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Police commission opens inquiry into SFPD referrals after Josh Wolf case; chief to present protocol
Summary
After extended public comment and testimony from Josh Wolf, the San Francisco Police Commission asked the police department to present its policies on when investigators contact federal authorities, and members signaled interest in a resolution supporting First Amendment protections for new media.
The San Francisco Police Commission on July 11 heard more than an hour of public comment focused on the 2005 prosecution of independent journalist Josh Wolf and on whether San Francisco police should be required to coordinate or notify civilian authorities before referring local matters to federal agencies.
Commissioner David Campos, who requested the item be added to the agenda, framed the hearing around the apparent tension between state protections for journalists and instances when SFPD personnel referred an investigation to federal authorities. Campos said state law ‘‘provides protections to journalists to protect the sources’’ and voiced concern that matters protected by state law had been ‘‘referred to the federal government.’’
Josh Wolf, who addressed the commission in person, described spending ‘‘about 226 days’’ in federal detention after filming a demonstration in the city. Wolf said he believed his work fell under California’s shield law and questioned why the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI became involved in what he called a local matter. ‘‘From the get go, I offered to screen it to the judge,’’ Wolf said, describing his choice to serve jail time rather than cooperate with a federal grand jury.
Members of the public, including supporters and journalists, urged the panel to adopt a resolution to protect independent and ‘new‑media’ journalists and to broaden access to press permits for alternative outlets. Speakers also pointed to wider concerns, saying the same patterns of referral could affect medical cannabis clinics and immigration‑related encounters.
Chief Heather Fong told the commission the department would present a departmental briefing ‘‘in terms of the actions of the department’’ and the protocols that guide referrals to federal authorities. Commissioners agreed to agendize a department presentation and discussion about the SFPD’s general order on media relations; Chief Fong told the panel she would present at a meeting to be scheduled in August.
The commission did not adopt a formal policy or resolution at the July 11 meeting. Instead, it directed staff and the department to provide a public presentation of the relevant protocols and to make materials available to the commission and the public before further action.
The commission’s next public community meeting is scheduled for July 18 in the Mission District, and the department’s protocol presentation was requested for the commission’s second August meeting for follow‑up.
