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Police Commission approves revised DGO 8.1 on First Amendment activities; OCC reports improved document production
Summary
The commission adopted a revision to Department General Order 8.1, which memorializes past practices on handling First Amendment event planning and OCC oversight of SID; the Office of Citizen Complaints reported a 96% timely production rate for requested documents in the reviewed period.
The San Francisco Police Commission voted to adopt revisions to Department General Order 8.1, the department’s guidance for handling First Amendment activities, after a presentation from Lieutenant Daniel Mahoney of the Legal Division.
Mahoney said the proposed edits do not change substantive policy but rather formalize existing practices, including that OCC (Office of Citizen Complaints) conducts audits of first-amendment activity investigations and that event-planning contacts should be made during normal business hours when possible to avoid the appearance of surveillance. OCC Director Joyce Hicks told commissioners that her office reviewed the revisions and "supports the revisions" as memorializing current practice.
Mahoney presented quarterly OCC-document protocol statistics covering Oct. 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008: 542 separate document requests were received; 518 were produced in a timely manner (96%), 12 extension notices were timely (2%), six productions were late and six were denied or partially denied (examples include requests that could jeopardize prosecution or records under another county’s control). Mahoney said denials are limited and typically tied to prosecutorial constraints or jurisdictional issues.
After discussion, a motion to adopt the revised order (with a typographical correction noted in the text) was moved and seconded; commissioners Onak, Campos and Vice President Marshall recorded votes in the affirmative and the chair declared the motion carried.
The commission also set public workshops and encouraged public attendance for separate PERF management-audit briefings scheduled Oct. 28 and 29; no further policy changes were adopted alongside DGO 8.1 at this meeting.
