Prosecutors will have dropped a total of 57 criminal cases involving a police plainclothes unit accused of illegally entering residential hotel rooms during drug raids and falsifying police reports, by the end of the day today, San francisco District Attorney George Gascón said.

That would represent a significant jump in the number of cases so far dismissed since the scandal erupted earlier this month.

“The recent allegations of misconduct by San Francisco police officers has required my office to take a second look at the involved cases,” Gascón said in a statement.

Gascón and San Francisco Police Department Chief Jeff Godown also announced new cooperative measures between their agencies, including “refresher training” for about 100 undercover officers in the Police Department on search and seizure procedures. The District Attorney's Office will also have an attorney available to police around the clock for advice on securing search warrants.

The eight-member undercover unit at Southern station has been put on desk duty pending a police investigation, following the release of video surveillance footage from two residential hotels that appeared to contradict the officers’ arrest reports.

The FBI and District Attorney’s Office are also investigating the unit.

Both Gascón and Godown insisted that no determination had been made on whether any of the alleged actions by members of the unit were criminal.

aburack@sfexaminer.com