In a scathing report released last week, the U.S. Department of Justice said the San Francisco Police Department is guilty of exhibiting racial bias, at times even without intent. The DOJ went on to list 272 recommendations for improving policing efforts and ridding the department of institutional bias, all of which will be implemented, according to Mayor Ed Lee.
“We must restore trust and these measures are important steps forward,” the mayor said.
The report was requested by city officials. They were prompted in part by the 2015 shooting death of 26-year-old Mario Woods and a scandal involving racist text messages among the city’s officers.
Here are some of the findings from the report:
• Over a three-year period, officers from the SFPD used deadly force 11 times. In 9 of those cases, the suspects were people of color.
• African-American drivers are disproportionately stopped by police officers.
• The SFPD does not adequately investigate use-of-force incidents, nor is it adequately tracking data on community policing.
• Minority police officers were terminated at a higher rate than non-minority police officers.
The DOJ recommended that the department work with stakeholders to develop and implement a number of policy and training changes related to use-of-force. Specifically, it recommended the creation of an electronic use-of-force reporting system and expanded reporting requirements for officer complaints and discipline, new prohibitions on firearm use, implementation of body cameras, and more.
Read the entire report here.