SAN FRANCISCO—A San Francisco police officer got into a scuffle with a homeless man who exposed himself on February 19. Cellphone video was taken of the incident, showing the homeless man overpowering the officer, where civilians came to the aide of the officer to apprehend the suspect.
The video led to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to hold a hearing on Tuesday, March 7 on the police department’s “use of force” policy.
“He told me it would have been to his advantage if he had either the carotid restraint or Tasers available to him,” said San Francisco Police Officers Association President Martin Halloran.
According to reports, there are still a number of other reforms that are being implemented. SF Board of Supervisors heard SPPD Police Chief William Scott’s report on the progress of department-wide reforms, which were made by the U.S. Justice Department, a blue ribbon committee, and the civil grand jury.
“I want to know how the police department is going to prioritize almost 400 recommendations, over 200 that come from the Department of Justice,” said SF Supervisor Malia Cohen.
The priorities are new use of force guidelines and crisis intervention.
“We have very strict guidelines,” said SFPD Deputy Chief Michael Connolly. “We want to get everyone trained on our current use of force policy implemented by the end of summer.”
The San Francisco Police Department currently has a force of approximately 2,200 officers in uniform.
