San Francisco police union: police commission just handcuffed cops from stopping really bad people

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - A new policy that took effect on Wednesday, July 17th, prohibits San Francisco police from conducting pretext stops, which is when an officer pulls someone over for a minor infraction with the strong belief that the person may be involved in larger, possibly more dangerous crimes. 

According to NBC Bay Area, this new policy has the San Francisco police union at odds with the city's police commission. The police commission has stated that the idea behind the policy is to deemphasize certain stops that may be seen by many as racially biased. Additionally, the police commission said that ending the pretext stops allows the department to focus resources on what they consider to be more effective public safety strategies.

However, the police union does not agree, saying that it is disappointing that the police commission has spent so much effort trying to keep the police department from keeping people safe. On July 5th, the San Francisco Police Officers Association posted images to its social media showing a small armory that officers had seized through a pretext stop.

In a statement, the San Francisco Police Officers Association said in part, "The police commission's ban on legal stops provides safe passage for drugs, guns, and sex trafficking in our community. Just like shoplifters used the $950 threshold to rip off our businesses at will, drug dealers, gang members, and human traffickers will use the commission's law to take advantage of a handcuffed police force."

Brian Cox, a deputy defender in San Francisco explained some of the changes going into place around the pretext stop. He said, "The limitations really are focused on types of stops that an officer can use to pull someone over and they're limitations in terms of how they engage with those that are in the car following stops, any traffic stop."

There are exceptions, but that practice has changed and is now in effect after a vote by the city's police commission earlier this year. Max Carter Oberstone, vice president of the San Francisco Police Commission said in a statement, "The pretext stops are when a police officer makes a traffic stop for a low level offense, not because the officer is interested in enforcing the traffic code."

He added, "But because they have a hunch that the person driving the car might be up to no good, might be involved in a crime, but they don't have any actual evidence that the person is involved in criminal activity." Cox went on to describe some of the concerns with the pretext stops.

He said, "The reason that is an issue is because disproportionately that happens to people of color and that's true in San Francisco, in California and across the nation." 

Back in February, the San Francisco Police Officers Association (SFPOA) declared an impasse Friday in bargaining with the Police Commission over the pretext stop issues. The police association argued that the policy change interferes with police officers' ability to perform their duties. 

The union stated back then that the policy is unlawful because it dictates which state vehicle codes police officers can and cannot enforce. SFPOA President Tracy McCray said in a statement, "We put forward a comprehensive policy proposal similar to other major police departments that discourage the practice of stopping vehicles for low-level traffic offenses, but the commission only seemed interested in imposing their policy."

McCray added, "We have a body of self-anointed experts who know nothing about police work, yet they author policy after policy preventing our officers from doing their jobs in a manner that will protect public safety. It's shameful."