Commission adopts revised biased‑policing policy to add 'actual or perceived' and religion

The San Francisco Police Commission voted on Feb. 22, 2012, to adopt revisions to Department General Order 5.17, the SFPD policy prohibiting biased policing. The changes add "actual or perceived" language to protected categories and explicitly include religion among prohibited bases for biased policing.

Captain Greg McEachern, commanding officer of Risk Management, and Samira Marion of the Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) said the revisions respond to recommendations from the Human Rights Commission and from community partners; Marion noted prior OCC work with the ACLU in drafting the original policy. Commissioners asked whether "actual or perceived" applies across all protected categories and whether officers must provide star numbers when requested. City counsel and personnel advised that the syntax likely follows state practice and that officers must provide star numbers in writing when requested; officers are already trained not to cover star numbers.

The commission adopted the revised DGO by motion and voice vote after Commissioners expressed support for strengthening and clarifying the policy. The commission thanked staff and community partners for their work on the revisions. The adopted changes direct officers to prohibit bias based on both actual and perceived category membership and to treat religion as a protected characteristic under the general order.

The adoption takes effect as the department implements training and procedure updates; commissioners asked staff to coordinate implementation and legal review as needed.