San Francisco commission weighs DOJ recommendations as it rewrites use-of-force policy

The San Francisco Police Commission on May 11 reviewed feedback from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services on the commission’s draft use-of-force policy and resolved to incorporate clearer, simpler language and stronger accountability measures before taking the policy to the public.

Commission President Loftus said the DOJ praised the city’s level of stakeholder engagement but urged the commission to consolidate multiple use-of-force directives into a single, officer-readable policy and to make expectations explicit. "The key principle is putting the sanctity of life at the core of what the policy is and what the training is," Loftus said during the presentation of the memorandum. She said commissioners will reconvene a subcommittee and return a…