Posts Tagged ‘san francisco police department’

George Hearts TASERs, So Why Shouldn’t the SFPD have Conducted Energy Devices?

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón wants his SFPD to be equipped with Conducted Energy Devices (CED’s, aka TASERs), but he needs to get approval from the Police Commission to get going. So he’s working the media and the Internets to get the word out about the benefits of stun guns.

Check the Facebook (started up just yesterday), the Twitter, the YouTube – the SFPD is all over the place these days. And here’s the elevator pitch for CEDs from the SFPD in a punchy 7.5 minutes. And here’s the whole news conference from today.

Chief Gascon (in conducted energy neckware) making his case today as Police Commissioner Jim “The Hammer” Hammer looks on.

Click to expand.

Am I missing something here? Is there some reason why the SFPD shouldn’t have CED’s? Our Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol have access to TASERS when they’re on the job in SF, so why not the police?

Next week’s Police Commission hearing, skedded for March 3rd, will give the red light or, more likely, the green light.

To Be Continued…

A New Look for SFPD Radio Cars? Aerodynamic Light Bars Make All the Difference

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Check out this SFPD prowler parked in the Funset District – groove on that funky, aerodynamic light bar on top.

Almost thought it was a fake from the filming of NBC’s horrible Trauma action/dramedy at first, but no, if you count the points on the big blue door star it comes up seven (and not eight) every time.  

Fake Michael Schumacher will have even less of a chance of evading Park Station the next time he drives his Ferrari F355 Spyder to Haight Ashbury for a pint or five.

Maybe our City is just trying out something new…

News Conference of the Year: Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, and Sgt. Brian V. McDonnell

Monday, April 20th, 2009

San Francisco gets more than its fair share of news conferences for a variety of reasons, but this one on Wednesday looks to be memorable. This whole issue about Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, and the death of SFPD Sgt. Brian V. McDonnell in 1970 was quite the hot potatoe last month, as this bit from the Demian Bulwa demonstrates.

Get a sneak peak of the tenor of the people behind the news conference here.

Maybe a lot of people will show up this wednesday, maybe not. We’ll see.

1970 Cold Case to Be Explored at San Francisco News Conference on April 23; Evidence in Bombing Murder Points to Weather Underground
  
Campaign for Justice for Victims of Weather Underground Terrorism Urges Probe of Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn

SAN FRANCISCO, April 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Pressure is mounting for an expanded probe of Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, and their alleged roles in the 1970 bombing murder of a San Francisco policeman. Larry Grathwohl, former FBI informant in the Weather Underground and author of Bringing Down America: An FBI Informer with the Weathermen, will repeat his sworn testimony that points to the involvement of the Weather Underground in the bombing murder of Sgt. Brian V. McDonnell at a 12:30 p.m. News Conference on Thursday, April 23, 2009, at the Marriott Courtyard San Francisco Downtown, 299 Second Street, in the Rincon Hill room. Grathwohl says that he was at a meeting where Ayers said that his wife Dohrn had planted the bomb

The San Francisco Police Officers Association has publicly supported the call for a renewed investigation, saying the evidence points to Ayers and Dohrn as the perpetrators.

The News Conference is being sponsored by the Campaign for Justice for Victims of Weather Underground Terrorism, a project of investigative journalist Cliff Kincaid’s America’s Survival, Inc. “Forty years is too long to wait for justice,” Kincaid said. “Let’s bring the cop-killers to justice.” Kincaid’s web site www.usasurvival.org has exclusive reports on the bombing and Communist Cuban support for the Weather Underground.

The cold case of Sgt. Brian V. McDonnell, killed in 1970 when a bomb exploded at the San Francisco Park Police Station, has been reopened by law enforcement authorities. Grathwohl, Cliff Kincaid, and retired San Francisco Police Sergeant Jim Pera, one of the first on the scene of the bombing, will discuss the McDonnell case, the violent history of the Weather Underground, and the reemergence of its members in political and campus organizing activities. Ayers/Dohrn “comrade” and Weather Underground member Mark Rudd is on a speaking tour in the Bay Area.
 
SOURCE America’s Survival, Inc.

Annual SFPD Mission Station Annual Easter Egg Hunt a Huge Success

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

Boy oh boy, the little squirts of the Mission District had a blast this morning at the annual San Francisco Police Department Easter Egg Hunt at Mission Playground on 19th Street.

Were tears shed by some of the hundreds who didn’t win the bicycle? Oh yes. Oh well.

Mission Station Sponsors Annual Easter Egg Hunt Saturday

In the spirit of community policing, the command staff and officers of Mission Police Station will sponsor its annual Easter Egg Hunt for children ten years old and under on Saturday, April 4, at Mission Playground,19th Street between Valencia and Guerrero, beginning at 10:00 A.M. There will be entertainment, a raffle for a bike, and a special appearance from the Easter Bunny.

Better luck next year…

The Richmond District Welcomes New Police Captain Richard Corriea

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

The Richmond District of San Francisco has a new police captain, so he’s been having meetings with members of the community. Last week, San Francisco Police Department Captain Richard Lyons Corriea hosted a forum with 35 souls at the Zephyr Cafe on 3643 Balboa to talk about police issues, the kind that are discussed here and here

Also in attendance were Kitty Ha from the Safety Network and representatives from the offices of Senator Leland Yee, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and District Attorney Kamala Harris.

The MSM was also on hand taking photos but sometimes they spell his name “Correia,” so that makes it hard to see what they’re saying.

Captain Corriea has also recently met with Senator Lee and Richmond Supervisor Eric Mar.

Of course, the Richmond has its own set of challenges so there’s lots to talk about.

Read all about it and have a safe 2009!

SFPD vs. Yellow Ferrari F355 Spider on the Streets of Haight Ashbury

Friday, April 18th, 2008

Those foot patrols certainly can’t handle everything as it took cops from at least three Ford Crown Victorias last night to handle the lengthy detention of this Fly Yellow (Ferrari Light Yellow aka Giallo Modena) 355 Spyder and its driver near Ashbury Street in the Upper Haight section of San Francisco.

The driver looked exactly like Michael Schumacher what with his red Ferrari racing shirt (complete with logos from Marlboro, Shell, Vodafone, Bridgestone and Puma), red Ferrari baseball cap (that Schumi himself wears only after just winning a race) and, of course, Puma driving shoes.

Cold and windy Haight Ashbury gets less than its fair share of V8 “almost a Ferrari” convertibles driving around, so it’s not the greatest place to imitate the best living race car driver in world. We’ll just have to wait for the newsletter to see what the fuss was all about.

Zoom zoom.

img_5094a.jpg