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Thursday, April 11, 2013

SFPD Chief Faces Complaints: $100K Gift From Mogul Conway

 (Screen grab from San Francisco Magazine's December profile on Ron Conway.)

The following letter was emailed yesterday to the police chief and five of his public information staffers, and also serves as the basis for my complaints made today with the Police Commission's Office of Citizens Complaints and the Ethics Commission. So far, the SFPD has not confirmed receiving my emails, which are being shared with various city agencies and private watchdogs.

I will share details of the OCC and commission investigations as they become available.

Dear Chief of Police Greg Suhr, 

An acknowledgement from you or your staff is requested by the end of business today that you have received this letter. Answers are requested before the work week is over. 

I write asking about the $100,000 gift from Ron Conway and sixty (60) laptops donated by Hewlett Packard, as reported in the SF Chronicle on August 27, 2012:

"Police Chief Greg Suhr couldn't be happier that his longtime friend is sprinkling some fairy dust on the notoriously Luddite Police Department. In June, Sf.citi donated $100,000, and Hewlett-Packard donated 60 laptops so officers can connect to the department's crime-data warehouse from the field."

This query also pertains to any additional monetary or other gifts to the department from January 1, 2012, and through the date on this letter. 

Have you posted the filings about those cited gifts to the department's web site, as required by law, and if so, what is the URL for the filings? I was unable to find the filings at the department's page for information.

"As you may know, the San Francisco District Attorney posts his gift filings at his About page."

Here is the citation from the Fair Political Practices Commission regarding the Gift to Agency Report California Form 801 pertaining to this matter: 

"If a Form 801 was filed, it must be displayed prominently."

That agency further explains:  

"Website Posting: Each agency that maintains a website must also post the form or the information contained on the form on its website within 30 days of the use of the payment. Local agencies that do not maintain a website must forward the form to the FPPC for posting on its website."

If the police department has followed the law and made all the required disclosures on its site for all gifts received from January 1, 2012, through today's date, please let me know where on your site the information is posted. 

On the other hand, if that legally required information is not on the department's site, please explain why that is the case. I look forward to hearing from you regarding this important matter.

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