Latest news with #SanFranciscoSheriff'sOffice
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
SF Sheriff gets green light to resume using ankle monitors
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Sheriff Paul Miyamoto announced Monday that the San Francisco Sheriff's Office will resume using electronic ankle monitors for some accused criminals who are out of custody awaiting trials. The sheriff recently received a green light from U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit judges to utilize ankle monitors for defendants in the Pre-Trial Electronic Monitoring (PTEM) program. Judges also ruled in favor for allowing searches without warrants for defendants in the PTEM program. Miyamoto and the City Attorney's Office fought to uphold the legality of PTEM after a lawsuit was filed on behalf of three defendants charged with crimes. In 2022, the three defendants filed a lawsuit claiming that PTEM policies violated their Fourth Amendment rights. 'This new decision sets a much-needed precedent for protection of public safety,' Miyamoto said Monday. 'It allows the SFSO to adhere to its commitment to keep the public, crimevictims, and deputies safe, while allowing this critical alternative to incarceration. The PTEMProgram affords defendants an opportunity to remain in the community pending the outcome of their criminal matters, and it provides Superior Court judges with an important tool to utilizewhen making a decision regarding a defendant's release from County Jail.' SFSO PTEM is an intensive supervision program for criminal defendants who would not otherwise be released from custody pretrial by the Superior Court. San Francisco Superior Court judges decide which defendants are enrolled as a condition of their release from custody. 'In order to protect public safety, the Sheriff's Office must be able to set the rules for thisprogram it oversees and administers for pretrial release from custody of criminal defendantsoften facing violent felony charges,' said City Attorney David Chiu. Mayor Daniel Lurie said, 'This is about protecting families from violence. It's about making sure suspecting drug dealers can't go back out and continue to commit crimes while they await trial.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
23-04-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Ninth Circuit reinstates S.F. sheriff program that allows warrantless searches
San Francisco sheriff's officers can conduct warrantless searches of criminal defendants who have been released while awaiting trial, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, reversing a judge's decision that the search orders exceed the sheriff's authority and violate the right to privacy. The search requirements are reasonable safety measures and do not intrude on a judge's authority to order pretrial release, said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court said another of the sheriff's mandates, allowing his office to inform law enforcement agencies elsewhere of a defendant's location, 'helps law enforcement solve crimes quickly both in San Francisco and neighboring jurisdictions.' The 2-1 ruling was written by Judge Jay Bybee and joined by Judge Carlos Bea, both appointees of President George W. Bush. In dissent, Judge Salvador Mendoza, appointed by President Joe Biden, said the orders reinstated by the court 'infringe upon Californians' fundamental right to pretrial liberty.' Under the rules set by the sheriff's office, once a Superior Court judge decides that someone charged with a crime can be freed before trial, the defendant must agree to allow officers to search his or her body, vehicle, home and property at any time during release, and to have their location shared with other agencies. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar halted the searches in February 2024, saying they threatened 'enormous intrusions on personal privacy' and that challengers to the orders were likely to prove that such conditions on release must be approved by a judge rather than imposed by the sheriff's office. Tigar was appointed to the court by President Barack Obama. In September, Tigar ruled that Sheriff Paul Miyamoto's office had repeatedly violated his injunction by refusing to release defendants who would not agree to warrantless searches, and said Miyamoto and other city officials could be held in contempt of court unless they changed their practices. Miyamoto responded in October by cutting off new enrollments to his office's ankle-monitoring program, which allows some defendants to be freed before trial if they wore devices allowing their locations to be tracked electronically. The cutoff did not affect those already in the program. In Wednesday's ruling, the appeals court said allowing sheriff's officers to decide when a defendant should be searched while on pretrial release does not interfere with a judge's authority to decide who should be set free. 'The courts have full control over the individualized determination to release or not release a defendant, specifying which programs to offer, and the conditions the defendant will be subject to while on release,' Bybee wrote. But, he added, 'the courts must accept that (the San Francisco Sheriff's Office) will have its own view of the on-the-ground realities of the programs it is willing or able to supervise.' Mendoza, in dissent, said Tigar had examined the evidence and found that the sheriff's search requirements interfered with a local judge's determination of the proper conditions of pretrial release. 'Allowing the executive branch — who prosecutes criminal cases — to impose conditions of release is to let the catcher call balls and strikes,' Mendoza wrote. Alex Barrett-Shorter, spokesperson for City Attorney David Chiu, said the ruling was 'a victory for an important program that allows criminal defendants often facing serious, violent felony charges to be released from jail before trial while protecting the public and crime victims through intensive supervision.' American Civil Liberties Union attorney Shilpi Agarwal, who represented defendants challenging the sheriff's search requirements, said they would appeal the ruling. They could ask the full appeals court to order a new hearing before a larger panel. 'We disagree with the majority's opinion and maintain that the San Francisco Sheriff's Office exceeded its authority by intruding on the privacy of people released pretrial on electronic monitoring,' Agarwal said.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Did DOGE Officials Raid San Francisco's City Hall and Demand Data From Local Officials?
