2020–08–19 Police Commission Meeting
League of Women Voters of San Francisco Observer Corps Report
Official League Observer name(s): J. Waggoner
Location: via WebEx
Agenda: https://sfgov.org/policecommission/meeting/police-commission-august-19-2020-agenda
Supporting documents: https://sfgov.org/policecommission/node/24404
What meeting did you attend (name of the body, whether it was a regular or special meeting, etc)?
Police Commission — Regular Meeting
Did you attend the whole meeting?
I attended the portion held on this day. Unfortunately, they were unable to maintain a quorum because Commissioner Taylor dropped off the WebEx so it is continued until September 2. Important to note: without a quorum, they couldn’t pass a motion to end the meeting.
Tell us about public input: Did it happen? How was it conducted? Did it seem adequate?
It did not, especially since the meeting has to be continued on September 2. During past public comments, and in email, people have raised concerns that putting all the reports in one item violates the Sunshine Ordinance. This limits the frequency of public comment during the meeting.
Tell us about the government: Who was there? Were they attentive? Were they prepared? Were they courteous with each other and the public?
Commissioners Brookter, Elias, Hamasaki, and Taylor (DeJesus was excused). San Francisco Police Chief Scott. Secretary Sergeant Stacy Youngblood. SFPD Officers O’Sullivan and Altorfer. Department of Police Accountability staff Sarah Hawkins.
They seemed attentive, prepared, and courteous.
Want to tell us anything else (about the process used, the content of the meeting, decisions made, adherence to laws and regulations, etc)?
I live-tweeted the meeting on this thread: https://twitter.com/jwaggo/status/1296242872082001920?s=20
I wish the Chief’s reports and Department of Police Accountability report were made available to the public in advance. These stats are too fast and complex for us to follow verbally and can’t be compared across time. After the meeting, it is confusing to find them on the main page instead of with the supplemental materials for that particular meeting.
Overall, the commission’s document library could be significantly improved (and the presentations improved) if data presented over time 1) was easy for the public to compare meeting to meeting and 2) highlighted and documents the trends they’re speaking about.
I am surprised the SFPD Crime Dashboard is never referenced, which the public *does* have access to. But my guess is that the Chief is pulling reports from it and distributing those to Commissioners (just not us). Having seen many different officers present local District crime reports, it makes a huge difference when data is presented consistently over time with good analysis. The officers who just read off numbers and a list of trends out of context did nothing to educate or inspire trust. They need to explain things like:
- Which data: What exactly is being discussed? How is that data collected? What does or doesn’t it include? Can you see differences if you change the timeframe or district or race or gender?
- Why this data: Why does this data or trend matter? Is this an industry standard? Is there a special San Francisco context? Is there something special going on right now which makes it important to examine this now?
- Response: Are they looking into the reports behind the data? Have they changed policies or training or staffing?
I hope that the new SB1421 portal will not just have the documents released, but also information about requests and where they are in the process.
This was the first *monthly* presentation about progress on the 272 “Collaborative Reform Initiatives”. I hope the format for this report evolves, making it easier to track performance across time.
