After rising tension between the San Francisco Police Department and the District Attorney's Office in recent weeks, both have struck a tentative new deal over how to handle police use of force investigations.
The new agreement is an attempt to mend the rift between the two offices that ruptured over an ongoing case against SFPD officer Terrance Stangel, who is accused of beating a man with a baton, causing serious injury in October 2019, as previously reported by KCBS Radio.
Earlier this month a DA investigator testified that she was told to conceal certain evidence by her colleagues in regards to the Stangel case, pushing SFPD Chief Bill Scott to sever the "memorandum of understanding" between the two offices.
The "memorandum of understanding" was created three years ago, and granted the DA's office the lead in certain investigations related to police use of force, to keep the police from just investigating themselves.
"Nobody's afraid of oversight, not this department, not me, not the members of this department," said Scott in a press event earlier this month. "But what I’m asking for is a process that is fair."
According to San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, the timing of Scott's decision to end the agreement was questionable. "The first time ever, when a police officer on duty, accused of unlawful force, has actually been brought to a San Francisco jury," he said in an appearance earlier this month.
"It is no coincidence that it is in the middle of that trial that the department chooses to walk away," he said.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has helped negotiate the new terms – the current agreement will stand for the next 60 days and a third-party mediator will help resolve any ongoing issues or disputes.
While Boudin has referred to the new deal as common sense, Scott believes the independent mediator is necessary to resolve the issues that have come up in recent weeks.
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