San Francisco’s Proposition H—Police Reform Or Politics?
By Michael Nevin (11/05/03)
San Francisco voters have decisions to make November 4th but none more important than Proposition H, the pseudo-police reform measure. It’s common knowledge among police officers in San Francisco that politics can be more precarious than the seedy streets of the Tenderloin.
Proposition H is tantamount to treating a common cold with brain surgery. All the “cures” for problems surfacing within the department already exist if you look close enough. There are both internal and external mechanisms for handling complaints of police misconduct, none of which are construed as an easy ride for those involved. However, election cycles often produce melodramatic calls for “cleaning up” the city and this year’s sacrificial lamb is the San Francisco Police Department.
This new police reform measure, if approved by the voters, would increase the current number of police commissioners from five to seven members. Currently, the mayor appoints the members, subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors. The new shift in power would give the supervisors three appointments while still maintaining say-so over the mayor’s other four nominees. It’s not a stretch to suggest that more politics will only create chaos. One need not look further than the recent debacle involving San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly when he was granted mayoral duties by the real Mayor Willie Brown, who was on a trade mission to China. In an unprecedented, ethically challenged move, Daly appointed two environmentalists to the Public Utilities Commission behind Brown’s back. P.J. Johnston, the mayor’s press secretary stated, "Frankly, he wanted to end his term on an upbeat note. I don't think he wants to throw that out the window just because Chris Daly urinated on his olive branch."
The Office of Citizen’s Complaints (OCC) is San Francisco’s official police watchdog agency. While many people, including police officers, accept the important role of the OCC, past conduct by overzealous investigators have led to questions of integrity and competence. The infamous “Fajitagate” incident, a street fight involving off-duty police officers a year ago, revealed the abuse of OCC authority. OCC can only launch an investigation of on-duty personnel after a complaint is received from a citizen. The OCC started its investigation when an uninvolved Oakland resident called after reading about the incident in the San Francisco Chronicle. According to a scathing report in The San Francisco Sentinel, “As he filed his complaint, an OCC investigator told him ‘how glad they were it would be kept alive in the Chronicle…that it keeps the pressure on the District Attorney’.” That “pressure” resulted in the indictments of the entire command structure of a major police department only to have the charges later dropped or thrown out by a judge. The OCC joined the party by filing five separate charges against 12 San Francisco police officers. Proposition H rewards the OCC by giving it more power and the ability to file charges as they see fit directly with the Police Commission. Currently, officers face immediate disciplinary action for failing to cooperate with OCC investigations and OCC claims of stonewalling don’t hold water. Someone better tell the three officers involved in the “Fajitagate” fight that the system will go easy on them. All three face an upcoming trial and one has already been terminated.
The ACLU is leading the charge for police reform in San Francisco and other cities across the nation. Undoubtedly, there is no organization which does more to destroy police morale than the ACLU, unless of course Al Sharpton gets the democratic presidential nomination. How low will the ACLU go? Take a glance at Milwaukee where the ACLU is defending a woman, Diane Wilson, accused of lying about a police shooting last August. Wilson allegedly stuck to her story that a police officer shot an unarmed man who was holding his hands in the air. Fortunately, other witnesses, including the crook himself, debunked her, and an innocent cop kept his job and won’t be facing prison time. The ACLU only cares about making sure future liars won’t be afraid to come forward.
Police officers should be held to a higher standard and public perception is critical. However, citizens should be wary of ballot measures which are all about power and politics, not real reform. There are more than enough rules and procedures in place to address police misconduct. When the editors of the San Francisco Chronicle avoid the bandwagon and oppose Proposition H, then you know it has flaws. Proposition H will not accomplish anything more than adding more politics to a system that could use a bit less. The ACLU doesn’t care about the demoralizing effect of junk police reform but law-abiding citizens should.
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