S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom:Promises To “Run Roughshod” Over The Police
First, disarm the public. Then, neuter the police. What’s left?
Oh, yeah, the criminals…
The Chronicle reports: “Mayor Gavin Newsom says he will “run roughshod” over the San Francisco Police Department to create, by the end of the year, a computerized tracking system capable of identifying problem officers.”
“Run roughshod?” Sounds like a line from Brokeback Mountain. Looks like somebody has hurt feelings.
In an hourlong interview in his office Friday, Newsom spoke about his reaction to The Chronicle’s series looking at San Francisco police officers’ use of force. He said he was particularly troubled by data showing that in recent years blacks have constituted typically more than 40 percent of the cases in which force was used on suspects.
. . .The series also reported that, according to state Department of Justice reports, blacks account for 43 percent of all arrests in San Francisco, higher than in any other county in California.
Does this data show some correlation? God forbid such “racist” thinking. If not, maybe this does:
Police Chief Heather Fong and San Francisco Police Officers Association President Gary Delagnes say that a suspect’s race does not affect how an officer treats that person. Delagnes pointed out that 45 percent of the officers are themselves minorities.
Go figure.
Newsom stated, “I am going to run roughshod over the department to make sure” that a computerized database is established and to “make sure that it successfully gets through the Board of Supervisors.”
If only he could get things through that would actually improve City government (269 days and counting), reduce crime and be tougher on criminals — not those that catch them, we might embrace his roughshod riding.
Since he took office, Newsom said, what is happening to the African American community “has probably consumed me more than anything else, probably as much or more than homelessness” — along with “what is happening with our homicide figures, what is happening with violent crime, what is happening with issues of poverty.”
Oh brother. We grew up in San Francisco, too, and there’s no troubling homicide rate in Newsom’s neighborhood. You can walk the streets without worry. You ride cable cars. Start taking the buses. It’s a different view.
If the crime rate continues growing, it’s not because the City hasn’t been throwing enough taxpayer’s money at the problem. It could be something else.
And the cops in the frontlines will know best — they clean up the mess, every day.
In the meantime, Gavin, stop worrying about policing the cops and the cost of bottled water.
After kicking-off your admininstration by promoting gay marriage, we’d figure you’d be more a helluvalot more aggressive to shake things up across the board — in particular, the Board of Supervisors.
They need some roughshod, good and proper.