S.F. police outline plan to implement DOJ COPS Office reform report, cite 18-month target

Captain Michael Connolly, who directs the Police Department—s Professional Standards and Principal Policing unit, told the Police Commission on Oct. 19 that the Department of Justice—s COPS Office assessment of the San Francisco Police Department consolidated recommendations from multiple prior reviews into 272 DOJ recommendations and roughly 479 combined recommendations overall. "We have identified 14 immediate recommendations that we need to implement," Connolly said, adding the department expects those immediate items to be addressed within "30 to 60 days."

Connolly described an implementation matrix that groups related recommendations into concept "clusters," assigns executive sponsors and project managers, and sets an 18-month timeline the department is currently using to guide work toward compliance. "This is where we included all reports," he said, noting the matrix stitches together input from the DOJ, the blue ribbon panel, the civil grand jury and others.

SFPD Acting Chief Tony Chaplin told commissioners the department is already doing work on operational fixes and described planned audits of electronic communications and the automation of use-of-force reporting. "We're doing an email audit, which is in progress right now," Chaplin said, and noted an initial year cost estimate for an electronic communications audit service of about $120,000 and roughly $210,000 for subsequent years.

Commissioners pressed department staff on the timeline and whether audits would be internal or conducted by outside experts. Connolly said many audits will be self-audits performed by Professional Standards once the unit is fully staffed, but he also said the DOJ has offered technical assistance and has resources that may be deployed to help implement reforms. "The Department of Justice does have a resource list," Connolly said.

Several commissioners asked for regular, substantive reporting to the commission on progress, and Connolly proposed returning with specific implementation updates rather than a long, single presentation. The commission discussed dedicating additional meeting time or a retreat to review progress in detail and to allow staff to walk commissioners through policy and procedural changes as they are completed.

Connolly also announced a public portal for community feedback on the DOJ report (an address read during the meeting as an SFPD/DOJ feedback channel) and said the DOJ will hold a series of town meetings to explain next steps and offer technical assistance. The commission indicated it will monitor the department—s progress and consider more frequent or specialized briefings as the implementation work begins.

What happens next: Connolly and SFPD staff said they will return with implementation details, including project assignments and reporting proposals, and the commission proposed scheduling follow-up updates as early as the SFPD—s next appearance before the body.