Department of Police Accountability

The Honorable London N. Breed, Mayor

The Honorable Norman Yee, President, San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Members, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Acting President Damali Taylor and Members, the San Francisco Police Commission

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott

P R E S E N T E D TO :

1 s t Q u a r t e r R e p o r t

2 0 2 0

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4

Findings 5

Investigations

Summary 3

14

Outreach 15

Policy

Mediations 11

17

Budget 18

Audit

SB 1421 16

The first quarter of 2020 was a period of transition and unprecedented change for the Department of Police Accountability (DPA). Much of the quarter was spent preparing for an office move to 1 South Van Ness Avenue. The new location is adjacent to the Van Ness train station and outfitted with modern interview rooms and lobby complaint terminals. The move occurred over a weekend in _month__ and was accomplished without any interruption to DPA’s services public services.

Within two weeks of relocating, however, the DPA was forced to transition to a virtual work environment to accommodate shelter-in-place orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of improved technology systems implemented over the past few years, the DPA was able to quickly and seamlessly adapted to remote work.

Through all this change, the DPA continued fulfilling its core mission of providing independent and impartial law enforcement oversight for the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) by advancing ongoing investigations remotely and by accepting new complaints online, by mail, and by phone.

SUMMARY

S UMMA R Y  3 

Department Mission

The Department of Police Accountability is committed to providing

the City of San Francisco with independent and

impartial law enforcement oversight through investigations,

policy recommendations, and performance audits to ensure that policing reflects the values and

concerns of the community served.

The DPA received an adjusted total of 204 complaints of police misconduct and closed 282 complaints. In the 204 new complaints, 471 allegations were made against 320 officers. The DPA proved misconduct in 10 complaints against San Francisco police officers, which is a 6% Improper Conduct (Sustained) rate. The DPA mediated 13 cases during the first quarter.

Investigations

The DPA investigated several officer-involved shooting.

Spotlight: Cases

I n v e s t i g a t i o n s  4 

The DPA received a complainant from the San Francisco Police

Commission based on issues identified by a City anti-bias instructor.

The instructor expressed deep concerns about pervasive racism

within the Police Department after teaching anti-bias classes to

officers for more than two years.

Call: 415.241.7711

Online:

http://bit/ly/DPAComplaint

Mail: 1 S. Van Ness Ave,

8th Floor SF, CA 94103

Complaint

Findings

F i n d i n g s  5

Allegations on Types176176

159159

4141

221313

8080100

0

100

200

150

50

ConductUnbecoming anOfficer

Neglect of Duty ConductUnbecoming anOfficer

UnnecessaryForce

Policy Referral UnwarrantedAction

Complaints by District28

4

24

1917

19

8 812

6

28

15 16

Central Airport Bureau Southern Bayview

Mission Northern Park Richmond

Ingleside Taraval Tenderloin Unknown

Out of Town

*The DPA was unable to identify the officer through reasonable investigative steps.*

Findings

F i n d i n g s  6 

Allegations by District87

74

56 55

4237

2225

21

1116

19

6

Central

Northern

Tenderloin

Mission

Southern

Bayview

Park

Richmond

Ingleside

Taraval

Referral

Out of Town

Case Findings318

162

39

11

67

3351

318 1

16

100

50

100

150

200

250

300

L

PROPER CONDUCT

UNFOUNDED

IMPROPER CONDUCT

INFORMATIONAL

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

MEDIATED

NO FINDING

REFERRAL

TRAINING FAILURE

SUPERVISION FAILURE

WITHDRAWN

Findings

F i n d i n g s  7

Improper Conduct Findings by Allegation

7

23

9

CONDUCTUNBECOMING ANOFFICER

7

NEGLECT OF DUTY 23

UNWARRANTEDACTION 9

Case Findings by Allegation

220

3

2761

178

759

CONDUCTUNBECOMING ANOFFICER

220

DISCOURTESY 3

NEGLECT OF DUTY 276

REFERRAL 1

UNWARRANTEDACTION 178

USE OF FORCE 75

UNNECESSARYFORCE 9

Findings

8 

Cases Opened by Quarter

133133

165165

204204

130

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

200

210

L2018 2019 2020

Q1

Cases Closed by Quarter

112112

152152

282282

100

100

200

300

250

150

L2018 2019 2020

Q1

Findings

F i n d i n g s  9 

Officer with Complaints by District

4

33

24

3845

14 1118

6

39

16 16

L

20

40

60

80

L

Airport Bureau Southern Bayview Mission

Northern Park Richmond Ingleside

Taraval Tenderloin Unknown Out of Town

How Complaints Were Received

3535

1919

7777

5454

881111

10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

LIN PERSON MAIL ONLINE PHONE SFPD OTHER

F i n d i n g s 

*The DPA was unable to identify the officer through reasonable investigative steps.*

