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

DGO 8.04 Critical Incident Response Team

August 31, 2023

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 two (2) recommendations for DGO 8.04 Critical Incident Response Team from the public and reached a consensus with the DPA on each of the two responses. 

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

DGO 8.04 Critical Incident Response Team- Public Comment Responses

  • R1

    Public Comment
    "Use of force where suspect is admitted to the hospital should be changed to 'use of force where the person is treated on the scene or transported for medical treatment.'"

    Date Received
    3/27/23

    Joint Response
    Recommendation will not be included in Draft DGO

    Explanation
    Once a suspect is admitted to the hospital, the incident is deemed a “covered incident” and is investigated by the District Attorney. The Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) supports members through that investigation process. Therefore CIRT involvement in this process is determined by the DA's Office responsibility over "covered incidents" and would not extend to suspects being treated at the scene or during transportation. However, a member or supervisor is encouraged to contact CIRT any time they believe a response is warranted.

  • R2

    Public Comment
    "'Where suspect is admitted to the hospital.' This should be edited to reflect hospital admittance is related to or caused by the use of force. E.g. - OC spray UOF incident but custody admitted for heart failure or diabetes (unrelated to UOF)."

    Date Received
    4/20/23

    Joint Response
    Recommendation will not be included in Draft DGO

    Explanation
    In instances where force was used, no matter the cause of injury, if the suspect is admitted to the hospital, a DA's Office investigation is triggered. It is during such investigations that CIRT supports members no matter if the use of force is found to be correlated to the cause of hospital admittance. The investigation itself will uncover whether the hospital admittance was related to the use of force or not.