pursue a suspect and without hesitation put themselves in a exceptionally dangerous circumstance to arrest someone who showed extreme violence. Professionalism and dedication of the San Francisco Police Department. For their efforts these officers have been awarded the bronze medal of valor. [applause] sergeant huber. [applause] officer watts. [applause] [applause] next commander eric vintero reading the bronze medal awar citation for sergeantofficer[reading officer names] it is my honor once again to tell you a story about the great work performed by these officers. This is incident involving a suspect 25 years old on probation in three counties, committed three armed robberies with a gun at gas stations two in dally city and one in San Francisco in a matter of 24 hours and if not for the collective work of all the officers 4 from taraval and 4 from the swat team things could center been worse. September 30, 2022, the suspect started his crime spree stealing his grandfather vehicle, a 2018 corolla. The next morning 10 a. M. Used the stolen vehicle to drive to 19th avenue, gas station and committed Armed Robbery. The suspect pointed his semiautomatic gun in the face of the female clerk. Told he would kill her. The suspect fled in the toyota and parked several blocks away whether he exited the car, changed his closes and removaled a piece of paper used to cover the license plate. A watchful citizen was looking out of the window and found behavior sus peshs. She took video and called the police. Officers responded and able to take the great tip due to the outstanding officers they are and tied all the crimes together. The toyota tracked to bayview by cell phone left in the toyota. The unit responded and attempted to stop the suspect vehicle but the suspect fled wrecklessly and avaded officers and lost. The next morning sunday San Francisco dispatch received call from daly city suspect committed two armed robberies, two different gas stations license plate, suspect description all the same. Understanding this emergency sergeant took lead of the investigation coordinated a plan to apprehend the suspect before he commit any additional crimes hurt or possibly kill someone. Officers began tracking and surveilling the stolen vehicle driven by the suspect. Officer became involved as the arrest team. Members of the swat team castro, [indiscernible] and denning called for field of expertise and tactical tools needed to safely apprehend the suspect. Plan set into motion which included plain clothes surveillance, marked team and tactical teams and unmarked vehicles. One of was armed. Members fully understood the propensity for violence and of the suspect and likely meant he continued the crime spree unless takenen to cust aeds. The suspect sks 25 years old, sibs foot 2, 200 pounds and in probation. The team conducted surveillance and wait frd a moment to safely make the arrest. As a suspect pumped gas at the corner of california and steining the order given for the arrest team members to move in. As the suspect was inside the stolen vehicle with the driver door open and gas attach today the gas tank, unmarked vehicles driven by officers pulled in front and to the back thof is us pect vehicle. The suspect attempted to back up and made contact with the tactical vehicle which caused miner cosmetic damage. All the members converged on the suspect and vehicle and within moment the suspect quickly realized resistance would be futile. He surroundered without further incident and taken into custody. Suspect arrested with loaded semiautomatic handgun. Sergeant notified daly city pd and responded. All the officers conducted incredible followup investigation. Sergeant conducted interview and interrogation of the suspect at taraval and able to get him to confess. Presented the case to the San Francisco da office. Who filed the charges. This level of coordination on the fly is extremely difficult and challenging and speaks volumes to character dedication and the level of skill and ability of everyone involved in this arrest and investigation. The fact the suspect had committed three armed robberies within 24 hours with use of fire arm and had threatened to shootd all his victims with a fire arm wreckly less fleed and attempted to elude and arrested with loaded fire arm in his pants pocket clearly shows the high degree of danger the officers faced during the investigation and arrest. All the members prevented further Violent Crimes which could have been committed by this violent suspect and for their efforts they have all been awarded bronze medal of valor and officers [calling officer names] receiving the meritorious award [applause] sergeant camarski. [applause] [applause] officer [applause] [applause] officer kavanagh. [applause] [applause] officer zoroski [applause] [applause] officer castro [applause] [applause] officer alvaranga [applause] [applause] officer denning [applause] [applause] next captain christopher canning, cupanding officer for richmond station reading for sergeant, imanual and officer [reading