SF to Review All Police Hiring & Promotion Practices
Last week, San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed announced the SF Department of Human Resources will conduct a targeted audit of all upcoming law enforcement job examinations. Changing the way San Francisco hires and promotes law enforcement officers is a key part of Mayor Breed’s vision to fundamentally change the nature of policing and address structural inequities.
The Department of Human Resources will lead a process in collaboration with the Civil Service Commission, the Police Department, and the Sheriff’s Office to review current entry-level and promotional exams to ensure that the City’s testing process helps identify candidates who possess the requisite ethics, judgment, and temperament to serve as a San Francisco law enforcement officer.
On June 11, Mayor Breed announced a set of public safety reforms, including policies to address police bias and strengthen accountability. Mayor Breed directed the Department of Human Resources, Department of Police Accountability, and San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) to identify and screen for indicators of bias, improve training systems, improve data sharing across Departments, and strengthen the SFPD’s Early Intervention System in order to enhance the tools being used to root out bias within law enforcement agencies.
The announcement addressed Mayor Breed’s request to identify and screen law enforcement officials for indicators of bias during the hiring and promotion process.
“We want our law enforcement officers to reflect the best of our City and our values. While most do, we can improve how we are identifying the qualities that we want as well as those we know we don’t,” said Mayor Breed.
We want our law enforcement officers to reflect the best of our City and our values. While most do, we can improve how we are identifying the qualities that we want as well as those we know we don’t. https://t.co/bBjVWphjS7
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) June 19, 2020
