Phillip Matier & Andrew Ross
San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A veteran San Francisco police officer is under departmental investigation - and could be suspended - for writing a letter to The Chronicle criticizing the way Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Police Department are handling the homeless problem in Golden Gate Park.
According to police sources, Sgt. John Lewis of Park Station is being investigated for authoring a letter that “undermines the efficiency of the department.”
Lewis’ letter, published on The Chronicle’s editorial page Aug. 15, questioned the Newsom administration’s tactic of sending cops and outreach workers into the park before dawn to steer campers into social programs or, if they refused, cite them for quality-of-life crimes.
Lewis, who has 20 years with the department, wrote that the campers were neither interested in programs nor concerned about being cited, and that the real problem was during the day when drug use, drug dealing, drinking and fights were commonplace.
“Instead of sending a horde of people into the park at 4 a.m., the city should be sending this same horde into the park from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., when the real problems exist,” Lewis wrote.
“It’s funny,” Lewis went on, “every time something is in the paper that makes this administration look bad, they throw a bunch of money at it and hope for the best.
“I won’t go into how many officers have been taken off street patrol duties, because people in the city would go nuts,” Lewis wrote.
On Sept. 18, Lewis was informed in writing by internal affairs that he was under investigation, department sources told us on condition they not be named. Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Mannina declined to comment because it was a personnel matter.
Police Officers Association President Gary Delagnes said that if charges are filed and upheld, Lewis could face anything from an admonishment to a suspension.
“He doesn’t want to say anything at this point,” Delagnes said. “Who knows? If he talks, they may bring him up on more charges.”
This from a town that prides itself on free speech.
Copyright 2007 San Francisco Chronicle