officer names] good evening. It is privilege and honor to celebrate the tremendous work of these fine sergeants and officers i have the privilege working with when i was the captain at tenderloin station. The afternoon february 27, 2021, received word from Investigation Bureau investigators a suspect in a tenderloin triple shooting was believed to be in the area of market and jones. Sergeant mountsed a bmx bike it conduct surveillance ins the area. He saw a man who closely resembled the suspect. The suspect was believe to be armed and are dangerous and had history of Violent Crimes. Accordingly, the entirety of the officers and supervisors formulated a contact and apprehension plan with multiple units covering possible areas of flight, mobile supervision and lethal and non lethal force options. Once the plan had been decided, the officers and sergeants took up their positions. With all the elements in place, sergeantgrave command to move in. Officer was the initial contact officer. She observed the suspect jaywalking in front of her radio car. She call out to the suspect stating he needs to speak to him. The suspect continued walking. The suspect again was acknowledged by name and began fleeing southbound on jones street. Officer pursued the suspect on foot. There officers were in position. The suspect ran directly toward them. Officer managed to trip the suspect but the suspect immediately got up and continued running with officer kavanagh in hot pursuit. Sergeant imanual joined the foot pursuit. The officers gave chase as backup units responded to the area. As the suspect rounded the corner of the black, officer saw the suspect reaching for his waist band. Fearing reach frg a fire arm. As the sus pecktd ran across Market Street, officer stopped the radio car forcing him to slow down and change direction. The suspect tried to run around the radio car but sergeant managed to roll his bmx bike into the path causing the suspect to fall to the ground and in the grass with numerous officers. The suspect was on the ground in face down position on top of his concealed hands possibly reaching for fire arm. Officers wrestled one of the suspect wrist from underneath him overcoming his resistance. Sergeant imanuel wrestled the suspect other hand from under his body. Sergeant controlled the suspect upper body to keep him rising as officer haley controlled the suspect legs and cuffed the suspect wrists. Soon the officers rolled the suspect to side and as they rolled the officer spotted a fire arm on the ground and directly where the suspect hands was placed. Using outstanding teamwork the officers and sergeant confronted a armed felon wanted to shooting threep people overcame resistance taking him to custody without serious injury to the suspect, any officers or any member of the public. Despite knowing the risk the suspect posed they chased and arrested the armed suspect to keep the streets of San Francisco safe and for their efforts they have been awarded the bronze medal of valor. [applause] sergeant salarozano [applause] [applause] sergeant emanuel [applause] [applause] officer avila [applause] [applause] officer kavanagh [applause] [applause] officer riley [applause] [applause] we have again captain kenning richmond station read thg sillzer medal award citation [reading officer names] [applause] good evening again. My honor to be here and celebrate with these tremendous members of the San Francisco Police Department assigned to Tenderloin Police station. On the morning of saturday june 19, 2021, just after 6 in the morning, officer rugesa and officer ryan patrolling the tenderloin in marked radio car. While patrolling both officers observed multiple people standing stairing northbound on leavenworth from eddie street. When asked what they were looking at the people directed the attention of officers up leavenworth with a building that caught fire. Responded without delay to 421 leavenworth street, is 6 story supported housing home. At the time the building housed 47 units occupied by over 60 residents. The fire is believed to have started in a unit on the 4th floor where it spread quickly to the 5 and 6 floors driving the resident to flee towards the fire escapes on the building exterior. Once there however, the residents found themselves trapped as a system of ladders leading to the sidewalk below were in inoperable. Those who could flee the building fled, spilling on the sidewalk below. Smoke billowed from the roof. It was ciotic scene as they arrived. Officers adviceed dispatch of the fire calling units to the area knowing full well the life threatening danger of entering the building officers immediately went into aid in the evacuation. The air instd the building was thick with heavy smoke and sound of the fire alarm deafening. Ash flooded the stair way and light wells pushing up to the third floor where embers were visible in theair. The officers pounding on doors to evacuate those that had not done so themselves. Officers located a wheelchair bound resident trapped on the third floor with no