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Youth commission urges MOU with SFUSD as SFPD outlines youth training and Know-Your-Rights distribution
Summary
The San Francisco Youth Commission pressed the Police Commission for a binding memorandum of understanding with the school district and broader juvenile-focused training; SFPD described a train-the-trainer session, a multi-language Know-Your-Rights pamphlet and a new radio code to encourage positive youth interactions.
The San Francisco Youth Commission asked the Police Commission to finalize a memorandum of understanding with the San Francisco Unified School District to clarify the roles of school staff and police in school-based incidents and to commit to consistent training and data-sharing.
"We feel that an MOU would support in promoting school safety," Paul Monje Rodriguez, a youth commissioner, said during the meeting, asking that the agreement define arrest and arrest-notification procedures, grievance processes and SRO training expectations. Youth commissioners and community partners including Coleman Advocates urged the commission to complete the draft soon so the document can be in place for the school year.
Captain David Lazar of SFPD's Training Division described steps the department has taken to implement Youth Commission recommendations. He said a train'the'trainer course was scheduled and the department had 12 slots for members to attend and then bring the training back to the department. "We have the pamphlets in all the different languages," Lazar said, describing distribution to district stations, the Juvenile Justice Center, the school district and community organizations.
Youth commissioners emphasized that training should include adolescent development, de'escalation and scenarios with young people present. "We believe that with strong youth engagement values of SFPD, we can ensure that all the officers currently in training as well as advanced officers receive model training in youth police relations," Angel Carreon, chair of the youth justice committee, said.
Commissioners asked for implementation details: whether the juvenile policing DGO 7.01 would be referenced in the draft MOU, how pamphlets would be used during encounters versus pre'distributed in schools and community organizations, and who would fund ongoing printing and distribution. Captain Lazar and SFUSD Associate Superintendent Kevin Truett said the MOU draft references DGO 7.01 and that funding discussions were preliminary.
The commission agreed to calendar a status update a few months after the school year began so the Youth Commission and staff can report progress on the MOU and the training rollout.
The meeting record shows broad support from commissioners and community groups for the three priorities—wider pamphlet distribution, comprehensive juvenile-policing training and a formal MOU with SFUSD—but did not record a formal vote on the MOU during this session.
