The U.S. Justice Department promised an "exhaustive and transparent" review Monday of the San Francisco Police Department in the wake of the Mario Woods killing, focusing on possible use-of-force issues and racial disparities in how officers treat suspects.
Critics of the Police Department welcomed the review, even as some said it fell short of the civil rights investigation they called for after five officers shot Woods to death Dec. 2.
The Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services will work with police and city officials to look into the department, in particular focusing "on Police Department operational policies, training, practices, accountability practices pertaining to stops and searches, and use of force," said Brian Stretch, the acting U.S. attorney in San Francisco.
The review will also look at whether police treat suspects and community members differently depending on their race or ethnicity, Stretch said.
"Both the mayor and the chief have requested an exhaustive and transparent review of the San Francisco Police Department by the Department of Justice," Stretch said at a news conference, "and that is what they're going to get."
'Collaborative reform'
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, known by the acronym COPS, is headed by former East Palo Alto Police Chief Ronald Davis. It works with police departments to achieve "collaborative reform," as opposed to the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, which enforces federal antidiscrimination laws and has the power to order changes in a law enforcement agency.Several members of the Board of Supervisors, as well as Woods' family and the American Civil Liberties Union, had asked for the Civil Rights Division to intervene in San Francisco after police shot the 26-year-old in the Bayview. They pointed out that the Police Department will be free to ignore any recommendations that the COPS review produces.
'A civil rights issue'
"The Civil Rights Division really should be taking charge here," said Supervisor John Avalos. "This is a civil rights issue. Are we seeing a pattern in the San Francisco Police Department of quickly justifying officer-involved shootings as within policy? Do we see that people of color get disproportionate treatment with the use of force compared to others? Those are things I think are worth investigating."Standing alongside Police Chief Greg Suhr and Mayor Ed Lee at the news conference, Stretch said the Civil Rights Division could still get involved if civil rights issues come up during either the district attorney's homicide investigation in the Woods case or the COPS review.
Davis said that although police departments do not have to follow COPS recommendations, the agencies his office has worked with usually understand that they need to improve community relations.
"Our process is voluntary," Davis said. "It is not enforced in a court of law, but it is absolutely enforced in a court of public opinion, which can be just as powerful as a court of law."
John Burris, an attorney for Woods' family, said that although he had hoped for a deeper "pattern and practice" investigation by the Civil Rights Division, the COPS review will "cover a wide area, all the areas that would undoubtedly get covered in a pattern-and-practice approach."
"It was not exactly what we asked for," Burris said, "but it's a great opportunity, so it seems to me, for the mayor and the police chief to take a deep, introspective look into the department."
This will not be Burris' first interaction with the community-policing office. After he called on the Civil Rights Division to investigate the Salinas Police Department following a series of officer-involved shootings and beatings of Latino men, federal officials turned to the COPS office instead.
The agency has been working on that review for 18 months and is expected to issue a report soon, Burris said.
Davis estimated that the assessment of San Francisco police would take eight to 10 months, and that the office would stay involved afterward to ensure the department works to improve. He said the process could take up to two years.
Video raises outrage
The probe was sparked by the killing of Woods, which drew widespread outrage after video footage of his death emerged.Suhr has said Woods was still armed with a knife he had used in an earlier stabbing, and that the five officers who fired on him had no choice after attempts to disarm him with beanbag rounds and pepper spray were unsuccessful.
Critics said the video of Woods' last moments ran counter to the police account, showing him struggling to walk, with his arms at his sides, and posing little threat to the officers surrounding him.
Lee, who had asked for the Justice Department to get involved, said the goal was to ensure that "our Police Commission, our Office of Citizen Complaints, our stakeholders in our community and our Board of Supervisors are all working together to make sure we do everything we can do rebuild trust between our Police Department and the communities they serve."
The shooting prompted calls for reform, with the city's Police Commission setting a Wednesday deadline for officials to produce an update on a draft proposal for a new use-of-force policy. That policy may include giving officers stun guns.
Police chief under fire
Among those calling for stun guns is Suhr, whom protesters want fired for the Woods shooting. Last week, District Attorney George Gascón accused Suhr of engaging in "a dizzying array of stonewalllng tactics" to frustrate a police reform task force. Police representatives insisted the department was working with Gascón's task force.Suhr said Monday that his officers would cooperate with the Justice Department review and other efforts to improve use-of-force policies.
"We have to find a way to deal with folks with edged weapons and other weapons, especially folks who are in crisis, with something other than a firearm," Suhr said. "In all of our policies, we will speak to proportionality, we will speak to de-escalation, and we will constantly remind officers of the value of the sanctity of life -- of everybody's life, not just the officers."
San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Emily Green contributed to this report.
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