Final target for outgoing SFPD chief: Entire department
By: Ken Garcia
Examiner Staff Writer
May 5, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — Those remaining backers of San Francisco police Chief Heather Fong insist she sometimes makes unpopular decisions because she does everything by the book.
So now the question on everybody’s mind is: What book? Heather’s “Rules of Disorder”?
Certainly it cannot be the one that contains legislation pushed by her own boss, Mayor Gavin Newsom? For months, he’s been trying to pass new laws allowing the Entertainment Commission to crack down on rogue nightclub operators whose establishments have a history of violence.
Last week, in another deer-in-the-headlights moment, Fong and one of her commanders showed up at a Board of Supervisors hearing to announce that they were opposing part of the legislation that allowed the commission to issue one-time permits to nightclubs for special events. It’s the chief’s contention that it could result in the draining of police resources.
The only problem is, the commission already has the power to issue the permits and has done so relatively judiciously. So either Fong didn’t read the legislation, didn’t understand it or misinterpreted the signals sent from the Mayor’s Office, which warned all concerned that they did not want a showdown with supervisors — which is exactly what happened.
So upset was the mayor’s staff that the mantra at meetings last week was “60 days,” the number in which the retiring police chief will (finally, thankfully) turn in her badge. But then, logic demands that for those of us who have been arguing for the chief’s replacement for nearly two years, why is she still here?
Oh yeah, the mayor. Perhaps he’s been too busy touting his remarkable public-safety stats on the campaign trail for governor (record homicide rates, miserable percentage of arrests in those cases) to realize that he’s as much to blame for the ongoing mess at the San Francisco Police Department, where Fong is piling up lawsuits and enemies faster than a speeding bullet.
It’s not exactly strong leadership when the best you can hope for is that your chief does not fire, demote or transfer some of your best officers in the next, say, 55 days, or that she puts you at odds with some of your former allies on the Board of Supervisors. Or, that you are not sued again if some gang-banger, a foreign national who should not be on the streets, commits a murder after police officials somehow fail to give a nod to immigration authorities.
Fong has been on a roll recently, giving the distinct impression that she wants to burn down the building as she’s walking out the door. Several officers who tangled with her are beginning to feel like part of a group being forced to go hunting with Dick Cheney.
It’s become so bad that it appears the Mayor’s Office went so far as to leak a letter to the press from an alleged victim in a much-publicized domestic-violence case that paints Fong in a most unbecoming light, looking like someone who is seeking vengeance against a deputy chief who fell out of favor.
In the letter, the alleged victim wrote that former Deputy Chief Greg Suhr “saved my life.” She then accuses Fong of interfering with an ongoing criminal investigation, according to published reports. For convincing the woman to file a police report and seek medical attention — but not reporting the incident himself — Suhr was demoted to captain the day before the deadline to apply to replace Fong, a move so unpopular and politically charged that the mayor has yet to utter a word about it.
The official reason for the silence is that it involves a personnel matter, when it’s obviously more of a personal matter. That’s a pattern Fong has shown throughout her rocky tenure and one Newsom has backed, at least up until now. The mayor and the Police Commission agreed to allow Fong to stay until a new chief is in place, making sure that the “smooth transition” is one of the rockiest swan songs in recent city history.
Not only is Fong pursuing further action against Suhr, her maneuvers could impact the pending domestic-violence case. Michael Cardoza, the attorney for Mark Roppo, the alleged assailant, said that in 34 years as a prosecutor and criminal-defense lawyer, he’s never seen a case that’s been more overcharged.
“We’re in the middle of a political melee here,” he said of the nine felony counts returned by a grand jury against his client. “I mean, could you stack any more on this?”
When another deputy chief was demoted by Fong last year because of a dubious technicality involving his son, Capt. Stephen Tacchini responded by filing a damage claim against The City. It said Fong’s actions were “arbitrary, capricious, pretextual and irrational.”
If that’s following the book, it must be filled with blank pages.
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