San Francisco police chief resigns in wake of fatal shootings and scandals

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SFPD boss Greg Suhr resigns just hours after officers fatally shot a 27-year-old black woman and as the police department faces a bigotry scandal

 

San Francisco police chief Greg Suhr resigned on Thursday, at the request of San Francisco mayor Ed Lee and just hours after police officers shot and killed a black woman in the city’s Bayview neighborhood.

Suhr is one of a growing number of police chiefs to lose their jobs in the wake of widespread protest of fatal police shootings, especially of blacks and Latinos, and a national debate about excessive use of force.

He follows Anthony Batts, the police chief of Baltimore who was fired following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody and ensuing riots; Thomas Jackson, police chief of Ferguson, who stepped down following a scathing federal investigation into racial bias; and Garry McCarthy, police chief of the Chicago, who was fired following the release of video of the shooting of Laquan McDonald.

Suhr’s position at the head of the police department had become a political hot point in recent months, amid a string of fatal shootings and scandals, but as recently as two days ago he had assured the San Francisco Chronicle that he had no intention of stepping down.

“I have previously expressed confidence in chief Suhr because I know he agrees with and understands the need for reform,” the mayor said at a hastily convened press conference.

“The progress that we’ve made has been meaningful, but it hasn’t been fast enough. Not for me, and not for Greg,” Lee added. 

Lee named Toney Chaplin as acting police chief. The 26-year veteran of the force had been acting as deputy chief of professional standards and principled policing, in charge of carrying out reforms.

Four members of the city’s 11-member board of supervisors called for Suhr’s resignation on 11 May 2015, and he was the subject of frequent protest, including a 17-day hunger strike by a group of five local activists.

But the embattled chief maintained the support of the mayor throughout, until Thursday’s fatal shooting of a 27-year-old black woman in an allegedly stolen car.

Earlier Thursday, Suhr told reporters that the woman had driven away when approached by police, then quickly crashed the car.

One of the officers, a sergeant, fired a single shot at the woman, striking her. The officers immediately removed the woman from her car and administered CPR, Suhr said. The woman, who has not been identified, was transported to the hospital, where she died.

Thursday’s incident was the third fatal police shooting in San Francisco in six months.

In April, police shot and killed Luis Gongora, a homeless man who they claimed had charged at the officers with a knife. Numerous eye witnesses challenged the police version of the incident, which surveillance footage showed unfolded in just 30 seconds.

In December, Mario Woods, a 26-year-old black man, died in a barrage of gunfire less than two miles from today’s shooting. Bystander video of the shooting contradicted police statements that Wood, who was carrying a knife, extended his arm toward police prior to their opening fire.