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SFPD chief outlines reorganization, suspends JTTF participation and reviews staffing after uptick in homicides
Summary
Chief William Scott on March 1 told the San Francisco Police Commission he has reorganized command ranks, announced several promotions and said the department has suspended participation with the Joint Terrorism Task Force while policies are reviewed; he also delivered January crime statistics showing an increase in homicides and mixed changes in property crimes.
Chief William Scott told the San Francisco Police Commission that in his first 30 days he reorganized the department's senior structure, naming two assistant chiefs and promoting several commanders and captains to strengthen community engagement and succession planning.
Scott announced the activation of an assistant chief position and named Assistant Chief Tony Chaplin and Assistant Chief Hector (last name transcription not specified) to those roles; he also said Commander David Lazar will lead community engagement work and listed promotions including Captain Mike Conley to deputy chief, Commander Rob Mosher to deputy chief, and Commander Dave Pereira among others.
Scott said the department suspended participation in the Joint Terrorism Task Force effective Feb. 1 and will "take a second look at our policies" before deciding next steps. "Our intention and our purpose is to keep the city safe," he said, describing the pause as a review of policy rather than a severing of federal relationships.
On crime trends Scott reported that January showed a rise in homicides (6 in January 2017 compared with 1 in January 2016) and that year-to-date homicide figures remained elevated; he also gave month-to-month data showing decreases in several property-crime categories (burglaries down ~11%, auto thefts down slightly) and a reported drop in identified human-trafficking cases. "We've put some strategies in place to really focus on the people and the individuals in the areas where these heinous crimes are occurring," Scott said.
Commissioners pressed the chief on the gender and racial composition of command staff after a round of promotions, seeking details about feeder pools and whether women were considered in the promoted cohorts. Commissioner De Jesus said she was concerned that recent promotional rounds produced no women among the promoted officers; Scott responded that civilians occupy some command-staff slots and that overall command-staff figures include three civilian directors, two of whom are women. He provided departmentwide male/female percentages and a racial breakdown for command staff versus the department.
The commission did not take separate formal action on policy changes during the chief's report beyond questions and clarifications; commissioners asked staff to provide additional demographic and feeder-pool information for future promotion cycles.
The commission moved on to other agenda items after the chief's report. Ending: no changes to policy were adopted in this item; the chief's report concluded and commissioners moved to the next agenda item.
