S.F. police adopt half of recommended reforms
A year after the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report criticizing the San Francisco police force’s handling of a variety of issues ranging from antibias training to tracking officers’ use of force, Chief Bill Scott said the department has submitted for approval its adoption of nearly half of 272 reform recommendations.
Close to half of the department has undergone use-of-force training that incorporates a new focus on de-escalation, crisis intervention and seeking to stop subconscious bias from affecting police work, said the chief, who took command in January.
Use-of-force incidents dropped nearly 11 percent in the first six months of the year, when compared with the same period in 2016, and the number of complaints to the civilian Department of Police Accountability fell by almost 9 percent, Scott said.
“I think we are progressing well, and I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made,” Scott said. “We’ve
come a long way. We have more work to be done, but we’ve done well in terms of pushing this reform effort forward.”
The report was the result of a six-month collaborative review of the police force by the Justice Department’s community-policing division, which under the Obama administration began releasing public reports that sought to improve law enforcement practices around the country. The Trump administration said in September it was ending the program.
The feds’ visit to San Francisco was spurred by the video-recorded police shooting of Mario Woods on Dec. 2, 2015, and other fatal shootings by officers.
Among the report’s recommendations was that the Police Department conduct regular audits of officers’ electronic devices, following the discovery that two separate sets of officers had exchanged bigoted text messages that became public, raising questions about department culture and accountability.
The department now regularly audits all department-issued devices, and is working to set up a partnership with an academic organization to go through the data, Scott said.
Law enforcement watchdogs had originally been skeptical of the collaborative review, because all of the reform recommendations were voluntary. But city and police officials have long maintained they are committed to implementing all the reforms, even after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the federal shift away from assisting local jurisdictions.
Scott said he is optimistic that the department will work through and implement the remaining recommendations.
“Anytime there’s change, it’s difficult, whether it be the Police Department or any other organization,” Scott said. “I think, though, that the willingness is there to take heart and look at how we do business and implement the things to make us do better.”