Chief Takes Sick Leave; Others Suspended
By Jaxon Van Derbeken, Rachel Gordon, Jim Herron Zamora -- The San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco -- The indicted chief of the San Francisco Police Department went on paid medical leave Monday, and other members of his command staff stepped aside without pay while they fight charges that they conspired to obstruct the investigation into a brawl involving three off-duty officers.
Chief Earl Sanders, one of seven officers accused of trying to block the investigation, also appointed Deputy Chief Heather Fong as acting assistant chief, replacing Alex Fagan Sr., another of the indicted commanders.
With Sanders going on medical leave, the 46-year-old Fong assumes the day- to-day responsibilities of running the 2,300-officer Police Department -- marking the first time in city history that a woman has had that job.
The rush of changes came four days after 10 police officers were indicted in connection with the Nov. 20 brawl on Union Street that involved Fagan’s son,
Officer Alex Fagan Jr. The younger Fagan and two other officers are accused of assault.
District Attorney Terence Hallinan, who obtained the indictments, defended them Monday against attacks by Mayor Willie Brown and others, saying at a press conference, “There is nothing political about this case.”
Sanders, 65, a longtime friend of Brown’s and 39-year veteran of the department whom the mayor named chief in July, decided to go on medical leave because he is suffering from high blood pressure, a condition aggravated by the stress of the indictments, his attorney John Burris said. Sanders remains chief of the department.
“He’s tired,” said an aide to the chief, Inspector John Monroe. “He’s disappointed in the way this whole thing is playing out -- it’s hurting him because he’s put so much in this job. . . . It’s affected his health.”
Fong attended a Police Commission meeting at which the changes were announced, then spent several hours sequestered in her office. When she emerged around 7 p.m., she had little to say about the day’s developments or about who would take over for the two indicted deputy chiefs who stepped aside.
“I want to assure everyone that the men and women of the San Francisco Police Department are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Fong said. “They are out there in the streets. They are out there in the field, ensuring that the citizens of San Francisco are safe and public safety is always at the highest level.”
She refused to answer any questions regarding the status of the officers, other than to say, “Chief Sanders is the chief; I’m the acting assistant chief of police.”
Fong was head of field operations under former Chief Fred Lau, but Sanders moved her to a lower-profile post in administration last year and replaced her with Deputy Chief Greg Suhr -- another of those indicted on obstruction charges.
AMONG FIRST FEMALE CAPTAINS
Fong, a San Francisco native, joined the department in 1977 and, as a bilingual officer, worked as a liaison to the city’s Chinese community. She was one of the first three women in the department’s history promoted to captain in 1994, when she took over the Central Station overseeing Chinatown and North Beach.
Although Sanders will continue drawing his salary of about $180,000 while on leave, police officials said eight of the other nine indicted officers were suspended without pay. The ninth, Officer David Lee, one of those accused of assault, has been on paid disability leave since before the Nov. 20 incident, which allegedly began after two men failed to give up a bag of steak fajitas to the off-duty officers.
Along with Sanders, Fagan Sr. and Suhr, those indicted on conspiracy to obstruct justice charges were Deputy Chief David Robinson, Capt. Greg Corrales,
Lt. Ed Cota and Sgt. John Syme. Officer Matthew Tonsing is accused of assault,
along with Lee and Fagan Jr.
On Monday, Fagan Sr. remained in his office, where his aide was seen removing documents. Asked whether he would be at work today, Fagan said, “I will be here.”
As for the rest of the week, he said: “That I don’t know. I’m assuming that we will be suspended without pay, which is the normal course, and we’ll have a trial.”
Fagan Sr., Sanders and the other eight officers are scheduled to be arraigned today in San Francisco Superior Court. It will be the first time that any of the accused officers or the public will have seen the charges against them. Details of why the seven members of the brass were indicted on obstruction charges have remained sealed.
If the officers are convicted of the charges, their pensions could be in jeopardy, but only if someone petitioned a court to take them away.
The issue of whether Sanders would be suspended was originally on the Police Commission’s agenda when it set its Monday meeting. But by noon, when the meeting began, word was out that Sanders was going on medical leave -- and the commissioners were complaining that they had no more information about the indictments than they’d had when the suspension issue came up Friday.
“We don’t know what the hell is going on,” said commissioner Wayne Friday. “We haven’t seen anything.”
Commissioner Sidney Chan added, “I, for one, don’t want to take action without more facts and more consideration.”
The panel plans to meet again at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Brown, who campaigned publicly and vocally for the indicted commanders on Friday and during the weekend, said Monday that he respected their decisions to step aside while they concentrate on their legal defense.
“I admire them for having the courage to do that,” Brown said after holding meetings in his office Monday morning, including with City Attorney Dennis Herrera.
Brown said their decision “is really a reaffirmation of the trust and confidence and the respect that I had when I made the decisions to have them in the command positions.”
BEST INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC
He said the officers’ action was based on what they believed was in the best interest of public safety and the department.
“Over the weekend, their lawyers, along with them and their families, came to the conclusion that it was better for the department if the general order applicable to all police officers was applied to them equally and fairly,” Brown said.
The general order, or Police Department rule, states that officers facing a felony charge should not be on the job.
Brown said he had not had a chance to speak with Sanders, who canceled a 9 a.m. appointment. And in response to a story in Monday’s Chronicle that highlighted Brown’s loyalty to his friends and political allies, the mayor embraced the characterization. “I want that criticism forever,” he said.
Hallinan, who had been accused by Brown and others of making political hay with the indictments, defended himself at a press conference shortly before the Police Commission meeting.
“Rash political statements, public posturing, attacks on the men and women of my office or the integrity and commitment of the members of the grand jury will not in any way deter us from the vigorous pursuit of justice in these cases,” Hallinan said.
‘FEELINGS OF SHOCK’
Hallinan said he understood the “public’s feelings of shock, outrage, anger and apprehension.”
“These specific allegations of assaults by off-duty officers and a subsequent coverup by high-ranking police command officers are extremely distressing,” he said. “They strike at the heart of our civil liberties.”
Also speaking at the press conference called by Hallinan was state Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
Sanders asked Lockyer on Friday to determine whether Hallinan had abused his power in going to the grand jury, as a step toward possibly voiding the indictments.
Lockyer said he hoped to complete his review of Sanders’ request within 10 days.
While official statements were being made inside the Hall of Justice, more than 100 people -- many of them leaders in the black community -- rallied in Sanders’ defense on the steps of City Hall.
“The community’s outraged,” said Linda Richardson, a Brown appointee to the city’s Civil Service Commission who has been active in leading community protests in support of other black City Hall administrators who have come under fire.
“There’s been a real troubling pattern,” Richardson said.