way down to the ground level. After trying unsuccessfully to ease the wheelchair down the steep staircase they recognized time is of the essence and cheel chair deperdized their efforts. Chicked up the resident and carried three flights of stairs and out to safety. Numerous additional San Francisco Police Department officers and San Francisco Fire Department firefighters began to arrive at the scene, including tenderloin station officer gonzalez, finnegan, [indiscernible] they arrived at the scene and entered without delay. Sergeant saw aufsher doubled in pain as they appeared to suffer from smoke inhuilation. Firefighters inside the building began breaking windows showering the sidewalk with glass and debris. Sergeant hit in the head and cut by a large piece of falling glass. Officers yet again entered the building to the aid of the resident inside. After insuring the safety of the bistandard sergeant entered the building as well. Once inside it building sergeant realized the fire was in danger of quickly over hch taking the building and remaining residents had little time to evacuate. Water fell from upper floors above. Sergeant directed sfpd personnel to engage in a room to room rescue efforts to evacuate as many as possible in the limited time remaining forcing entry where necessary. Second floor saj nlt located a locked apartment. Knocked and announced before kicking open the door and found a elderly disabled man. Helped into the hallway to assist in a wheelchair and pushed to the stairway nearby. Then carried the man down the stair way to the ground floor. Progress was slow as they found the wheelchair was too wide and had to be forced around the corners. F officer able to bear most of the mans weight. Sergeant and officer turned around yet again and ran back inside. Officers gonzalez [indiscernible] continued the rescue effort clearing each apartment one by one. Sergeant arrived on sthecd floor once more there encountered a lock door and hear a dog barking. Forced the door and located a black and white pit bull. Picked up the dog and used a shopping cart to carry the dog to safety. With knowledge of the deteriorate conditions the officers and sargeen worked to the third floor told by firefighter the fire spreading and polices evacuate. Ordered all out of the building. The Fire Department personnel was fully equipped with res pirators and mask. All San Francisco Police Department personnel were all still inside the building unequipped to the conditions. Exposed to the smoke and ash to assist in the evacuation until no longer feasible. Officers had to use flas lights use to limited visibility and smoke. Further noted that the onscene Fire Department stated that the 6 story Apartment Building suffered major fire damage on the 4, 5 and 6 floor and lower suffered water damage. The building is later declared uninhibitable. Fire personnel noted at the time of the fire 44 occupied apartments within the building were occupied by over 60 people suspected to be inside at the time due to the early hour. All those occupants were evacuated with no fatalities and 5 people transported to hospital for miner injury. Numerous animals also evacuated including multiple dogs and a bird. The fact that over 50 percent of the apartment comlex lost to the fire yet no loss of fire is attributes today the efforts of these tremendous members. Fire Department Leadership team contacted tenderloin station regarding the actions of these officers and said in summary, the extraordinary efforts put forth by these officers were above beyond expectations allowed us the Fire Department to focus on ix tinguishing the fire, rescuing the victims from the upper floors. With the help of these officers, we the Fire Department were able to keep the fire causing fatalities. We want to thank the officers for their efforts. It should be noted each of these officers suffered injury and officer ragusa was sadly admitted to the hospital but thankfully released from the hospital within days of celebrating the birth of his first child. These members of the San Francisco Police Department entered a large scale structure fire add risk to their personal safety to evacuate the resident of the apartment. These members remained in the building on fire until they fully evacuate three floors of building placing themselves at risk of the fire long periods of time. These members and actions resulted in the preservation of numerous lives and for their efforts they have all been awarded the silver medal of valor as well as the life saving award and officer ragusa awarded the purple heart. [applause] sergeant caroway [applause] [applause] officer gonzalez [applause] [applause] officer finnegan [applause] [applause] officer ryan [applause] [applause] officer ragusa [applause] [applause] officer presadi [applause] [applause] next captsen jason soyer Commanding Officer for northern station reading silver medal valor award citation for officer perez [applause] good evening. My honor and privilege to explain actions of george perez. June 17, 2022 a man was suffering a Mental Health crisis in yuba city california. He believed a religious order was responsible for the september 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and felt he had to spread the message in one of the busiest airports in the United States. He krideed to drive 140 miles to San Francisco International Airport and brought hundreds of paper copies of detailed manifesto along with two backpacks a replica fire arm and brapd new machete. 