Posted on 03/01/2003 7:15:05 PM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood
"I'm the commander in chief of this goddamn place, and there is no way the command staff of my Police Department is going to step down at this time," Brown said. "It's a matter of public safety."
San Francisco -- From the get-go, Mayor Willie Brown made it clear that regardless of any grand jury indictments, he had no intention of having the city's police chief and half the command staff step down.
"It doesn't matter who said what," Brown said Friday shortly after getting word that Police Chief Earl Sanders and three other top staffers were being indicted on charges of obstruction of justice.
"I'm the commander in chief of this goddamn place, and there is no way the command staff of my Police Department is going to step down at this time," Brown said. "It's a matter of public safety."
And Brown wasted no time making sure his indicted command staff -- Sanders, Assistant Chief Alex Fagan Sr. and Deputy Chiefs Greg Suhr and David Robinson - - stayed put.
At 4 p.m. Friday, he met privately with Sanders, and a half an hour later, he invited the rest of the top brass facing indictment down to his office for a pep talk -- where he also advised them to get themselves good lawyers.
In fact, we're told Sanders already had retained Brown's old law partner, Phil Ryan, along with Oakland attorney John Burris -- who, ironically, had just won a big settlement in Oakland for citizens wrongly arrested by rogue cops.
Then, at 5 p.m., the mayor headed down to the Hall of Justice, where -- with the TV cameras rolling -- he urged the Police Commission not to use its authority to remove the chief and command staff.
It was just one of the strange scenes being played out Friday in what has become San Francisco's latest three-ring circus.
Earlier in the day, the mayor was on the phone with both state Attorney General Bill Lockyer -- with whom the mayor has had a long relationship -- and City Attorney Dennis Herrera, with whom he is barely on speaking terms.
The mayor wants Lockyer to conduct his own internal investigation -- but not to supersede the criminal probe.
"Brown thinks Hallinan is a total lunatic," said a source close to the attorney general. "He wants to know, 'How do I get control of this guy?'
"Lockyer says, 'There's nothing I can do because this is the D.A.'s case.' "
The source added that the mayor "is not trying to protect Earl Sanders. He's just trying to get control so you don't have San Francisco crumbling into the bay."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Hallinan "felt like the bombardier on the Enola Gay" when he looked at the indictment prepared by the panel Thursday, one source said, referring to the U. S. plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in World War II.
Amazing morons in San Francisco...
However, the police did everything but handle it normally.
They had the time to do it right, and they didn't.
Dirty Willie is sticking up for the wrong guys.
If the police get a free pass, look for a lot more mayhem on the streets of SF than there ever was before.
And the fact that the chief gets off on his recognizance while the guys in the trenches have to post $90K each is going to do wonders for SFPD morale.
Yes Wile E. Coyote, as long as your the mayor, I agree, your city is damned. If Mike Savage left, it mine be under the ocean. He's the only thing of value coming out of S.F. now days.
Damn those idiots...
Part of the never ending legacy of Diane Fiendstein...
Can you imagine it if Terrance Hallinan or Tom Ammiano were elected mayor instead of Willie Brown???
If Mike Savage left, it might be under the ocean. He's the only thing of value coming out of S.F. now days...
I think, unless San Francisco has a major political upheaval, the city will be turned into a modern ruin, with or without Mike Savage and Bill Wattenberg.
Oh no, ballot boxes floating in the SF Bay didn't have him worried. I think Willie is just venting his frustration he didn't get that post he wanted on the CalPers board courtesy of Gray Davis.
Not that I am suggesting he take any airplane rides in the near future...
The slide to total degeneracy started just before she was elected Mayor.
Dan White was a "canary in a coalmine". Pass the Twinkies.
Don't forget the Jim Jones kool-aid...
I'll try with this link...
In a move that threw San Francisco's Police Department and political world into turmoil, a grand jury has indicted Police Chief Earl Sanders, his second-in-command and other top police officials on charges of conspiring to obstruct the investigation into an off-duty brawl involving the assistant chief's son and two other cops.
Ten members of the Police Department were indicted, including Sanders, Assistant Chief Alex Fagan Sr. and Deputy Chiefs David Robinson and Greg Suhr. At the urging of Mayor Willie Brown, who said "public safety" was at stake, the city's Police Commission ruled Friday night that Sanders would stay on as chief until at least Monday.
The fate of the nine other officers indicted Thursday night remained in question and ultimately could be decided by Sanders himself.
[snip]
Hope this helps...
foreverfree
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