Falsifying evidence, retaliation against whistleblowers, carrying guns onboard planes — San Francisco’s law enforcement leaders have been accused of serious misconduct several times over the years, costing the city millions in civil settlements.
These leaders are rarely held liable for their alleged crimes. Instead, they are forced to retire early or face no consequences: District Attorney George Gascon, for instance, allegedly retaliated against a whistleblower and hit a protester with his car. In 2020, voters elected him to serve as district attorney of Los Angeles County.
Let’s take a look at three recent San Francisco law enforcement officials whose alleged misconduct has been paid for on the public’s dime.
Police Chief Earl Sanders
Before he was made chief in 2002, Sanders was a homicide investigator, alongside his partner, Napoleon Hendrix. The investigators were renowned for their high clearance rate across several hundred cases. However, a number of their high-profile convictions were reversed years later, after it was revealed that the pair had allegedly suppressed evidence and made payments to witnesses.
Case in point: The conviction of Antoine Goff and John Tennison. In August 1989, 18-year-old Roderick Shannon was shot and killed in a convenience store parking lot. Sanders and Hendrix would ultimately arrest Goff, 19, and Tennison, 17, for the killing in 1990.
But their convictions were overturned in 2003, when it was found that the investigators did not disclose that another individual, Lavinsta Ricard, had confessed to the murder on tape. A payment of $2,500 from Sanders to the main witness — an 11-year-old girl — was also not disclosed. The second witness for the prosecution, a 14-year-old girl, recanted her original accusation before the trial began, but “Hendrix pushed her toward going back to her original testimony,” according to the civil suit against the city.
Goff and Tennison both sued the city for the 13 years they had been wrongfully imprisoned. In 2009, they walked away with $2.9 million and $4.6 million in settlements, respectively.
A similar story arose in the case of Caramad Conley.
In 2003, Conley was convicted of the 1989 dual murder of Roshawn Johnson and Charles Hughes, based on the testimony of two witnesses. However, it transpired years later that key witness Clifford Polk was a paid police informant — a fact he had denied on the stand in 2003. Sanders was found to have paid Polk, covered his rent, and even loaned him money out of his own pocket during the trial.
Moreover, in 2005, Polk recanted his earlier testimony that implicated Conley. Lawyers for Conley also alleged that Sanders had arranged for John Johnson, the other witness against Conley, to have “private sexual encounters” with a female inmate in exchange for his testimony.
Conley’s conviction was overturned in 2011. In 2014, he settled with the city for $3.5 million after 18 years behind bars.
Sanders was police chief for less than a year before retiring in 2003 after the Fajitagate scandal, in which three off-duty police officers beat up a man to take his take-out food. Sanders was implicated in an alleged cover-up attempt of the incident and was indicted for obstruction of justice alongside three other top police brass.
Charges were ultimately dropped, and Sanders unsuccessfully countersued San Francisco for malicious prosecution. (Sanders was also later sued by the lawyer who defended him on the obstruction charges, for allegedly not paying his fees.)
Though many officers were indicted, none were convicted in the Fajitagate scandal. Sanders walked away with an early retirement and an almost $200,000 annual pension. He died in 2021.
Police Chief Greg Suhr
Alongside Sanders, then-Deputy Chief Greg Suhr was also charged with conspiring to obstruct the Fajitagate investigation. As with Sanders, the charges were eventually dropped and he was cleared of wrongdoing.
In 2009, Suhr purportedly failed to report an incident of domestic violence against a friend of his. The alleged attacker was ultimately charged with attempted murder.
This incident led a police lawyer, Kelly O’Haire, to file a disciplinary action against Suhr. O’Haire was allegedly told by Suhr’s Police Officer Association rep that she did not “know how the city worked.” Police union representatives purportedly urged then-Chief George Gascón to serve Suhr a suspension rather than termination. Suhr was suspended.
A few weeks after Suhr became chief in 2011, O’Haire was fired, purportedly for budget reasons. O’Haire sued for wrongful termination and was awarded $725,000 in 2015.
This would not be the last suit brought against Suhr involving officer accountability. In 2014, longtime police officer Patricia Burley allegedly discovered that her fellow officer, Mike Evans, had embezzled $15,000 from an LGBT police group. Burley reported this to her superiors but was surprised when Evans was allowed to resign with a positive service record. Burley blew the whistle but then allegedly felt pressured to resign by Suhr.
Burley sued the department and won $100,000 in 2018. Evans pleaded guilty to grand theft over the embezzled money.
In 2015 and 2016, overlapping scandals marked Suhr’s tenure. These included the discovery of racist texts between over a dozen police officers, alleged racism in drug stings, and multiple police shootings. Suhr resigned in May 2016 following the police shooting of Jessica Williams.
Since 2016, Suhr has worked in “homeland security/emergency preparedness” consulting.
District Attorney George Gascón
Gascón was chief from 2009 to 2011, but the civil settlements he was involved with came during his time as district attorney, from 2011 to 2018.
In the first suit, Henry McKenzie, an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office, talked about “blowing the whistle” on Gascón for purportedly carrying a gun on airplanes. The suit alleged that this behavior was “a violation of federal law, which requires peace officers traveling while armed to state they are doing so for good reason, under penalty of perjury.”
According to the suit, McKenzie was fired for discussing Gascón’s alleged illegal activity in 2017. McKenzie sued in 2018. Gascón reportedly wanted the case taken to trial, but the City Attorney’s Office settled with McKenzie for $400,000.
The second case came in June 2018. Victor Picazo was protesting outside Gascón’s house holding a sign that said, “Charge Killer Cops.” Gascón allegedly drove into Picazo’s legs as he pulled out of his driveway, leading Picazo to be hospitalized.
The city settled the subsequent suit for $46,000.
So, what about law enforcement leadership now?
Bill Scott became chief in 2017 after a long career with the Los Angeles Police Department. During his tenure, he has worked to enact 272 department reforms after a scathing 2016 report from the U.S. Department of Justice. And, in regard to civil suits, he seems to have avoided the scandals and settlements that plagued his predecessors.
There are some outstanding cases involving the chief, all of which have been brought by officers or former officers. Several have been brought by officers who were fired for failing to get a Covid-19 vaccine. Another accuses the police department of discriminating against white officers in regard to promotions. One officer alleges that they were incorrectly fired for leaking documents, and another says he was fired due to his national identity.
But, according to Jen Kwart, spokesperson for the City Attorney’s Office, Scott has not been personally involved in any settlements for civil suits.
We the actual mission residents love our law enforcement. Instead of writing these click-bait hit pieces, how about you live in Tenderloin for a week and see if you want to keep law enforcement around. Alternatively, how about you get off your arm chair and try to restraint one of the violent drug users? This is pathetic, Mission Local.