Joint Response to Public Comment Pursuant to DGO 3.01.04(D)

DGO 8.09 Media Relations

June 6, 2025

SFPD Department General Order (DGO) 3.01 requires that all policies under development be posted publicly to provide members of the public thirty (30) business days to submit policy recommendations.

Pursuant to DGO 3.01.04 (D), the Department and the Department of Police Accountability (DPA) jointly prepare a public response, which shall be posted on the Department’s website, outlining the recommendations included and not included in the DGO draft submitted to the Police Commission.

Joint responses are captured in the following recommendation grid which captures the original recommendation, whether the recommendation was included or not included in the draft DGO, and the explanation relating to the decision to include or not include the recommendation into the draft DGO.

The Department reserves the right to remove or not respond to comments if they are:

  • Unrelated to the subject of the DGO
  • Include private personal information (whether the commenter’s or someone else’s), including home address, home or cell phone number, personal e-mail address, or personal identification.
  • Include profanity or obscene language.

The Department received one recommendation for DGO 8.09, Media Relations from the public and reached a consensus with the DPA on the response. 

The Department and DPA extend gratitude to all who took the time to contribute recommendations to this policy.

DGO 8.09 DRAFT Public Comment Joint Responses | Public Review Period: 12/13/24 - 01/27/25

  • R1

    Public Comment 
    Disaster scenes could be defined.

    Date Received 
    12/17/24

    SFPD response 
    Recommendation will not be included in Draft DGO

    SFPD Explanation 
    The term "disaster scene" was removed to align with terminology used by the Department (i.e. major incident and critical incident). Since the term was removed, it does not need to be defined in this policy. Major incidents can include natural disasters, and per CPC §409.5, media has the right to gather and collect information at major and critical incident scenes. Information on media's rights during major and critical incidents is included in this DGO.

    DPA Explanation
    Agree w/ SFPD edit.