NEWSOM SEEKS EXPERTS TO HELP FIX POLICE DEPT. (San Francisco)

San francisco Chronicle ^ | Wednesday, April 5, 2006 | Susan Sward, Chronicle Staff Writer

[walkerk]

S.F. mayor drops bid for blue-ribbon panel, names aide to solicit ideas across the U.S.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, faced with strong opposition to his call for a blue-ribbon panel to change the San Francisco Police Department's culture, told The Chronicle on Tuesday he has abandoned that plan and instead will ask national experts to recommend reforms.

Newsom said that he has assigned Allen Nance, director of the Mayor's Office on Criminal Justice, to consult experts across the country and to give him a preliminary report by fall on organizational and operational changes needed to reform the department.

"The idea of a blue-ribbon panel has exhausted itself,'' the mayor said in a telephone interview. "The idea is to bring in an outside perspective based on best practices'' recommended by experts inside and outside government circles.

In December, Newsom promised to create the blue-ribbon commission to "work to change the culture of the department" after the discovery of some officer-produced videos that he angrily lambasted as racist and sexist.

...

Racial balance and tolerance will be a major focus of the reforms Newsom is looking for, he said. The videos that prompted plans for a blue-ribbon commission included mocking representations of African Americans. The Chronicle series also dealt with race, pointing out that typically more than 40 percent of those upon whom force was used were blacks, though they make up only 7.8 per cent of the city's population.

Newsom said he wants to see an increase of African Americans on the force. As it is now, black officers make up 9.6 percent of the sworn force, and the total of minorities on the force is almost 45 percent.

"It's unacceptable how few African Americans there are on the force," Newsom said. "I hear that from kids in the community every day."

[walkerk]

No mention of how the hiring of 200 needed officers is progressing.

[Uncle Hal]

The first thing he should do is fire the chief of police, Heather Fong. That would solve a lot of the problems, but this is is SF, so a lot of things are unsolvable.

[paul51]

"I hear that from kids in the community every day."

So that's where he gets his direction. That explains a few things.

[ncountylee]

The first thing he should do is fire the chief of police, Heather Fong.

If not, at least train her to wear a hat without having it fall off her head.

[nwrep]

I really think the time has come for San Francisco to hire disabled transgendered cops.

[digger48]

Maybe a Pink Ribbon Panel would be more appropriate, considering the venue.

[winner3000]

ROTFL! That's a good one!

[NonValueAdded]

The Chronicle series also dealt with race, pointing out that typically more than 40 percent of those upon whom force was used were blacks, though they make up only 7.8 per cent of the city's population.

Interesting statistic but useless on its own. Perhaps if they told us what percentage blacks were out of the total number resisting arrest, we might see that the department shows remarkable restraint in the application of force in force-deserving situations. That's not to say that racism doesn't exist and a full view of the stats might bear out what the article is attempting to imply. But that use of a percentage-of-the-population stat is just another over-played race card and fewer and fewer people are buying it.

[spokeshave]

They can start by calling for death penalty for cop killers.

[TUAN_JIM]

The city is 7.8 percent black. The police force is 9.6 percent black. Therefore, blacks are overrepresented by 23 percent. Yet that scumbag Newsom says it is "unacceptable how few African Americans there are on the force." I don't want him doing my math homework.