6 p. M. The man arrived at sfo and park said in the international terminal. Took backpake paper and macheete and left his keys on the driver seat as a indicator he did not intend to term. Began to speak his beliefs and hurling hundreds of copies of his manifesto in the air and scribbled beliefs on the wall. The man later admitted because he thought no one was listening he decided to grab his machete and began attacking passengers. He approached the firsh victim, swung wildly making contact and causing lacerations to the traveller. The traveller realizing he was bleeding and injured ran away. Panic ensued as passengers began to flee and the man attacked another weapon swinging and slashing the victim. The man then attacked a third victim in the same cold callus manner striking the victim and causing injury. Terrified travellers fleeing in the calls to 911 flooded dispatch. Sergeant perez realized he had a active attacker in front of him and realized he had to respond. Without regard for his own safety, sergeants george perez sprinted towards the unknown and dangerous situation as it terrified travellers ran past. Without hesitation first to arriveoon scene. Quickly locatesed the suspect and directed the attention toward himself. Using verbal skills and training contacted the man and see he was armed with a machete. The man advanced toward Sergeant Perez refusing to stop and surrender. Despite the dwindling distance, Sergeant Perez displayed incredible restraint continuing to use deescalation and verbal commands and physical presence to finally and ultimately get the man to surrender. Sergeant perez top priority and safety and welfare of the surrounding travellers disregarding his safety in the process. Ort officers arrived and able to hands cuff the suspect but the incident was not over. The man glared at the officers and remarked he had a surprise in his backpacks. Believing he was armed with explosive device, Sergeant Perez stood by the pack and ordered everyone away places in position of danger. Evacuation conducted the bags edeemed safe and all the victims survived. Sergeant perez was able to successfully end a violent attack using minimum force in the face of grave danger. Operated as a model office with incredible courage and calmness and saved countless individuals from injury or death. With complete regard for his safety directed violent attacker towards himself, used training and experience to deescalate and take a subject in custody. Exalismifyed bravery, and willingness to protect life as his own peril and proud to work with Sergeant Perez. For his actions Sergeant George perez has been awarded the silver medal of valor. [applause] Sergeant Perez [applause] [applause] our final presentation tonight, captain james commanding special operation reading the gold medal awar citation for Sergeant Moran, rivy and taylor. [applause] good evening. The members before you were assigned to the unit during this incidents. Stands for crime gun investigation center. The unit investigate and arrest violent criminals with gun crimes. This was no routine incident and could have turned deadly for the ufs aers or the suspect. Between january 11 and 14 of 2023, the suspect in this case shot at a victim on three separate occasions. Each time the suspect fled the scene in a gray suv. The victim was never hit by gun fired by cars and houses hit. Over the course of the investigation, the officers learned the suspect shot a woman in in oakland in 2022 and he frequented the sunnydale area of San Francisco. On january 15 after midnoget ingleside officer scoured the area for the gray suv. The officerss located the gray suv near the 100 block of brookdale and record showed the vehicle was stolen and had stolen license plates attached. Officers waiting for a tow truck three to 4 gun shots were fired. Ballistics link spencer to this incident. On january 23 based on the investigation of spencer, sergeants thomas moran sergeant riv i and an dray taylor conducted surveillance to arrest spencer. 