Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Reform topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
SFPD reports near-completion of DOJ reform recommendations; nine items remain
Summary
The San Francisco Police Department told the Board of Supervisors it has achieved substantial compliance on a federal collaborative reform initiative and will pilot performance dashboards and appraisal tools to complete nine outstanding recommendations; the board continued the hearing to Oct. 7 for an update.
The San Francisco Police Department told the full board on May 6 that it has reached substantial compliance on the federal Department of Justice collaborative reform initiative, completing 263 of 272 recommendations (96.7%), and outlined nine remaining recommendations tied to departmentwide rollouts of performance appraisals and management dashboards.
Chief Bill Scott summarized the department’s work, noting declines in use-of-force incidents and officer-involved shootings and crediting sustained leadership and dedicated commanders assigned to the reform effort. “Our achievement of compliance with the 272 recommendations was 96.7%,” he said, which the department described as 263 recommendations completed.
Catherine McGuire, executive director of the department’s strategic management bureau, said the outstanding recommendations relate to performance appraisal systems and dashboards; the department plans a pilot and phased, electronic implementation in 2026. She and Scott said the upgraded data systems and an early-intervention tool will help supervisors detect patterns — including disparities in stops and use-of-force — and act earlier.
Supervisors asked about implicit bias training, frequency of evaluations and whether training covers supervisors as well as line officers. Scott and McGuire said implicit-bias modules exist in the basic academy, are included in ongoing advanced-officer training (state-mandated continuing education), and are available online; they said evaluations are semiannual and that the department’s upgraded early-intervention and records systems will give supervisors better, more real-time tools.
Public commenters delivered a range of perspectives: some urged stronger independent oversight and public release of disciplinary records; others described personal encounters with police that they said showed shortcomings in response and care. Supervisor Walton moved, and the board unanimously approved, a motion to continue the committee-of-the-whole hearing to Oct. 7, 2025, for a further status update.
