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A City Full Of Charming Cops, If SF Police Chief Gets His Way

By: Octavio Lopez Raygoza

Police Chief, Greg Suhr, speaks at Cesar Chavez Elementary.

At a neighborhood meeting in the Bayview last weekend, Police Chief Greg Suhr, and his PowerPoint presentation, were shouted off the stage.

Last night’s community meeting in the Mission was a dramatic contrast. Nearly a hundred residents sat politely in the auditorium of Cesar Chavez Elementary waiting for their chance to give input on the SFPD’s plan to develop city-wide community policing standards.

“It’s been long over due,” said the Chief about his proposal to include a community policing policy into the SFPD General Order. The General Order is the “rule book” that all officers are bound to follow.

To illustrate his point Suhr had brought, as he so often does, a PowerPoint presentation.

Community policing, Suhr explained, as bullet point descriptions flashed up on the screen, is an organizational strategy in which the police work collaboratively with the community to address violent crime, create safer communities and preserve healthy and vibrant neighborhoods

It has been practiced in San Francisco since the 80s, but, until now, it has never been part of the official SFPD policy. Every district has taken a different approach.

The Mission, in many ways, is an excellent example of community policing in action, said Suhr – largely due to the efforts of the neighborhood’s police captain – Greg Corrales.

“Captain Corrales is a softie,” Suhr said. He paused. “That was a joke.”

The citywide standards would codify practices already carried out in the Mission – like assigning beat cops to a consistent geographic area for a long period of time so that they have time to get to know the people on those beats.

When the time for community input rolled around, it became clear that a few attendees felt that the Mission police still have a way to go in the likeablity department.

“Police need to be more approachable by the community,” complained one audience member. How would the new changes fix that?

“We will have charming, gregarious, engaged, chatty Captains,” said Suhr.

But not everyone was satisfied. “What if they are not?” said an audience member. “Will they be held accountable?” added another.

“Hey,” said Suhr, gesturing towards the PowerPoint. “ It says right here that you can’t be a jerk officer.”

Once in the General Order, Suhr said, officers will be held accountable for not following the best practices.

Suhr said the goal was to encourage officers to go the extra mile to make connections with the community. He gave an example: Years ago he and some other officers were challenged to a game of basketball by group of teens in a public park in the Western Addition.

“We took our bars and stars and put them in the trunk of our car,” Suhr said.“We won. We cheated and fouled, but they still remember today.”

The meeting was over. “Thanks, this is awesome,” said one audience member.

“You just being available today makes a great difference. Thank you,” said another.

“This is definitely going better than last week,” said Suhr.

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SF Giants Post "It Gets Better'' Anti-Homophobia Video

By: Rachel Gordon

The San Francisco Giants posted their ''It's Get Better'' video on YouTube and its team website this morning, becoming the first professional sports team to join the online campaign against gay bullying and homophobia. The video can be viewed at sfgiants.com and at itgetsbetter.org/sfgiants.

Five Giants appear in the 58-second video -- pitchers Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Sergio Romo, centerfielder Andres Torres, and batting coach Hensley ''Bam Bam'' Meulens.

Dressed in their uniforms with the ballpark in the backdrop, the world champions look directly into the camera to make their pitch.

''We all know how difficult life can be as a teenager,'' Zito starts out. '' We've all been there and have had to deal with the pressure to fit in and be accepted by our peers.'' Romo adds. ''It's particularly challenging for LGBT teens who face adversity and intolerance in their daily lives,'' Cain says.

They say there's no place for hatred or bullying in our society and plead with people to not give up hope in despair. The video ends with the come-away message, spoken by the players and coach in English, Spanish and Japanese: ''It gets better.''

The Giants announced last month that they would participate in the burgeoning ''It Gets Better'' campaign after lifelong Giants fan Sean Chapin began an online petition drive urging the team on. Giants officials said that while they already had been planning to make a video, Chapin's lobbying speeded up production.