Acting SF Police Chief Toney Chaplin makes case for keeping job

Making the case to become San Francisco’s next police chief, Acting Chief Toney Chaplin said Monday that his experience as a street cop and gang fighter in the city’s roughest neighborhoods gave him the perspective necessary to guide the department at a time of great change and intense scrutiny.

[...] in a wide-ranging interview, he laid out his priorities for the department, including fighting an “epidemic” of property crime, rolling out body cameras that officers will use to record interactions, and working with the U.S. Department of Justice, which initiated a top-to-bottom review of the city force after five officers in the Bayview neighborhood shot and killed a stabbing suspect in December.

Chaplin, 47, discussed the strained relationship between police and District Attorney George Gascón, criticisms that the officers’ union wields too much power, and an incident in 2012 in which he shot and wounded an armed man.

Chaplin, who took command after Chief Greg Suhr stepped down following an officer’s killing of an unarmed car-theft suspect, said he believes that his time on the streets allowed him to earn the respect of rank-and-file officers as well as community members.

Prior to being named acting chief, he was heavily involved in policy negotiations as deputy chief of the professional standards and principled policing bureau.

Mayor Ed Lee will pick the next chief from three candidates tabbed by the Police Commission, following a series of public meetings intended to gather community input.

The mayor appointed Acting Chief Chaplin because he has faith and confidence that Acting Chief Chaplin can do what needs to be done — move police reforms forward and rebuild trust with our communities.

The Police Department is reeling after two separate scandals in which officers were accused of exchanging racist and homophobic text messages, while several controversial police killings are still under investigation.

[...] a blue-ribbon panel of three retired judges — brought together by Gascón after the emergence of the first set of text messages — recently concluded that the department struggled with systemic bias.

While saying he will fight for reform — and will recommend that any officer accused of bigotry be fired — Chaplin staunchly defended the department.

Referring to police forces around the country that have been investigated by the Department of Justice for civil rights abuses — and which then faced court-ordered reforms because of their resistance to change — he said, “We are anything but.”

Chaplin, who said he and Gascón have agreed to work together, also addressed the blue-ribbon panel’s criticism that the officers’ union was an obstacle to change.

Chaplin said he chased the young man, and had to shoot him twice when the suspect became trapped and engaged him with the weapon.