If you have lived or worked in this City long enough, you may think you have heard and seen everything possible. Any active or recently retired cop might certainly feel that way. I certainly do, but yet again I am baffled and dumbfounded by recent actions of some elected officials in city government.
Supervisor David Campos, who has demonstrated over the years, as both a Police Commissioner and a member of the Board of Supervisors, his disdain for public safety officers and members of the SFPD in particular, has now introduced an insulting and debasing resolution. Mr. Campos and the majority of his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors are seeking a “Day of Remembrance” for a convicted felon, validated gang member, indiscriminate predator, who allegedly attempted to murder an innocent victim in the Bayview.
Those who have died a violent death, in the line of duty, within the SFPD and the SFFD serving this City have never received such acknowledgment. It is a shameful travesty that grandstanding public officials would glorify anyone who preys on the most vulnerable in our community with an official recognition of his fabricated “contributions to society.”
I sent a letter to the President of the Board of Supervisors voicing the POA’s and my objection to this absurdity. That letter is reprinted in this edition of the Journal. Knowing the makeup of the BOS, I anticipated that the resolution would have passed by the slimmest of margins. I was wrong. The resolution received a unanimous 11 votes.
This was extremely disappointing since the POA had long believed that we had allies on the BOS who could take the tough stance and make the right call when integrity was most in demand. Once again I was wrong. Although some Supervisors rallied around law enforcement in unchallenged times, it appears that running for political cover, in challenging times, outweighs common sense and a moral imperative.
The fact that the BOS also offered up a new resolution asking the Mayor to consider future remembrance days for public servants is, in my opinion, merely some type of cheap consolation prize that the Supervisors hope will appease the rank and file, and their legions of community supporters. If the Supervisors had wanted to honor fallen police officers and firefighters with a "Day of Remembrance" they could have done it long before the POA reminded them, in our January 25th letter, that those who have made the ultimate sacrifice were never considered for this recognition. Now, it is little more than an addendum tacked onto the backside of the apparently more precedent memoriam.
The POA and Firefighters 798 shall never forget those who have served and fallen in the line of duty. We will also remember the actions of all 11 members of the Board of Supervisors in their disgraceful and backhanded vote.
Slainte!
