San Francisco Police Credit Training, Diversity And Communication With The Community In Avoiding Violent Protests
Our weekly half-hour news interview. On air: Saturdays 5:30 a.m.; Sundays 8:30 a.m., 8:30 p.m. on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — The racial tension that's boiled over between police officers and the African-American community in many cities across the nation these past months has not manifested in San Francisco.
On Sunday, New York City Police Department buried the second of two officers assassinated in their squad car, departments across the nation are warning officers to take extra care including the San Francisco Police Department.
But aside from a small group of trouble-makers who assaulted officers during a Black Friday protest, there has been no violence between officers and the community, even during multiple nights of public rallies over the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police.
Sergeant-Inspector Martin Halloran, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, told KCBS In Depth he doesn't expect to see that kind of rift in San Francisco's future, either.
He said he understands how easily it can happen, but credits training, the diversity of his officers and open dialogue with the community for helping keep the peace.
"I can certainly understand how black males—specifically black males of youth—feel that way. A lot of times the encounters that they have with the police officers sometimes occur in some areas of the city that are not as affluent as other areas so whether or not it's a perception with them—I believe it is reality, especially for African American youth," Halloran said.
"We need to keep an open, healthy dialogue with these groups of individuals and with the services they get throughout San Francisco, or the services that the POA contributes to. And just a couple of them off the top of my head, would be the San Francisco Police Department Wilderness program, the Omega Boys Club, headed by Dr. Joe Marshall and many other organizations throughout the city."
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