Racist, Sexist SFPD Sink to New Low

Upwards of twenty San Francisco police officers have been suspended after several racist, sexist, and transphobic videos made by and featuring members of the department surfaced yesterday.

Malaika Parker of Bay Area PoliceWatch called the videos an outrage. "They were absolutely disgusting, there were assaults on women, people of color and the transgender community," she said. "I hope they bring deep, deep changes to the department.''

You can see segments of some videos here and here.  Most of the kops were from the Bayview Hunters Point station, a predominantly poor and Black area of San Francisco.  Police brutality has been a consistent problem in those neighborhoods, so these videos just confirm what everyone there already knows.

The Idriss Stelley Foundation, a BVHP group that fights police brutality, will hold a press conference on the matter at 9:30am today.

While we're on the topic of kops acting like scum, on the other side of the bay a report has been released saying that the Oakland police

[S]till too often fail to report fellow officers who improperly use force when making arrests or conduct illegal searches, and those who do come forward often face retaliation, according to a report issued today.

Ah, to serve and protect...their racist, violent masters.

Comments

[sex-pos fem]

Did you really find those videos racist, sexist, or transphobic? They seemed like innocent jokes to me. The one with the homeless black women getting run over was poking fun at the police officer for pondering, being spaced out, and not getting involved. The one with the arrest of the homeless guy was poking fun at plain clothes officers for being dressed exactly like him and fancying themselves champions for ganging up on someone who's minding his own business. The one with the Asian music was poking fun at them for doing Tai Chi while on duty and missing important calls. They could have been doing yoga or playing hopscotch. It was just supposed to seem random. The one with the girl getting stopped was poking fun at that police officer who thinks he's God's gift to women. He's probably someone who within that social group has that quirk. The one with the officers oogling the captain was poking fun at him because he was imagining the whole thing, and another officer walks in and tells him to get his head out of the clouds. The fact that they were officers and random homeless people shows that he thinks everyone likes him. The only parts I could see as mildly shady were the fact that the female officer was doing her makeup and the fact that one black guy was dressed in drag. It made homeless and trans look unattractive. So they should have found some attractive trans and homeless people. But when I heard racist, sexist, etc, I seriously expected some major shuck and jive or gang rape.

Here are some rational responses to it, you know, people who have a sense of humor and don't stomp around all day looking for reasons to hate people:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1743873

[Tulip]

I think that the manifestations of racism that scare me the most are when they are seemingly innocent jokes. First, this is different from other "innocent racist jokes" because these are police officers who are notoriously racist and suspect of using racial profiling. Police officers make me nervous to begin with, so I can't imagine how terrible Saturday nights would be if I looked guilty just by being a black male.

It's difficult for me to know what to say when it comes to the sticky subject of racist jokes. Sometimes it's ok with me, sometimes it's not. It's one of those it depends things. I'd be curious to see what other people of color think about racist jokes because sometimes they are funny to me. And sometimes they make me so mad I could punch someone's face in. But when it comes to kops, it is definately not funny. They are in a position to beat my ass down. They should not be trying to be comedians.

Yeah, Tulip is right, police officers aren't human beings!

[sex-pos fem]

btw, I AM a colored person (wearing a black t-shirt and baggy pants right now, or should I say pants of baggy).

[D-Max]

"Transphobic" there's a new one.

[David]

What follows is the text of an email I sent Gavin Newsom regarding the Bayview SFPD video. The bottom line is that there are much bigger problems San Francisco than a few cops have a laugh--a la a "Reno 911" ripoff:

Dear Mayor Newsom,

I have been following the police video controversy from here in Los Angeles. I am not shocked at the official reaction--if you did not react (somewhat) the way you have you would have been skewered by the average SF liberal.

Having said this, let me say two things---the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. It is a shame that you cannot let the police blow off steam and have a little fun at an annual party. The video is clearly a parody and a tongue in cheek joke. The behavior on the film is overt---they knew they were being filmed and a number of minorities are participating (hispanic officers, black officers and female officers). It should not be offensive to the average person. (I wonder if you find the comedy in "Reno 911" on Comedy Central offensive---it is very similar to the taste of this video).

I WOULD care IF the video was undercover and the acts shown were real. Obviously, no one is going to run over a homeless person and the days of Serpico are long past.

My second point is that with all the problems in San Francisco, this is what you choose to get upset about??!!!! My wife and I used to visit San Francisco two or three times a year. The last time we were there was in 2002 and we vowed not to return until the city did SOMETHING to reduce the numbers of homeless people in the city. We were accosted every twenty feet by a barrage of addicts and drunks asking us (well, demanding) a 'contribution'.

Don't get me wrong. Here in LA, we have a 'few' homeless. Thankfully, most are stuck on skid row shooting heroin and otherwise wasting what is left of the lives they CHOSE to throw away in the downtown center of LA. Thankfully, we don't have many homeless in the San Fernando Valley. IF we had homeless everywhere in LA, like you seem to have everywhere in San Francisco, it would be a horrible place to live.

Before you tee off on the SFPD over this joke of a video, how about solving a real problem like reducing the numbers of homeless in your city by 60% in the next two years (cutting off the wasted public benefits that fund their drug and alcohol addictions would be a great start).

Until such time, count my family out when it comes to tourism dollars. (And lay off the cops--they are doing a tough, tough job).

Sincerely,

David Wilson
Los Angeles