SAN FRANCISCO—On Tuesday, April 19, San Francisco Police Department announced the arrest of two current police officers and one civilian retired sworn member in two separate and unrelated incidents. The retired member was working for SFPD in a part-time capacity under the City’s Prop F program, which enables retired city employees to work a limited number of hours to help meet staffing shortages.

According to court records, Williams was working, part-time, in the gun destruction unit of the Property Control Division at SFPD. During this time, the SFPD was in the process of preparing 22 Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns for destruction. On August 9, 2021, an inventory of the weapons revealed that one of the weapons was not present and all division personnel were contacted to assist in the search for the missing MP5.

On August 12, the SFPD’s Internal Affairs Division was alerted of the missing firearm. SFPD investigators immediately launched an investigation that established retired San Francisco Police Officer Mark Williams was in possession of the missing firearm.

Four days later, on August 13, Williams contacted the acting Lieutenant in the Property Control Division and confessed to having the weapon at his home in Napa.  SFPD sergeants recovered the weapon without incident that day.

Williams was immediately terminated from his part-time position with the police department. On Friday, April 15, 2022, a San Francisco Superior Court judge signed and issued an arrest warrant for Williams. On Tuesday, April 19, Williams voluntarily surrendered himself at San Francisco County Jail where he was booked on charges of unlawful possession of a machine gun (32625(a) PC), possession of a silencer (33410 PC), and embezzlement (503 PC).

On July 3, 2021, investigators from the SFPD Internal Affairs Division were notified of an incident involving the destruction of evidence the previous day on the 700 block of Mission Street. SFPD investigators launched an investigation, which established that Officer Kevin Lyons and Officer Kevin Sien were responsible for the destruction of evidence. At the time of the incident, both officers were assigned to Tenderloin Police Station. Lyons, a 21-year veteran of the SFPD, and Sien, a five-year veteran of SFPD, were immediately transferred to assignments with non-public contact. On Friday, April 15, 2022, a San Francisco Superior Court judge signed and issued arrest warrants for Lyons and Sien. On Tuesday, April 19, Lyons and Sien voluntarily surrendered at San Francisco County Jail. Lyons was cited and released on two charges of destroying or concealing evidence (135 PC). Sien was cited and released on one charge of destroying or concealing evidence (135 PC).

“The actions of these SFPD members violate the law and regrettably fall far short of our department’s shared values,” said San Francisco Police Chief William Scott. “As sworn police officers, we have no higher obligation than to earn and maintain public trust, and we are disappointed that these incidents detract from the outstanding work done by our officers and non-sworn members every day. At the same time, we are grateful to our Internal Affairs Division and its members for the thorough investigations they conducted and the cases they presented to the special prosecution division of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. Their diligence affirms our department’s commitment to accountability and the principle that no one — including a current or retired police officer — is above the law.”

“We take the possession of illegal weapons very seriously in San Francisco and those who have weapons unlawfully will be held accountable,” said District Attorney Boudin. “Keeping these dangerous firearms off the streets is critical to the security of our community.  Officer Williams breached the trust and safety of our community when he removed the machine gun from SFPD’s custody.”

All three arraignments are set for May 19, 2022.