Complainant Demographics

D e m o g r a p h i c s : C o m p l a i n a n t 1 0  

Complaints Numbe Percent

Complainants 199 98%

AnonymousComplainants

5 2%

Total 204 100%

Gender Numbe Percent

Female 65 32%

Male 84 41%

Genderqueer/ Gender

Non-binary0 0%

Transgender 2 1%

Declined toState 53 26%

Total 204 100.00%

Race/Ethnicity Number Percent

Asian 11 5%

Black or AfricanAmerican 46 23%

Hispanic orLatinx 12 6%

White 59 29%

Other 3 1%

Declined to State 73 36%

Total 204 100.00%

Age Number Percent

1-13 (by anadult) 0 0.0%

14-18 1 0.0%

19-30 31 15%

31-40 26 13%

41-50 37 18%

51-60 33 16%

61-70 21 10%

71-80 3 1%

Over 80 2 1%

Declined to State 50 25%

Total 204 100%

The DPA’s Mediation Program began the year in a strong position. The number of mediations doubled in 2019 compared with the previous year. 2018.

The increased demand for mediations continued in the first quarter and despite disruptions caused by the of COVID–19 pandemic, the number of completed mediations in the first quarter of 2020 equaled the number completed in the same period in 2019.

Mediation

Director of Mediation Sharon Owsley presented at a public

forum on the processes, procedures and goals of mediating

community complaints. The forum was held to inform the

public about our agency’s DPA's activities and provide

transparency in operations.

Spotlight: Mediation

Med i a t i o n s  1 1 

Through the San Francisco Department of Human Resources

Fellows Program, the mediation team received valuable

assistance from four Fellows, who worked on the development

of a Certification Program specifically designed to train DPA

mediators in law enforcement practices and policies. The project

is ongoing and involved identifying grant and philanthropic

funding to support this certification specialty.

Mediation

Me d i a t i o n s   1 2 

Meditations

33

9

0

48

1

51

4 5

16

10

0

10

20

30

40

50

L

NEW ELIGIBLE CASES

CASES MEDIATED

OFFICER INELIGIBLE

OFFICERS OFFERED

OFFICERS DECLINED

COMPLAINANTS OFFERED

COMPLAINANTS DECLINED

CASES RETURNED

MEDIATIONS PENDING

Ethnicity of Complainants Who Participate in Mediation

11

22

11

00

44

00

11

0.5

0

1

2

3

4

5

Black orAfricanAmerican

Asian Black orAfricanAmerican

Latinx Multiracial White Other Unknown

Policy work is an essential aspect of the DPA’s mission. While disciplining of individual officers is essential to law enforcement management, the DPA’s policy work directly impacts the entire police force and the community it serves. The San Francisco City Charter requires the DPA to present quarterly recommendations concerning SFPD’s policies or practices that enhance police-community relations while ensuring effective police services

Policy

Spotlight: Policy Work

Po l i c y  1 3 

(Proposed) Department General Order for Police Interactions with

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals.

(Proposed) Domestic Violence and Stalking Manual for SFPD Patrol Officers

(Proposed) Domestic Violence Department General Order revisions

https://sfgov.org/dpa/policy-recommendations

Outreach

O u t r e a c h   1 4  

The DPA’s Outreach program connects our department with the Community.

The program aims to improve public understanding of the DPA’s services, goals and accomplishments. Our Program has increased community engagement by providing San Francisco diverse communities with vital information about local conditions, policy issues, efforts to enhance equity, and plans to create better programs with transparent outcomes. These efforts are strengthening bonds by creating opportunities for community members, and agencies to learn about the DPA.

Spotlight: Outreach

DPA 101, Mediation and Budget Presentation

DPA Chief of Staff Sarah Hawkins and Mediation Director Sharon Owsley gave a

presentation on DPA’s mission and functions, award-winning Mediation program, and

budget plans for the next fiscal year at the San Francisco Library.

DPA Investigator Natalie Chan, translated and helped create DEM COVID -19

Prevention Flyers in English and Chinese.

DPA Attorney Tinnetta Thompson gave a Presentation on DPA’s mission at the SFFN-

member partnership meeting for stakeholders in the Family Support field families,

community-based organizations, public departments, and private foundations.

SB 1421

S B 1 4 2 1   1 5 

In 2019, Senate Bill 1421 (SB1421) changed California public records law to make thousands of previously confidential police misconduct investigation records subject to public disclosure. The newly disclosable records fall under these four categories of cases and allegations:

Scope of Work

When SB1421 went into effect, the DPA immediately received comprehensive requests for

all disclosable records. To comply with these requests, DPA staff undertook a systematic

manual review of 37 years of historical files and identified approximately 3,000

potentially disclosable allegations.