130 p. M. A silver car pulled in the parking lot. The vehicle parks and spencer got out of the seat and femay exited the passenger seat. The officers waited as the two gathered belongings. Once away from the vehicle the officer exit the vehicle and sergeant revi called out, police and ordered to stop. The officers were written identifiable clothing. Spencer immediately began running towards the nearby walkway. Sergeant moran and rivi pursued spencer continuing to identify as police and ordering him to stop. Taylor detained the female passenger while riva and moran pursued spencer. Spencer didnt attempt to throw hide or ged och the gun. He ran for several feet with gun in his hand. Sergeant rivi yelled to dop the gun. Spencer began to turn to his right extending riz right arm towards sergeants. Spenceered fired one shot as wrapped his arms around spencer and tackled to the ground. The gun in the right hand was knocked to the ground close by. Once on the ground, spencer continued to violently resist arrest. Officer taylor heard the gun shot. Able to gain control of spencer left arm and continued to fight while reaching toward upper body. Officerss see spencer was reaching for a fanny tack around his chest and Sergeant Moran saw a second gun inside the unzipped fanny pack. Sergeant moran was able to remove from the chest and officers get spencer in hand cuffs. Turned spencer over they found a third gun at his feet. The fire casings recovered thin shootings submitted for comparison to the three fire arms from spencer. Two were linked to the shooting incident. January 23 of this year, officers put their lives at risk with violent criminal carrying three fire arms. Did not hesitate any time of their pursuit of spencer. It is my belief if the officers had disengaged in the pursuit the suspect would have been able to fully turn around and shoot and seriously injury the officer. I believe sergeant revi speed and closeing the gap did not give time to shoot. Exhibited brave ry above and beyond the call of duty. Through the behavior and tenacious investigation a dangerous criminal was taken off the streets of San Francisco and for their efforts they have pbeen awarded the gold medal of valor. [applause] Sergeant Moran [applause] [applause] sergeant rivi [applause] [applause] Sergeant Taylor [applause] [applause] llth. If i can ask all recipients to please rise and stand and face the audience. Everyone, these are your heroes and awardees for tonights San Francisco medal of valor Award Ceremony [applause] thank you. Please take your seats. Chief scott would like to say a few Closing Remarks and then well have final announcement before we adjourn. Thank you sergeant youngblood. First of all, i want to say thank you to sergeant youngblood, sergeant reynolds. We had retired Sergeant Rachel killshaw and entire staff that helped put this together. There is a lot of work that goes into this and these things go smoothly and smothing happen jz all say thank you, but it doesnt happen without those folks so thank you. Thank you for your hard work. [applause] i want to thank all the captains. These incidence dont get to this level without the captains writing up these incidents and nominating these officers for these awards, so to the captains, thank you for rewarding this hard work. [applause] and finally again, final thanks to the families. Thank you for being here. I dont know how many heard these stories before, but hopefully you will continue to allow them to go back to work after hearing all the valor and courage and everything they have done. Also just want to say this, you know, with everything we just heard, not one shot was fired, and that is something that is amazing, because they do the job the right way, they do the job the way we ask them to do and they do the job and treat people with respect and dignity and many of these cases could have easily been officer involved shootings, but they wrnt polk and i dont want to leave tonight without recognizing that with these officers, because thats a big deal, and nobody got hurt, at least seriously anyway and the officers didnt get hurt the people who needed to be held accountable for the things they did to members of the public were held accountable so i like to close this with another round of applause for all our awardees. [applause] thank you chief. Thank you to everyone who came toonts to honor these courageous officers and special thanks to family and friends who support these officers every single day. The chief the command staff rfx Police Commissioners will be available for photos with the award recipients and families and friends after this and also, we have refreshments that will be in the next room over here. On behalf of mayor breed the Police Commission, chief scott, command staff and Commanding Officers of the brave individuals of the San Francisco Police Department, thank you for joining us tonight. Thank you. [applause] [ ] my familys starts in mexico in a small town. My parents are from a very, very small town. So small, that my dads brother is married to one of my moms sisters. Its that small. A lot of folks from that town are here in the city. Like most immigrant families, my parents wanted a better life for us. My dad came out here first. I think i was almost twoyearsold when he sent for us. My mom and myself came out here. We moved to San Francisco early on. In the Mission District and moved out to daily city and bounced back to San Francisco. We lived across the street from the ups building. For me, when my earliest memories were the big brown trucks driving up and down the street keeping us awake at