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Commissioner rebukes POA article on Bayview memo, calls for direct dialogue with officers
Summary
Commissioner Petra de Jesus said a Police Officers Association (POA) article mischaracterized a Bayview subcommittee memo, urging that the memo recorded community statements verbatim and inviting the POA to meet directly with commissioners to resolve misunderstandings.
Commissioner Petra de Jesus used her commission-report time on Oct. 3 to respond forcefully to a Police Officers Association journal article criticizing a Bayview subcommittee memorandum.
De Jesus told the commission the memo summarized community members' statements verbatim from the Bayview subcommittee meeting and noted the subcommittee did not purport to adjudicate the accuracy of each comment. She said the POA article was "misinformed," criticized its tone, and offered to meet with the POA in person or address its membership to clarify context and preserve communication between the commission and rank-and-file officers.
Other commissioners joined calls to open two-way lines of communication. Vice President Joe Marshall and others suggested the incident be used as an opportunity to convene a public meeting or a POA forum at which officers could speak directly to the commission; one commissioner proposed placing bulletin boards in district stations so commission communications would reach officers directly rather than being mediated solely by a POA publication.
Public commenters and commissioners emphasized the importance of preserving community engagement while also ensuring fair treatment of officers. The commission said it would explore mechanisms to foster dialogue and invited the POA to participate.
