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SF police officers file civil service complaint in federal court
By: Brent Begin
Examiner Staff Writer
04/16/09 6:52 PM PDT
Seventeen minority and women police officers petitioned a federal judge on Thursday to join a long-running dispute about diversifying the San Francisco Police Department.
The group is asking the federal court to rule that The City’s Civil Service Commission and Police Chief Heather Fong have to promote the officers to inspector, a classification that was recently replaced by the sergeant position.
Fong began assigning sergeants to jobs that were meant for inspectors in 2006, a move that isn’t necessarily against civil service rules. But that’s because standards at the police department regarding diversity in the ranks changed more than ten years ago.
Officers need to sit an exam to be promoted. But more than 50 officers who passed the last exam under the old rules were never promoted under Fong, while others were. Those officers filed a complaint with the Civil Service Commission, and in January, the commission decided that the promotions list from 1998 is still active, and jobs should have been filled from that list.
The commission in January agreed, but they didn’t do anything about it, said managing attorney for Officers for Justice, John Affeldt.
“It’s a principal that would benefit all officers and, in essence, the safety of the people of San Francisco,” Affeldt said.
The litigation is expected to be taken up in the next couple weeks. A judge must first decide whether the 17 officers can join the ongoing class-action suit.
bbegin@sfexaminer.com
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