Complaints filed against San Francisco police officers are typically confidential. The Department of Police Accountability is not, by law, allowed to release complaints, or investigative reports, or detailed results of the investigations. People who file complaints can see the report on the outcome, but they have to sign a confidentiality agreement.
So it’s rare to get an look at what officers are accused of doing, or what the backup evidence is.
In fact, in California today, the cops don’t even have to make public police reports—which used to be released routinely to the news media.
A complaint filed today by the Public Defender’s Office is different: The office made the entire complaint, and the backup data, public. The complaint alleges that multiple officers, who were responding to a demonstration, used excessive force against a woman who was not part of the protest and was just trying to get to work. The report cites details from a police report that would otherwise be secret.
“San Francisco police in riot gear repeatedly shoved a woman, violently tackled her to the ground, and ridiculed her while she was in handcuffs in July,” the PD’s office notes in a press release.
From the complaint:
We have learned that multiple officers violated San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) policies by using unnecessary force against Public Defender client Amelia Jones, failing to de-escalate or intervene in that wrongful use of force, and writing dishonest accounts of the arrest.
The incident arose from a protest outside the Israeli Embassy in downtown San Francisco on July 24. As these things go, it wasn’t a terribly large protest, just a few dozen people, and there were no reports of violence.
Jones was not part of the protest; she was walking her bike to work when she ran into the cohort of officers who were moving quickly toward the protest. At one point, the complaint alleges, the line of cops pushed by her, knocking over her bike.
Another person on a bike, according to the complaint narrative, picked up a bag that may have contained police equipment, and officers quickly grabbed that person:
At Kearny Street, Ofc. Ovares asked the person on the bike, “is this one of our bags?” Two additional officers approached her, then two more, and Ofc. Tom grabbed the person’s backpack and ripped her to the ground. Ofc. Kunaboot wrote that the bicyclist “attempted to flee the scene,” but the video does not reflect this. Eight officers surrounded her on the ground when Jones, still halfway down the block, yelled out “No, stop.” Two older women standing near the officers said, “don’t hurt her” and “you’re hurting her” before chanting in unison “Don’t Hurt Her.
Jones didn’t pick up the police gear; she just approached the cops and complained about what she saw as abusive behavior:
While the officers surrounded the downed bicyclist, Jones approached, pushing her bike, and yelled “What the fuck is wrong with you? We’re just trying to go to work. Mother fuckers!” Ofc. Kunaboot yelled at her to “get back” as Ofc. Williams approached her with her baton in both hands, parallel to the ground. Jones took several steps backward and repeatedly said, “What the fuck?”, turned toward the sidewalk, and yelled “stop hurting them” while Ofc. Williams shoved her baton into Jones’ back.
According to the PD’s Office:
Jones was arrested and charged with resisting/obstructing an executive officer, battery on a peace officer, and resisting arrest. Despite having no arrest record, Jones was held in County Jail for 36 hours. The DA’s office formally charged Jones with four misdemeanors, and the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office was appointed to represent her. Her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Elly Leggatt, challenged the charges, citing the body-worn camera footage, and a judge dismissed them.
So: If this complaint is accurate, the cops confronted, arrested, and used excessive force against a person who was not involved in any demonstration and had broken no laws.
You can view the footage from the cops body-worn cameras here. Warning: It’s pretty graphic.
San Francisco police officers, under the department’s General Orders, are supposed to avoid force unless it’s absolutely necessary and whenever possible to de-escalate. From the complaint:
SFPD officers must use minimal force and maximum de-escalation SFPD is committed to operating with a “minimal reliance on the use of force” by using crisis intervention and de-escalation tactics. “Active resistance” involves physically evasive movements and not merely failure to respond to verbal commands. Officers are expected “to exercise sound judgment and critical decision making when using force options.” Rapport building and communication with noncompliant people can defuse conflict and result in voluntary compliance without force. When feasible, officers must attempt to de-escalate situations and consider “the possible reasons why a subject may be noncompliant.” Engaging in deescalation techniques is a core element of an officer’s duty.
Check out the footage yourself, if you have the stomach for it, and see if you think that qualifies as de-escalation.
The cops, of course, don’t comment on cases like this. Under normal circumstances, we would never know that this complaint was filed. There will be, at some point, an investigation, which could take months or longer, and under normal circumstances, we would never hear about it again.
But since the PD’s Office has done us all the favor of breaking through that cloud of secrecy, this case is in the public eye.
It’s also entirely possible that Jones will sue the city, in which case the taxpayers could be on the hook, once again, for big money because of police misconduct.
