Police chief wants amnesty for police officers in San Francisco, will other states follow?

Discipline cases against dozens of San Francisco police officers would be dismissed under an amnesty program proposed by Chief George Gascón.
The new police chief told The Chronicle on Wednesday that he wants to see "the great majority" of roughly 75 discipline cases pending before the civilian Police Commission end with little or no punishment for officers accused of minor misconduct.
Those cases, he said, include charges such as use of inappropriate language, being discourteous, failing to properly fill out a police report or a first-time misdemeanor drunken-driving arrest. They would also most likely involve first-time offenders rather than officers with a long history of complaints against them.
Under the current system, there are two channels for investigating misconduct by an officer: the independent Office of Citizen Complaints, which usually handles on-duty violations of police conduct rules, and the Police Department's management control division, which usually handles off-duty misconduct. Both routes can end up with a case before the Police Commission.
The commission, a seven-member body appointed by the mayor and the Board of Supervisors, handles cases that can't be resolved with the chief's 10-day suspension power. The commissioners, who have other full-time jobs, hold hearings that can last several weeks.
Cases often languish for months or even years, meaning unfit officers continue to get paid when they should be fired and good officers are stuck on desk duty.
Under the current system, there are two channels for investigating misconduct by an officer: the independent Office of Citizen Complaints, which usually handles on-duty violations of police conduct rules, and the Police Department's management control division, which usually handles off-duty misconduct. Both routes can end up with a case before the Police Commission.


Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/27/BAAO19E4L3.DTL