night. When i was sevenyearsold and im in charge of making sure we get on the bus on time to get to school. I have to make sure that we do our homework. Its a lot of responsibility for a kid. The weekends were always for family. We used to get together and whether we used to go watch a movie at the new Mission Theater and then afterwards going to Kentucky Fried Chicken. That was big for us. We get Kentucky Fried Chicken on sunday. Whoa go crazy so for me, home is having something where you are all together. Whether its just together for dinner or whether its together for breakfast or sharing a special moment at the holidays. Whether its thanksgiving or christmas or birthdays. That is home. Being so close to berkley and oakland and San Francisco, theres a line. Here you dont see a line. Even though you see someone thats different from you, theyre equal. Youve always seen that. A rainbow of colors, a ryan bow of personalities. When you think about it you are supposed to be protecting the kids. They have dreams. They have aspirations. They have goals. And you are take that away from them. Right now, the price is a hard fight. Theyre determined. I mean, these kids, you have to applaud them. Their heart is in the right place. Theres hope. I mean, out here with the things changing everyday, you just hope the next administration makes a change that makes things right. Right now theres a lot of changes on a lot of different levels. The only thing you hope for is for the future of these young kids and young folks that are getting into politics to make the right move and for the folks who cant speak. Dy mind motion. Even though we have a lot of fighters, theres a lot of voice less folks and their voiceless because theyre scared. Who doesnt love cable cars . Charging emissions and were free which were proud of you know, its not much free left in the world anymore so we managed to do that through donations and through our gift shops. You got a real look and real appreciation of what early transit systems are like. This was the transit of the day from about 1875 to about 1893 or later, you know. Cable car museum is free, come on in. Take a day. Come down. Rediscover the city. You can spend as time you want and you dont have to make reservations and its important to be free because we want them to develop a love for cable cars so they do continue to support whether they live here or other places and people come in and say, yes, i have passed by and heard of this and never come in and they always enjoy themselves. People love cable cars and theres none left in the world so if you want to ride a cable car, youve got to come to San Francisco. That what makes the city. Without the cable cars, you lose part of that, you know, because people who come here and they love it and they love the history ask they can ride a cable car that has been running since 1888 or 1889. Wow thats something. Cant do that with other historical museums. Rarely, have i run into anybody from outside who didnt come in and didnt feel better from knowing something about the city. Its a true experience youll remember. I hope they walk away with a greater appreciation for the history, with the mechanics with people are fascinated by the winding machine and i hope the appreciation, which is a part of our mission and these young kids will appreciate cable cars and the ones who live here and other places, they can make sure there will always be cable cars in San Francisco because once they are gone, they are gone. Its the heartbeat of San Francisco that founded the cable and the slot and without the cable cars, yeah, we would lose something in San Francisco. We would lose part of its heart and soul. It wouldnt be San Francisco without cable cars. [bell ringing] shared spaces have transformed San Franciscos adjacent sidewalks, local business communities are more resilient and their Neighborhood Centers are more vibrant and mildly. Sidewalks and parking lanes can be used for outdoor seating, dining, merchandising, and other community activities. Were counting on operators of shared spaces to ensure their sites are safe and accessible for all. People with disabilities enjoy all types of spaces. Please provide at least 8 feet of open uninterrupted sidewalk so everyone can get through. Sidewalk diverter let those who have low vision navigate through dining and other activity areas on the sidewalk. These devices are rectangular planters or boxes that are placed on the sidewalk at the ends of each shared space and need to be at least 12 inches wide and 24 inches long and 30 inches tall. They can be on wheels to make it easy to bring in and out at the start and the end of each day. But during business hours, they should be stationary and secure. Please provide at least one Wheelchair Accessible dining table in your shared space so the disability people can patronize your business. To ensure that wheelchair users can get to the Wheelchair Accessible area in the park area, provide an adequate ramp or parklet ramps are even with the curb. Nobody wants to