Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Policing Reform topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board schedules committee‑of‑the‑whole hearing on blue ribbon panel policing recommendations
Summary
The board voted to call the Public Safety committee item and scheduled a committee‑of‑the‑whole public hearing on the Blue Ribbon Panel report for Oct. 4, 2016, following community calls for broader board consideration of police‑reform recommendations.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a motion to call up the Public Safety committee item and schedule a committee‑of‑the‑whole public hearing on the Blue Ribbon Panel—s final report on policing reforms.
Supervisor Malia Cohen, who moved to call the item from committee, said the Blue Ribbon Panel—s 81 recommendations warrant full board consideration. "The 81 recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Report are of such high importance that I believe the entire board of supervisors should be paying attention and listening to the ideas for change that we can make here in San Francisco," Cohen said.
The board approved the procedural motion without objection and set the committee‑of‑the‑whole public hearing for Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 at 3 p.m. Advocates who attended the meeting urged the board to compel testimony from the San Francisco Police Department and the Police Officers Association and to use the hearing to begin legislative steps to implement the panel—s recommendations.
Community groups including San Franciscans for Police Accountability and the Justice for Mario Woods Coalition had pressed the board to take the Blue Ribbon Panel—s findings at the full‑board level. Activists said the panel—s report, prepared pro bono by large law firms and experts, provides a detailed roadmap for reforms and deserves a public hearing before the entire board.
Supervisor Cohen named supervisors Breed, Campos, Avalos and Kim as co‑sponsors of the call‑from‑committee motion. The item will be heard as a committee‑of‑the‑whole on Oct. 4 so that the full board can receive public testimony and begin planning possible legislation or oversight responses.
Implementation notes: The Blue Ribbon Panel report includes a set of implementation recommendations; the hearing will be an opportunity for the Police Department, Police Commission and community stakeholders to respond in public and for supervisors to begin legislative drafting.