With thousands of documents and media files in queue for individual review and

redaction by legal staff, the DPA anticipates that it will take several years to fulfill the

comprehensive requests already received under SB1421. To date, the DPA has reviewed

approximately 200 cases, 45% of which were deemed disclosable. For each case with

disclosable information, the DPA manually reviews all records within the casefile and

redacts certain portions that cannot be disclosed by law.

Officer-involved shootingsOfficer use-of-force resulting in death or great bodily injuryProven allegations of sexual assault with a member of the publicProven allegations of dishonesty in reporting, investigating, or prosecuting crimes and officer misconduct investigations

SB 1421

S B 1 4 2 1 1 6 

U p d a t e :

51

Total Files Produced

2156

**The figures above are estimates due to case record management systems before 1990.**

48

Files Pending Production

Potentially disclosable allegations remaining to be

reviewed

Receive request

#1Legal Assistant

reviews cases and

flags disclosable

allegations

#2Attorney reviews

cases

#3Legal Assistant

sends materials

for transcription

#4

Legal Assistant

redacts

documents

#5

Attorney reviews

redactions

#6Redacted files are

packaged for

production

#7Files disclosed

#8

SB 1421 Process

Audit

A u d i t   1 7 

To fulfill a San Francisco Charter mandate to periodically audit the Police Department, DPA engaged the Office of the Controller's City Services Auditor (CSA) to assess whether the Police Department adequately and effectively collects and reports use-of-force data.

At the February 5th Police Commission meeting the DPA and the Office of the CSA presented the Interim Key Issue Report: Best Practices in Reporting Use-of-Force Data.

This interim report relates to one of the audit’s five subobjectives, and focuses on the transparency and clarity of the Police Department’s publicly issued reports of use-of-force statistics.

The interim report found that the Police Department complies by including all necessary elements required by use-of-force reporting mandates but can improve clarity and provide more context in its Early Intervention System Quarterly Report (EIS Report) and Administrative Code Chapter 96A.3 Report (96A Report).

The Police Department Can Improve Its Use-of-Force Reports by Aligning Them With Best Practices

https://sfgov.org/dpa/sites/default/f iles/SFPD_Key_Issue_Report_Use_of_Force_Data_Reporting_12_18_19_FINAL.pdf

Budget

B u d g e t 1 8 

The DPA is a General Fund department, meaning its operations and services are entirely supported by the City & Country’s General Fund budget. During the first quarter of the calendar year, and in line with the City’s annual budget cycle, the DPA closely monitored its actual expenditures against budget. This analysis informs budget planning for the next fiscal year.

January

The DPA prepared the 6-Month Report, which summarizes and compares actual spending with

remaining project budget to anticipate surplus and deficits through the end of the fiscal year.

February

On February 21, the DPA submitted budget documentation for Fisical Years 2020-21 and 2021-

22 as part of the City's two-year budget cycle. The DPA met the Mayor's requested

sustainability and efficiency reductions of 3% and 6% respectively for both fiscal years.

March

In preparation for the 9-Month Report, which is an update to the 6-month report, the DPA

conducted another comprehensive analysis of its actual spending compared with remaining

budget funds. In addition, the DPA began working closely with the Mayor’s Budget Office and

Controller’s Budget & Analysis Division to address the financial challenges imposed by the

COVID-19 public health crisis.

Spotlight: Budget

Budget

Salaries and benefits comprise 78% of the

DPA’s budget

78% 11%

B u d g e t 1 9 

INSIGHTS:

3% 8%

Non-personnel operating uses make up

11% of the DPA’s budget

Material & Suppliesare 3% of the DPA’s

budget

8% of the DPA’s budget is used to reimburse other

Departments for services such as printing and

technical support

DPA Budget FY 2019-20

MandatoryFringe Benefits

2,616,354

Materials &Supplies

378,704

Non-PersonnelServices

1,113,358

ProgrammaticProjects

160,000

Salaries 6,414,499

Services ofOther Dept

875,051

22.6%

3.3%

9.6%

1.4%

55.5%

7.6%

Looking Ahead

The DPA's primary concern is the health and safety of our employees, the community, and its partners. We are committed to sharing our responsibility to "Stop the Spread" of COVID-19 and maintain business continuity to ensure that new complaints may be �led and investigated without disruption. Like many Bay Area agencies, we are closely monitoring information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and City guidance. We are continually adapting our plans to re�ect the updated guidelines and evolving situation of COVID-19.

In order to meet new public health and safety requirements, the DPA re-con�gured its o�ce space to allow for social distancing. In addition, digital technology allows the DPA to conduct meetings, interviews, and meditations online and by phone.

To further support the community, the DPA will continue to deploying staff members to serve as Disaster Service Workers for the City's COVID-19 pandemic response.

We at the DPA hope that everyone stays healthy and well during these trying times.

C O N C L U S I O N   2 0