Met with community-based organizations, town halls, and residents to create a new, comprehensive community process called the District 10 Community Safety Plan— a much-needed plan to expedite solutions to this senseless and tragic violence.
There has never been more urgency to find effective, community-led public safety solutions to reduce the disproportionately high rates of homicides, violent crimes, and gun violence in our District 10 neighborhoods: the Bayview, Crocker Amazon, Excelsior, Outer Mission, Visitacion Valley, Portola, Silver Terrace, Mission Terrace, Hunters Point, Bayview Heights, Candlestick Point, and Little Hollywood.
That’s why we’ve put together neighborhood-specific priorities and strategies, and are continuing to work tirelessly to make sure leaders across the City hear us loudly and clearly: this is an urgent, moral crisis that must be prioritized for the entire City. Below are a few of the priority action items we’ve identified in the Plan:
-
-
-
- Elevating the role of the City in implementing public safety strategies
- Establishing monthly violence prevention convenings for D10 residents
- Reimagining what community mobilization and peace-planning efforts look like
-
-
Set up the first Citywide Sheriff’s Oversight Board and Office of Inspector General to increase accountability over the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department by introducing and successfully leading the passage of Proposition D in 2020.
For too long, the Sheriff’s Department had lacked transparency and oversight, racking up case after case of misconduct, mistreatment, and abuse—as well as racially disproportionate use of force by deputies. This was modeled off of similarly successful programs across the state and based on insights from experts on law enforcement oversight to individuals in custody at jail sites. The new, 7-member Civilian Review Board and Inspector General will have the power to investigate the death of any individual in the Department’s custody, develop a use-of-force policy and comprehensive review process for all use-of-force and critical incidents, and conduct community outreach to hear public input regarding operations and jail conditions.
Wrote and passed the CAREN Act (Caution Against Racially Exploitative and Non-Emergencies) — which is now a model for cities across the nation — to crack down on racially biased police calls.
I know far too well the indignity of being perceived as a criminal simply based on my skin color. Though these fabricated emergency calls weren’t new, the unprecedented surge in these hate crimes following George Floyd’s murder called for action. Within this legislation, we also established the right to sue a false 911 caller in civil court, in hopes that this will help deter these calls. The CAREN act applies to similarly discriminatory calls based on sex, age, religion, disability, gender identity, weight or height—because no one should be treated like a criminal for the way they look.