trip or get stuck. Cable covers or cable ramps can create tripping hazards and difficulties for wheelchair users so they are not permitted on sidewalks. Instead, electrical cables should run overhead at least ten feet above sidewalk. These updates to the shared Spaces Program will help to ensure safety and accessibility for everyone, so that we can all enjoy these public spaces. More information is available at sf. Govt shared spaces. Shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shopping and dining within the 49 square miles of San Francisco. By supporting local Services Within our neighborhoods, we help San Francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. So where will you shop and dine in the 49 . My name is ray behr. I am the owner of chief plus. Its a destination Specialty Foods store, and its also a corner Grocery Store, as well. We call it cheese plus because theres a lot of additions in addition to cheese here. From fresh flowers, to wine, past a, chocolate, our dining area and espresso bar. You can have a casual meeting if you want to. Its a Real Community Gathering Place. What makes little polk unique, i think, first of all, its a great pedestrian street. Theres people out and about all day, meeting this neighbor and coming out and supporting the businesses. The businesses here are almost all exclusively independent owned small businesses. It harkens back to supporting local. Polk street doesnt look like anywhere u. S. A. It has its own businesses and personality. We have Clothing Stores to gallerys, to personal service stores, where you can get your hsus repaired, luggage repaired. Theres a music studio across the street. Its raily a diverse and unique offering on this really great street. I think san franciscans should shop local as much as they can because they can discover things that they may not be familiar with. Again, the marketplace is changing, and, you know, you look at a screen, and you click a mouse, and you order something, and it shows up, but to have a tangible experience, to be able to come in to taste things, to see things, to smell things, all those things, its very important that you do so. clapping . Happy anniversary sfgov you have been providing access to Public Meetings to keep folks connected and our original programming highlights the best of information and makes the city proud. music . The Ferry Building one of San Francisco most famous that as many of 15 thousand commuters pass through that each gay. One of the things that one has to keep in mind regarding San Francisco is how young the city we are. And nothing is really happening here before the gold rush. There was a small spanish in the presiding and were couriers and fisherman that will come in to rest and repair their ships but at any given time three hundred people in San Francisco. And then the gold rush happened. By 182948 individuals we are here to start a new life. By 1850 roughly 16 thousand ships in the bay and left town in search of gold leaving their ships behind so they scraped and had the ships in the bay and corinne woods. With sand the way that San Francisco was and when you look at a map of San Francisco have a unique street grid and one of the thing is those streets started off in extremely long piers. But by 1875 they know they needed more so the Ferry Building was built and it was a long affair and the first cars turned around at the Ferry Building and picking up people and goods and then last night the street light cars the trams came to that area also. But by the late 1880s we needed Something Better than the Ferry Building. A bond issue was passed for 600,000. To build a new Ferry Building i would say 800 thousand for a studio apartment in San Francisco they thought that was a grand Ferry Building had a competition to hire an architecture and choose a young aspiring architect and in the long paris and San Francisco had grand plans for this transit station. So he proposed the beautiful new building i wanted it wider, there is none tonight. Than that actually is but the price of concrete quitclaim two how and was not completed and killed. But it opened a greater claim and became fully operational before 1898 and first carriages and horses for the primary mode of transportation but Market Street was built up for serve tram lines and streetcars could go up to the door to embarcadero to hospitals and Mission Street up to nob hill and the fishermans area. And then the earthquake hit in 190 six the Ferry Building collapsed the only thing had to be corrected once the facade of the tower. And 80 percent of the city would not survive the buildings collapsed the streets budges and the trams were running and buildings had to highland during the fire after the actuate tried to stop the mask fire in the city so think of a Dennis Herrera devastation of a cable car they were a mess the streets were torn up and really, really wanted to have a popular sense they were on top of that but two weeks after the earthquake kind of rigged a way getting a streetcar to run not on the