San Francisco Police Commission
to discuss Early Warning System

By Brent Begin, Bay City News Service

June 21, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - The San Francisco Police Commission will discuss the formation of a new system tonight designed to track the warning signs of problematic performance within the department.

The new process, called the Early Intervention System, would assign point values to stressful and potentially traumatic situations such as an officer-involved shooting or a citizen's lawsuit. If point totals reached a certain level, an officer would be subject to a review, counseling or even disciplinary action.

According to Sgt. Joe Reilly, the commission's secretary, the current system relies on records from the Office of Citizen Complaints to red flag an officer's misconduct. The new system up for discussion, however, would not only take into account citizen complaints, it would pool a variety of indicators and associated factors.

"There's a bigger spectrum of signs to look at besides written complaints," Reilly said. "An officer could have a sick child, they could be splitting up with their wife or husband, they could be caring for an elderly parent, it could even be that their dog died.''

Officers under an unusual amount of stress would be assigned by a newly created administrative panel to any one of various actions, from counseling or training to reassignment and discipline.

The new system would require that the department update its database technology, however, and it could add to the department's administrative load.

Tonight's meeting is a discussion only session, and the current proposal is expected to undergo several changes before and if it is adopted, Reilly said.

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