San Francisco Police Commission approves new ECD policy after hours of debate and public comment

The San Francisco Police Commission on March 14, 2018, voted 6-1 to adopt Department General Order 5.02, a new policy regulating the San Francisco Police Department's use of electronic control devices (ECDs), including an appendix establishing an internal ECD review board and reporting requirements. The commissionapproved the measure after lengthy discussion among commissioners, input from the chief and department staff, and more than an hour of public comment.

Commissioners took up Item 2, DGO 5.02, first on the agenda after Chair Turman moved the item forward and limited public comment to two minutes per speaker. The policy was developed through a multi-stakeholder process involving the department, the Department of Police Accountability (DPA), civil-rights and legal organizations and community groups; the commission used straw polls to resolve items where the working group had not found consensus.

Why it mattered: Supporters said a formal policy and a review board would create transparency and oversight for a controversial device. Opponents and many public commenters warned that certain modes of ECD operation, particularly the "drive-stun" or stun-on-contact mode, function as pain-compliance and raise serious safety risks for pregnant people, children, elderly people and those with serious medical or psychiatric conditions.

Key passages and limits: Commissioners debated precise language for when officers may activate an ECD. Commissioner Hirsch proposed a three-bullet replacement that would limit…