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Police Commission weighs giving chief broader disciplinary power as commissioners press to clear backlog
Summary
Commissioners debated whether to increase the chief—s suspension authority beyond the current 10 days to speed discipline and reduce a multi-year backlog; some urged a charter amendment, others favored expanding commission staff, piloting negotiated dispositions, or letting the chief recommend penalties up to a limit subject to commission review.
San Francisco—s Police Commission spent a large portion of its March 11 meeting debating revisions to the city—s disciplinary process for police officers, including whether to expand the chief—s authority beyond the current 10-day suspension limit.
The Legislative Analyst—s report found that many California jurisdictions give chiefs broader disciplinary latitude than San Francisco. The report noted typical suspensions in other places can reach 30 days and that, in several cities, chiefs have greater power to impose discipline. "In most jurisdictions in California, the chief of police is afforded a wider latitude to discipline officers than here in San Francisco," Dave Cabrera said during his presentation.
Commissioners and stakeholders described a backlog of disciplinary cases—some pending for years—that commissioners and the Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) say undermines timely accountability. "I've been on the commission—since the newly commissioned commission came in…to me, this is our biggest problem," Commissioner Marshall said, arguing the process is cumbersome and slow.
The Police Officers Association (POA) representative, Steve Johnson, said the union would be willing to negotiate changes and proposed procedures that allow the chief to recommend dispositions up to a negotiated threshold with final approval retained by the commission. Chief Fong also urged a collaborative pilot effort and said that while some cases require more than 10 days, a hybrid approach could resolve many pending matters.
Other commissioners urged caution. Some said expanding the chief—s power risks weakening civilian oversight the charter guarantees and suggested alternative fixes: increased commission staffing, more hearing officers, improved case management and mediation, or a pilot that tests negotiated settlements with commission review.
Next steps The commission agreed to continue the discussion and assigned Commissioner Mizuko to work with staff on discipline case management and related pilots; no charter amendment or ordinance was adopted at the meeting.
