23-191 Service of Documents for City Attorney's Lawsuits or Actions Related to Criminal Conduct

Effective immediately, members are authorized to personally serve all documents filed in or related to the City Attorney's lawsuits or actions related to criminal conduct. These documents might include, but are not limited to: Complaints, Summons, Orders to Show Cause, Temporary Restraining Orders, Preliminary Injunctions, and Permanent Injunctions.

Requests from the City Attorney's Office to serve documents related to lawsuits or actions filed in court are to be coordinated as follows

• Requests shall be forwarded to the Chief’s Office, with a copy sent to the Legal Division. Subject to approval of the Chief; the Deputy Chief of the Field Operations Bureau or of the Investigations Bureau, as appropriate, will provide direction to commanding officers and arrange for service of documents related to the lawsuit or action.
• Members who, in the ordinary course of their duties, observe the person named in the lawsuit or action, shall make a reasonable attempt to serve the person with the requested documents.

Members who attempt service or successfully serve any papers shall complete the following steps:

1. Members who successfully complete service shall completely and legibly fill out and sign the Proof of Service form attached to the back of the service packet. Proof of scan and email of the executed Proof of Service form to the City Attorney's Code Enforcement Division at: Gloria.Torres@sfcityatty,org. Members shall also forward via inter-departmental mail, one copy of the Proof of Service to the City Attorney's Code Enforcement Division at Fox Plaza, 1390 Market Street, 6th Floor, and one copy to the Legal Division.
2. Whenever service is attempted (completed or not) members shall file an incident report. The incident report shall be titled, "Service of Documents Related to a Civil Drug Abatement and/or Public Nuisance Action -75011" or "Attempted Service of Documents Related to a Civil Drug Abatement and/or Public Nuisance Action -75012," as appropriate. Copies of the incident report shall be routed to the City Attorney's Code Enforcement Division at Fox Plaza, 1390 Market Street, 6th Floor, and the Legal Division.

/s/
WILLIAM SCOTT 
Chief of Police

Per DN 23-152, all sworn & non-sworn members shall electronically acknowledge this Department document in PowerDMS within (30) thirty calendar days of issuance. Members whose duties are relevant to this document shall be held responsible for compliance. Any questions regarding this policy should be sent to [email protected] who will provide additional information.