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S.F. police commission, SFPD and U.S. DOJ launch collaborative review as department rewrites use‑of‑force policy
Summary
The SFPD briefed the Police Commission on a new U.S. DOJ COPS collaborative review and a near‑term plan to rewrite the department’s use‑of‑force policy, incorporating community forum recommendations and convening stakeholder review before final commission consideration.
San Francisco’s Police Commission heard on Feb. 3 that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office will conduct a collaborative review of the San Francisco Police Department and the department is drafting a new use‑of‑force policy for the commission’s review.
Chief of Police (as identified in the transcript) told the commission: "They are going to be doing a collaborative or form review of the San Francisco Police Department," and said the department will fold community workshop recommendations into a draft policy and share a working draft with the commission next week to prepare for DOJ review.
The announcement followed a series of community forums the commission convened with partners including MoMagic, the Human Rights Commission, the Bayview YMCA and Third Baptist Church to solicit input on de‑escalation, mental‑health response and training. Community presenters at the meeting summarized survey results calling for universal Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, greater mental‑health partnerships, de‑escalation emphasis and more attention to officer mental‑health supports.
Commissioners proposed a stakeholder review process modeled on the department’s rollout of body‑worn camera policy, with an early review group including the district attorney’s office, the public defender, the ACLU and youth and mental‑health representatives. President Loftus said the department will provide the commission with the draft use‑of‑force policy for review in the next week and asked the department to coordinate further stakeholder review before final commission consideration.
Several commissioners urged additional transparency and accountability tools: quarterly use‑of‑force reporting broken down by district, inviting the police academy to present training‑curriculum changes publicly, and defining where department language and stakeholder recommendations diverge in the draft policy.
Next steps announced at the meeting: the department will deliver its draft to the commission for stakeholder review; the commission will convene a stakeholder review group and continue community forums; the commission signaled it will send the draft to DOJ for concurrent review and return to the public for comment before formal action.
