The Informant

Last night’s meeting of the Police Commission yielded some memorable quotes on matters near and dear to San Francisco hearts:

Officer Sherry Hicks

“Some people say I’ve gone to the dogs. But I’m proud and I couldn’t be happier.”

-SFPD Officer Sherry Hicks

Uproar followed an abrupt announcement in late July that Sergeant Bill Herndon, head of the San Francisco Police Department’s vicious and dangerous dogs unit had been reassigned to patrol duty at Park Station. Herndon is well loved in the dog community for his patience, fairness, and openness in adjudicating matters of misbehaving canines.

And his departure left a hole that the dog community wasn’t sure would be refilled: many cities in the Bay Area end up euthanizing dogs that get in trouble. In San Francisco, the approach is much more nuanced and focused on the fact that dog behavior is often a product of owner behavior, and both can be changed. So the announcement that Officer Sherry Hicks, a dog and cat owner, will take over the role of dog court judge, and Officer Denny will continue to head up investigations, was well received. The public comment period, which one commenter described as a “love fest,” revealed that the confusion created by Herndon’s departure led to a unique moment in police-community relations: members of the public, who felt that they had a responsive, nuanced institution in the dog court were met with a similarly forthcoming response when that institution was thought to be under threat.

Chief George Gascon

“I’m somewhat outraged. I get tons of emails about all kinds of things going on around the city. I did not get a single email from anyone concerned about the killing of this woman.”

- San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon

Mechthild Schröer, a 50-year-old tourist from Germany was shot and killed on August 8, near Union Square. She was browsing a restaurant menu down the street from her hotel with her husband when a gunfight apparently broke out between two sets of teenagers outside a party. Three people were caught in the crossfire: two suffered minor wounds, but Schröer was struck in the head and died. Chief Gascon said he found the killing particularly horrible because the victim was not engaging in any risky behavior–she was walking in a popular (one might say flooded) tourist destination, well before dark. Some members of the Police Commission countered that they believe people are concerned about the killing and talk quickly turned to what Commissioner Hammer described as a “hole” in regulation: while the Entertainment Commission has the power (now) to revoke licenses of “problem clubs,” there’s no authority that regulates private parties like the one that apparently attracted the suspects in the shooting. Commission Vice President Thomas Mazzucco pointed out that tourism is San Francisco’s number one industry, which murders like this one affect. He also urged the Chief to compile information on what a drain on resources policing clubs and private parties is on the police department. So a lot of scolding was going the way of San Francisco nightclubs (which I’d like to point out, draw in tourists to San Francisco themselves). For an alternate take, check out this Bay Guardian article on undercover officers busting up parties in SoMa.

Petra DeJesus

“I hope the Commission isn’t up here being willy nilly or just looking at boutique interests… There are items that are going to be really important to the community that are important to how the department impacts certain communities that are not brought to our attention through the department but through community interests. And I do think we need to reserve the right to take up those issues as we see fit.”

- Police Commissioner Petra DeJesus

San Francisco is a pioneer when it comes to civilian oversight of the police department. If San Francisco’s not the only place where police officers are disciplined by civilians, I’m pretty sure it’s one of the very few. (It’s not necessarily popular with officers: see attempts to bring similar measures to Oakland.) And it seems that San Franciscans may be starting to take it for granted. One commissioner at the meeting, I believe it was Angela Chan, brought up the fact that while commission meetings used to be heavily attended, the benches are pretty empty these days. So when commissioners and the chief started to discuss the agenda for next week’s community meeting in the Tenderloin, tempers flared a bit in their own, muted, committee-talk kind of way. Commissioner Hammer suggested that the commission take up the backlog of DNA samples at San Francisco’s beleaguered crime lab. Which may or may not have sparked a speech by the police chief that urged commission members to put “boutique interests” aside, stick to agenda items, and not surprise police officers who come to give reports with “gotcha” questions. Commissioner DeJesus’s response is above.

Next week in the Tenderloin: the commission meets Wednesday, August 25 at 201 Turk Street, San Francisco, at 6:00 p.m.