There isn't much of a race for San Francisco's District 17 state assembly seat. Incumbent, and recipient of the SF Police Officers Association's backing, David Chiu, a Democrati, is not a fighter to reform lack of police accountability and prosecutions. His challenger is Republican Matthew Del Carlo.
A mailer for Chiu arrived today featuring Suzy Loftus, who's identified as president of the San Francisco Police Commission. There's an asterisk but the actual disclosure is on another flap of the mailer. Even if the caveat that Loftus' organizational affiliation is for identification purposes only were under her name and endorsement, I'd still have an issue with her prominent endorsement.
It's one thing for a president of an appointed City board with great influence over life-and-death law enforcement matters to support a candidate and vote or donate to him or her. But it's a big deal when that president allows her mug shot, name and affiliated organization to be featured in partisan campaign materials.
I look at Loftus' embrace of Chiu this way as detrimental to her duties on the commission and directly links via text the commission to the candidate.
A reminder. Chiu was no police reformer when on the Board of Supervisors, has remained silent and aloof about the 18 civilians killed by cops since George Gascon was appointed to be district attorney, and not a single indictment of any officer in death-by-SFPD fatality.
I've railed at commission hearings against Chiu's assembly tenure as one sorely lacking with any visible or verbal actions to strip California cops of their Bill of Rights protections. Those protections are key to why we have practically nil accountability of cops-who-kill and no transparency of the disciplinary process, weak as it is.
Loftus undermines my trust in her leadership and oversight of the local police force, with her high-profile embrace of Chiu.
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