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Police commission moves to fast-track search for next San Francisco police chief after Gascon departs
Summary
After Chief George Gascon left to become San Francisco district attorney, the Police Commission voted to schedule a discussion of the selection process next week and said it will issue a formal job notice and solicit community input as it seeks candidates under Proposition H.
Commission president Thomas Mazuko told the Police Commission on Jan. 12 that Chief George Gascon had left his post to assume the office of district attorney, and the commission should begin an expedited search for a new police chief.
Mazuko said the commission will agendize the search process for the following Wednesday, seek community input, and publish a formal job notice for applicants. "We need to move expeditiously," he said, arguing the department should have a permanent chief in place as soon as possible before the next administration.
Under Proposition H, the commission is responsible for recruiting and interviewing candidates and may submit up to three names for the mayor’s final appointment. Miss Porter, the city attorney, advised that discussing the selection process is not itself a personnel matter, although evaluating specific applicants would be treated as such.
Commissioners said they would reuse outreach work and a candidate profile developed during the previous 6-month search, while taking care to protect portions of earlier applicant files that contain personnel records. Commissioner Carol Kingsley asked what parts of prior reports could be shared with recently appointed commissioners; Mazuko said the general profile would be made available but resumes and other personnel-protected materials would not.
Several commissioners said they expected to consider internal candidates and to accelerate the timeline from the prior seven-month search. The commission also said it had met with Mayor Lee, who pledged support for a faster, community-informed process.
The commission set the matter for further discussion next week and asked staff to clarify what background materials could be provided to all commissioners. No candidate list or appointment was made at the meeting.
