Mayor Daniel Lurie’s commission on streamlining local government will meet Tuesday/20 to consider, among other things, eliminating the voter-approved panel creating civilian oversight for the Sheriff’s Department.
Proposition D, sponsored by Sup. Shamann Walton, passed with 67 percent of the vote in 2020, creating a civilian oversight board to handle complaints and recommend policy changes for the department, which until then was entirely self-policing.
Data collected over decades has made clear that law enforcement agencies don’t do an effective job of preventing abuse and of investigating themselves. That’s why since 1983 San Francisco has had a civilian agency, now called the Department of Police Accountability, to oversee complaints against the SFPD.
The Sheriff’s Office has had some serious problems: Several deputies, for example, were accused of forcing inmates to fight each other for entertainment—and the DA was forced to drop charges against them when internal investigators destroyed key evidence.
From the UK Guardian:
The dismissal of charges against the deputies once again raised questions over the effectiveness of investigations when law enforcement agencies investigate their own.
“This case illustrates why agencies shouldn’t be tasked with investigating themselves,” said Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorney.
Adante Pointer, a civil rights attorney whose office represented some of the inmates involved, said: “This is an all-too familiar story where law enforcement is not held accountable, and it begs the question whether or not the people who are supposed to hold them accountable have the integrity to do so.
The Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board is tasked with hiring and monitoring an inspector general to provide an alternative to the failed Internal Affairs Unit.
Walton issued a statement opposing the elimination of the agency:
Voters demanded accountability and transparency because of repeated incidents inside our jails that raised serious concerns about abuse and mismanagement. We have seen deputies accused of running “fight clubs” where incarcerated people were forced to fight for entertainment. We have seen disturbing in-custody deaths, excessive use of force, and other breakdowns in safety and accountability under the Sheriff’s watch. These are not isolated problems, they underscore why independent oversight is necessary.
The Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board provides the public with a direct line of accountability, shining light on a department that operates behind closed doors. Removing it would not only undermine the will of the voters, but also strip away a safeguard that helps prevent abuse and restores trust between the community and law enforcement.
The agency has had problems from the start, including the fact that Lurie hasn’t funded it. “There’s a wave of saying let’s take money from civilian law enforcement oversight and let the cops do whatever they want in the name of safety,” Walton told me. “They are disregarding a citizen initiative and the civil rights of the people.”
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Now, the Commission Streamlining Task Force is suggesting that the oversight panel be abolished. The staff report says that the functions could be shifted to the DPA—but that agency is already underfunded and shorthanded, and can’t just take on an entire new 800-person law enforcement operation without a lot more money.
The elimination of a City Charter agency can’t just happen on the basis of a task force vote, or even a vote at the Board of Supes. But the task force could decide to come up with a ballot measure that eliminates several commissions the voters have created.
That meeting starts at 1pm in City Hall Room 408. You can get the public comment call-in number here.
