Real Police Accountability: Where we go from here
What a reimagination of law enforcement and community investment can look like in San Francisco.
In the weeks since the killing of George Floyd, San Francisco has shown both incredible compassion and strength. Compassion to grieve together, and strength to lift one another up.
We’ve marched. We’ve protested. And now, we turn towards reimagination. Of what it takes to keep our communities safe, what our engagement with law enforcement has been, and what it should be.
I’m still listening and learning. I’m grieving, marching, and organizing community events with my neighbors to release and unite.
As your next District 3 Supervisor, I’m also looking forward to how we can best make sure that our law enforcement can be trusted and accountable. Here’s what our plan to achieve that looks like today.
Real Accountability
We cannot accept that 94% of the request for public records related to police accountability have gone unanswered from SFPD. Or that in a staff of 3,000 full-time employees that just two are assigned to producing such records.
In 2016, San Francisco voters made clear their desire for accountability by passing Prop G at an overwhelming 81% mark and creating a Department of Police Accountability. It’s past time this department delivers on what the ballot promised: full transparency when someone files a records request or complaint.
Rethinking When Police are Used
We need to have a critical conversation about when police are and are not dispatched. This must begin with communities of color that have disproportionately been victim to police violence for far too long across our country. We cannot accept that this same bias permeates in San Francisco.
We must also examine how law enforcement interacts with individuals experiencing homelessness, of which African Americans make up 37% despite being just 7% of San Francisco’s general population.
Our response needs to shift from one of law enforcement to one of social workers and mental health experts.
Police are able to successfully connect homeless individuals to services just 2% of the time, but social workers are successful at a much higher rate — 17%.
It should be this way because it produces better outcomes for the individual experiencing homeless and allows police resources to be directed towards crime.
Neighbors can and should be concerned about individuals experiencing homelessness in their neighborhood, but they also should want the most effective outreach to be used to get that individual connected to services. We know from experience that more often than not, this means a trained social worker, not a police officer.
Fast-tracking Long-Delayed Reforms
In 2016, SFPD was handed a list of 272 recommendations from the Department of Justice after an investigation into the department.
The report made clear that tremendous amounts of work needed to be done to correct bias, racism, inadequate use of force investigations, and lack of community engagement.
Today, some four years later, the number of recommendations that have been put into place is near 20%. This is unacceptable. We must fast-track these reforms and make clear the consequences if they are not met on schedule.
Shifting to a Neighborhood Approach
When police officers know their neighbors and are more visible, both crime and use-of-force incidents drop. More resources and staff time should be spent in the community.
This means increased foot patrol, moving from cars to bikes, kiosks and substations, and real engagement with community organizations and merchants.
And, communication underlies all of this. To that end, we need to prioritize both the hiring and training of more bilingual officers.
Delivering Budget Justice
Our City’s budget is a reflection of its priorities. I support keeping our community safe but the Police Department is not the only way to achieve this goal.
SFPD’s budget has grown an inflation-adjusted $170 million dollars in the last 5 years.
Meanwhile, Mental Health Services, the department tasked with doing the difficult work to get to the root of so much suffering in San Francisco — substance abuse, mental illness, and addiction — saw its budget grow just $32 million over a similar period of time.
The social workers that were mentioned earlier as a more effective way to move individuals experiencing homelessness into services? Their entire budget last year was less than $9 million.
We cannot be afraid to shift funding to other departments to keep our community safe, healthy, and vibrant. Our own Police Chief has said he is “open” to moving funding, especially to communities of color impacted by years of disinvestment.
Money and Independent Voices
Finally, we need to hold elected officials accountable to make sure they are independent voices and can pursue a deep reimagination of what role law enforcement plays in our community.
I’m the only candidate in District 3 that has denounced and rejected contributions from the Police Officers Association and the San Francisco Deputy Sheriff’s Association.
Mayor Breed and Supervisor Walton have championed many of these ideas in their recently released “Roadmap for New Police Reforms”, which I fully support. Their roadmap calls for the demilitarization of police, strengthened accountability, redirecting funding, and the end of the use of police as a response to non-criminal activity.
This is an incomplete list, and we must recognize that any plans put forth right now will be inadequate to address the deep pain and suffering that victims of police violence have experienced. That’s why I’m open to listening, learning, and evolving our approach to delivering true accountability within our law enforcement and safe communities for all.
Danny is a candidate for District 3 Supervisor in San Francisco to represent neighborhoods like Russian Hill, Chinatown, North Beach, and Nob Hill. Take a moment to learn more and to join us in our campaign for a better San Francisco.
