Police commission schedules officer election, hears public complaints about fireworks, petitions and Sixth Street safety

The San Francisco Police Commission met Wednesday, July 6, and approved the minutes from prior meetings before turning to public comment and reports. Commissioners scheduled their next officer election for Sept. 7 and voted to move pending disciplinary items into closed session.

Public comment highlighted neighborhood concerns. A resident said loud, sustained illegal fireworks kept them awake on July 4 and that a night captain did not respond when dispatch was notified, adding that falling embers threatened a new roof. Another speaker, identified as Clyde, reported eyewitness accounts that on‑duty officers had harassed people collecting signatures for an adoption petition. Daniel Hurtado, executive director of the Central Market Community Benefit District, thanked officers for recent patrols after several shootings and urged the commission to support a Sixth Street police substation to improve response and presence in the corridor.

During public comment a woman identified as Morena Castaneda described repeated encounters with alleged police misconduct in domestic‑violence responses and said officers had not taken a report after threats; she asked the commission for assistance. Ray Hartz of San Francisco Open Government criticized restrictions on public comment and urged greater transparency around closed sessions and the commission’s minutes.

In the chief’s report, the department said robberies were essentially flat, aggravated assaults were down by about 10 incidents, violent crime year‑to‑date was down roughly 7% and Part II offenses were down about 4%. The department outlined a summer beat plan that adds approximately 10 officers to the Third Street corridor and permanent summer posts at Mendel Plaza, and it said a command van will remain near Sixth and Market until a substation opens. The department reported a negotiated lease approach for a Sixth Street storefront substation: a three‑year lease with multiple option periods. The chief also described outreach work (including a meeting with a visiting delegation from Taiwan), the Bay Area regional law‑enforcement summit planned for November, and ongoing work to finalize a community‑policing general order and best‑practices manual with a target to deliver it to the commission in mid‑September.

Commissioners asked operational and administrative questions. They requested resumption of a daily crime recap that some members said had kept them better informed, clarified that PAL cadets currently serve as unpaid volunteers, and discussed a possible late‑year academy class funded with general‑fund dollars if the city budget allows. Commission counsel clarified that the commission’s rules identify May as the typical election point (Rule 2.3) but allow officers to serve until successors are elected when schedules slip; commissioners agreed by consensus to place the officer election on the Sept. 7 agenda.

Before adjourning the open session, the commission took a formal vote to hold item 6 — disciplinary matters — in closed session under relevant authorities; the motion carried. The meeting adjourned after scheduling and additional administrative announcements.

What’s next: the commission will take disciplinary matters in closed session and will list the officer‑election item for the Sept. 7 agenda. The chief said the community‑policing general order and accompanying manual will be provided to the commission in the coming weeks.