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SFPD chief outlines promotions, redeployment and a review of promotional testing
Summary
Chief George Gascon reported SFPD promotions, redeployment of inspectors to stations, Halloween policing results, and announced a work group (including outside experts) to review promotional testing and succession planning ahead of the Feb. 2010 captain’s exam.
San Francisco — At the Nov. 4 Police Commission meeting, Chief George Gascon described progress in SFPD reorganization, reviewed promotion statistics and committed to a formal review of promotional testing and succession planning.
Gascon said the department completed a second concept meeting about its semi‑permanent facility at the Masonic on California Street and that commander Goldin would be assigned there shortly. He reported Halloween policing produced about 35 arrests (mostly public intoxication) and one homicide unrelated to celebrations. The department is redeploying inspectors to district stations and has promoted 45 sergeants who began leadership training.
The chief presented a demographic breakdown by rank and promotion percentages (e.g., African Americans comprising roughly 9% of officers and varying percentages across supervisory ranks). Commissioners pressed for a more detailed breakdown of 'feeder pool' and eligibility statistics — data showing how many in each group were eligible to promote versus how many were promoted — to evaluate whether testing or process produced disparate outcomes.
Gascon said he directed department human resources to form a work group including external experts such as civil‑rights attorney Connie Rice to review the entire promotional process and identify improvements. He said the goal is a more thoughtful testing process with clear cutoffs, and that the captain’s exam scheduled for February 2010 would be a target for implementing changes. He also noted budget constraints and suggested hybrid models with civilian investigators could be explored for other units.
Commissioners asked for further presentations comparing current tests to any proposed alternatives and suggested follow‑up reports to evaluate whether the test itself had an adverse impact on particular groups.
Ending: The chief agreed to provide additional data on promotions and to return with work‑group findings ahead of subsequent promotion cycles.
