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Police union disputes published list of officers involved in shootings, cites context and investigations
Summary
Martin Halloran, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, told the commission a June article that published a list of officers who fired weapons since 1990 overlooked accidental discharges, suicides and cases where officers acted within policy, and he emphasized multi-level investigative reviews.
Martin Halloran, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, addressed the Police Commission during general public comment on July 2 to challenge a June 27 article by Jonah Lamb that used a public records request to publish a list of San Francisco officers who had fired their weapons since 1990.
"Any attempts to portray our members ... as being somehow trigger happy — nothing could be further from the truth," Halloran said, urging commissioners to consider that the compiled list includes accidental discharges and officers who took their own lives. He added that many shootings occurred when officers "had put themselves in harm's way" and that the department's training and professionalism keep San Francisco below the national average for incidents of officer‑involved shootings.
Halloran detailed the oversight process he said applies to every officer‑involved shooting: internal administrative reviews, criminal investigations and an independent District Attorney review. "The review process is thorough and each incident gets reviewed by the San Francisco Police Department command staff up to and including the chief," he said, noting the commission is kept informed of progress on investigations.
Halloran also recounted his own inclusion on the list from a 2002 incident while he served on a federal task force and said firsthand experience underscored the seriousness of such events for officers.
Commission members did not take formal action at the hearing. The union leader’s remarks were presented as a public comment and were not followed by a staff report or vote.
