By Steve Johnson
We conducted an on-line survey on the SFPOA Website asking officers how they felt about the way the Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) handles their job. The survey was designed to give us a general overview of how our members felt about the complaints they received and the process employed to investigate those matters. The answers we received were totally indicative that the OCC is failing to meet it’s mark.
One of the questions, “Did you feel that the findings of the OCC investigation were appropriate?” elicited the following answer from the responding officer: “While the examples are too many to fit in this text box, here’s just one: I was charged with responding to a 9-1-1 call. Yes, a 9-1-1 call, of a violent crime in-progress. Yes, I was on-duty. Yes, I was in full uniform. Yes, it was my district and on my beat. Yes, I was dispatched to respond through our regular police radio communications - Yet the OCC still charged me with “Unwarranted Action for Responding.” Same question, “Did you feel that the findings of the OCC were appropriate?” to which a supervisor responded: “As a supervisor, I instructed officers to detain a subject per 5150 W&I. that decision was based on a careful assessment of all the facts, and after receiving information from witnesses at the scene. It was a clear and appropriate decision, based on the facts at hand. The detained subject later made a ‘blanket’ complaint against all the officers who responded to the incident. The allegation of Unwarranted Action for the detention was sustained. It was a completely inappropriate finding.”
The majority of the officers who participated mentioned the fact that they felt the Unwarranted Action allegations were overdone and that simple administrative matters should be addressed in a different manner rather than filing added allegations. This was, by no means, a survey drafted by people who draft surveys. We simply put a few questions out there to see what the members think about the SFPD Watchdog. Turns out, not much.
So if we were Police Commissioners, we might want to look into this a little further. We’ll be asking them to do so. We’re not looking to overhaul the entire system, simply streamline it a bit in fairness to those who protect and serve.
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Never know what you’ll find on a traffic stop for a simple infraction. The Mission plainclothes team of Officer Mike Moody, Officer Bob Greiner, Officer Matt Kenny, Officer Eric Reboli, and Officer Craig Tiffe hit the jackpot on a traffic stop at 22nd and Mission Streets after stopping a car with 3 on board. The driver of the vehicle was wanted for an outstanding murder warrant out of Southern California and his 2 passengers were both armed with fully-loaded, .45 caliber semi-automatics ready to go.
Officer Milen Banegas and Officer Nick Buckley found a car that was just hijacked at gunpoint and were planning their stop when the vehicle took off. The chase ended up in South San Francisco where Milen and Nick took all 4 suspects into custody along with the gun they used to commit the crime. Three friends decided to catch a late movie and were walking near Washington and Scott Streets when they were approached by a subject who pointed a gun at them and demanded their money. The victims complied. Officer Darius Jones and Officer Chhunmeng Tov were the first on the scene and made sure Dispatch had a suspect vehicle description, especially the fact that the car had a broken tail-light. It was soon after that Officer Willion Wong and Officer Don Jackson picked the suspect vehicle up at Grove and Steiner. A felony stop was made, cold show performed, and suspect in custody.
This guy just had one really bad day. It started when he ripped the purse from a woman at 7th and Clement and tried to get away on foot. Just happened that off-duty Officer Patrick Kennedy was driving by to witness the crime. Pat couldn’t get to the suspect before he got on a muni bus. So Pat used his PIC radio to round up the troops and a few minutes later Sergeant Gary Watts, Officer Kevin Brugaletta, and Officer Michael Zhang boarded the bus and took young thief into custody. Also responding as back-up was Officer Christie Moylan and Officer Shaun Navarro. Officer Moylan and Officer Navarro immediately noticed how the suspect matched the description of a robbery they had taken 45 minutes earlier and, with a little further investigation, they were able to add another robbery charge on their subject. Another bad day for the driver of the car that Officer Nathan Bernard and Officer Christina Johnson pulled over. He tried to run after being stopped by the officers, dropping a baseball-sized bag of crack cocaine on the way. His 2 passengers also attempted to flee the scene but all 3 were soon scooped up with the assistance of Sgt. Larry McDevitt, Officer Theodore Polovina, Officer Jeffrey Chang, and Officer Rory Preston. Also taken into custody were the loaded guns they had on them and the vehicle, which had just been reported stolen.
Officer Miguel Gonzalez and Officer Eric Robinson were flagged down by a motorist at Geneva and Mission who pointed out a car being driven by someone under the influence of something illegal. The officers found the vehicle a few blocks away and the driver gave them plenty of pc to make a stop. Officer Luis Archilla responded as back-up. A subsequent investigation resulted in the recovery of a loaded, .38 caliber handgun on the detained individual.
Officer Darius Jones and Officer Randy Tiffany just happened to drive by the parking lot at the Legion of Honor during their tour on the Richmond swing watch. They found a parked vehicle way in the back with an individual outside the driver’s side door talking on a cellphone. There was a woman inside the car in the back seat. Officer Tiffany approached the driver while Officer Jones went to speak to the woman who was extremely nervous and appeared afraid. The woman confided to Officer Jones that the driver had sexually assaulted her. Sgt. Will Morales responded and determined that there was sufficient evidence present that corroborated the victim’s narrative – subject in custody.
Officer Anthony Pedroza received a letter from Chief Neil Telford of the Millbrae Police Department thanking him for coming to the aid of one of his officers. Officer Pedroza was off-duty when he saw a Millbrae police officer attempting to take a suspect into custody. The suspect was extremely combative, resisting the officer’s efforts. Officer Pedroza identified himself and then assisted in making sure the suspect was immediately subdued. Chief Telford wrote, “Officer Anthony Pedroza is to be commended for his professionalism and demeanor in assisting our officer. His actions provided an exemplary representation of the San Francisco Police Department.”
The news is reporting that a law enforcement officer was killed every 53 hours in the United States in 2010. Deaths in the line of duty increased by 37% last year. With those statistics in mind, it’s probably very fortunate that Officer Pedroza was driving by when he did. Stay safe.