cable track ran electrical wires to get the streetcars to run and 2 was pretty controversial tram system wanted electrical cars but the earthquake gave them to chance to show how electrical cars and were going to get on top this. Take 10 years for the city to rebuild. Side ferry use was increasing for a International Exhibition in 1950 and people didnt realize how much of a Community Center the Ferry Building was. It was the center for celebration. The upper level of Ferry Building was a Gathering Place. Also whenever there was a war like the filipino war or World War Two had a parade on Market Street and the Ferry Building would have banners and to give you an idea how central to the citywide that is what page brown wanted to to be a Gathering Place in that Ferry Building hay day the busiest translation place in the world how people got around transit and the city is dependent on that in 1915 of an important year that was the year of our International Exposition 18 million living in San Francisco and that was supposedly to celebrate the open of panama differential but back in business after the earthquake and 22 different ferry boats to alamed and one had the and 80 trips a day a way of life and in 1918 San Francisco was hit hard by the flu pandemic and city had mask mandates and anyone caught without a doubt a mask had a risk ever being arrested and San Francisco was hit hard by the pandemic like other places and rules about masks wearing and what were supposed to be more than two people without our masks on i read was that on the ferry those guys wanted to smoke their pipes and taking off their masks and getting from trouble so two would be hauled away. The way the Ferry Building was originally built the lower level with the Natural Light was used for take it off lunge storage. The second floor was where passengers offloaded and all those people would spill out and central stairway of the building that is interesting point to talk about because such a large building one major stairway and were talking about over 40 thousand people one of the cost measures was not building a pedestrian bridge with the Ferry Building and the embarcadero on Market Street was actually added in and in 1918 but within 20 years to have San Francisco bay the later shipbuilding port in the world and the pacific we need the iron that. As the ferry system was at the peak two bridges to reach San Francisco. And automobiles were a popular item that people wanted to drive themselves around instead of the ferry as a result marin and other roots varnished. The dramatic draw in ferry usage was staggering who was using the ferry that was a novelty rather than a transportation but the ferry line stopped one by one because everyone was getting cars and wanted to drive and cars were a big deal. Take the care ferry and to San Francisco and spend the day or for a saturday drive but really, really changed having the car ferry. When the bay bridge was built had a train that went along the lower level so that was a major stay and end up where our Sales Force Transit Center is now another way of getting into the city little by little the ferry stopped having a purpose. What happened in the 40 and 50s because of this downturn we were trying to find a purpose a number of proposals for a World Trade Center and wanted to build it own the philly in a terrible idea objective never gotten down including one that had too tall towers a trade center in new york but a tower in between that was a part of Ferry Building and completely impractical. After the cars the Tower Administration wanted to keep americans deployed and have the infrastructure for the United States. So they had an intrastate free plan the plan for major freeway systems to go throughout San Francisco. And so the developers came up with the bay bridge and worked their way along embarcadero. The plans were to be very, very efficient for that through town he once the San Francisco saw had Human Services agency happening 200 though people figure out city hall offender that the embarcadero free was dropped and we had the great free to no where. Which cut us off from the Ferry Building and our store line and created in 1989 and gave us the opportunity to tear down the free. And that was the renaissance of Ferry Building. That land was developed for a new Ferry Building and whom new embarcadero how to handle travel and needed a concept for the building didnt want that was when a plan was developed for the liquor store. The San Francisco Ferry Building has many that ups and downs and had a huge hay day dribbled adopt to almost nothing and after the earthquake had a shove of adrenaline to revise the waterfront and it moved around the bay and plans for more so think investment in the future and feel that by making a reliable ferry system once the Ferry Building will be there to surface. Good afternoon. I call the december meeting of the Health Service board to order. Would you please join me in saying the pledge of allegiance . I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all