Residents press commission on homelessness, safety and past investigations; community criticizes praise for officers under probe

During general public comment, residents raised public‑safety and oversight concerns ranging from homelessness and property crime to historical and ongoing investigations into alleged officer misconduct.

Patricia Boyd told the commission the Marina and Cow Hollow neighborhoods are seeing “the highest number of professional homeless right now in the Marina Of Cow Hollow than I've ever seen,” and warned that simultaneous events — Fleet Week and the America’s Cup — could exacerbate shoplifting and break‑ins unless the city coordinates earlier with police.

Another commenter who identified himself as Ace said he had been assaulted at a recent Juneteenth event by mayoral detail and described longstanding work on an African American out‑migration report; he urged the department and community leaders to rebuild relationships.

Eric King asked whether the Office of Citizen Complaints had investigated an FBI mid‑1990s finding that some narcotics traffickers in North Beach were tipped off by officers at Central Station and requested any public records of such an investigation.

A speaker identified as Clyde sharply criticized the commission president for publicly calling Officers Richard Hastings and Matthew Lopez “heroes” despite pending investigations and litigation related to the July 16 fatal shooting of Kenneth Harding, calling that public praise “painful, very painful for the family.” Clyde said the remarks undermine trust in the commission’s oversight role. A commission respondent said the DA's office and the OCC are looking into officer‑involved shootings and that other oversight bodies review such cases.

The commission did not take policy action during public comment, but members thanked speakers and noted several of the concerns are under review by OCC or other oversight entities.