The Police Commission of San Francisco loves making it harder than ever for their officers to do their jobs in a city plagued by crime, violence, drugs, and homelessness. Last week, the commission returned a 4-3 vote to prohibit police from pulling over vehicles for certain violations. Specifically, things like a broken tail light or an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror have been context to initiate a vehicle stop.
As a result of the vote, the Police Officers’ Association could look to block the city from implementing their new ruling. Voters are set to hit the polls in March to answer a ballot from Mayor London Breed. Written to yank back on the reigns of the police commission, it also has some other provisions in it. Allowing police to once again give chase and bring back surveillance technology, the ballot essentially returns the police department to a group with some teeth and not just glorified meter maids.
In a February 9th statement from San Francisco Police Officers Association President Tracy McCray, he expressed more than reasonable displeasure with the latest action by the commission. “We have a body of self-anointed experts who know nothing about police work, yet they author policy after policy preventing our officers from doing their jobs in a manner that will protect public safety. It’s shameful.”
With retailers and major employers starting to close shop and leave, San Francisco is not the beautiful, safe, and luxurious city it once was. Instead, it has become a den of drugs, gangs, and violence. The failures of state and local democratic leadership have left no part of the city untouched. If the voters don’t follow Mayor Breed to return the police to power, the city will surely collapse soon.