Three men entered San Francisco's City Hall on February 14 stating they were officials with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and demanded access to city officials' computers. But neither officials with DOGE nor the Trump administration had any involvement in the altercation, which was later determined to be a stunt pulled off by online pranksters impersonating DOGE employees. The San Francisco Sheriff's Office confirmed that the men were not DOGE officials, and Danny Mullen, a YouTuber with more than 845,000 subscribers on the platform, uploaded a video on February 24, titled, 'Fake DOGE Prank in San Francisco (Liberal Meltdown).' The 29-minute video depicts Mullen, fellow influencer Leandro Dottavio, and a cameraman entering and wandering into both the San Francisco City Hall and Unified School District buildings, directing city employees to hand over information and instructing one official to insert Mullen's thumb drive into her laptop. Some internet users have posted clips of Mullen's video, seemingly mistaking the online pranksters for authentic DOGE officials. An X account with more than 1 million followers, 'Community Notes and Violations,' which has no official affiliation with the X platform, tweeted a clip of the video. While the clip features the pranksters identifying themselves as DOGE officials, the X account did not mention they were not real DOGE employees. On TikTok, one user with more than 100,000 followers—'Coach Chitown,' a self-described 'life engagement coach'—also posted a clip of the video, with the added text, 'Elon Musk's DOGE employees raid government employees offices.' 'Y'all won't believe this s—. Government employee offices was raided this week by DOGE,' he said in the video. He quoted one of the DOGE impersonators, incorrectly identifying him as an actual DOGE employee. 'Bradley from DOGE said, 'I don't need consent in Trump's America.' But hey, this is what America voted for. Now you ain't got no choice but to stick it out.' The same day that the pranksters entered the city government buildings, the San Francisco Sheriff's Office said in a statement that they were investigating the incident, adding, 'We do not believe the individuals requesting access to City files were representatives from DOGE.' Four days later on February 18, the office provided an update on its investigation. 'Upon review of City Hall surveillance footage, it appears that the men were wearing DOGECOIN (a cryptocurrency) t-shirts and non-descriptive hats.' It added, 'The men [impersonating DOGE officials] were verbally aggressive, insulted staff, and were unable to produce any formal identification; employees, therefore, did not comply with the men's requests.' Nearly a week later, Mullen uploaded the video of his prank onto YouTube. 'Elon Musk's DOGE is terrorizing public sector employees,' Mullen said at the beginning of the 29-minute video. 'Hopefully we have the credentials and the swagger as we go into City Hall and try and try to make things more efficient.' They also displayed clearly fake ID cards that featured profanity and graphic content. If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@ If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@
CBS News
27-02-2025
- CBS News
Police storm San Francisco's Jefferson Square Park - dubbed "Zombie Park" - in large-scale drug bust
Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies descended Wednesday evening on San Francisco's Jefferson Square Park, where rampant drug use earned it the name "Zombie Park," arresting dozens of people. Units from the San Francisco Police Department, the San Francisco Sheriff's Office, and other agencies swooped onto the park a few blocks west of City Hall, clearing out the public space that has recently become a haven for drug dealing and open-air drug use. Police said 84 people were arrested on various charges and that the operation was a product of a new effort to stomp out illegal activity that seems to move from block to block. NIGHT OPERATION LEADS TO NEARLY 90 ARRESTS: An enforcement operation last night at Jefferson Square Park resulted in the seizure of over 1.21 lbs of narcotics and the arrest of nearly 90 suspects. The operation involved coordinated efforts with multiple City agencies and other… — San Francisco Police (@SFPD) February 27, 2025 "There's been this trend that we see where we go to an area, we clean it up, we stabilize it, and then a lot of the people that have been causing problems and havoc - particularly as it relates to the drug market - go into another neighborhood," said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott on Thursday. "That day is over ... stop this whack-a-mole thing that we're seeing when drug dealers - and users - go from one community to the next when they get pressured. This pressure will not stop." Police had recently cleared drug users and unhoused people from nearby Willow Street about two blocks away, and many ended up instead at Jefferson Park, according to published reports. Scott added that some of the 84 people arrested Wednesday night may be released, while others remain in custody. He said the bottom line is the city will take action, a stance the city's new mayor repeated on Thursday. "This is a message that I want everyone in the city to hear," said Mayor Daniel Lurie. "If you are selling drugs in this city, we are coming after you." Lurie was speaking Thursday at a press conference to announce that the weekend of Feb. 14-16, which included the NBA All-Star Game activities and the Chinese New Year Parade, was the safest since 2017, citing police department statistics.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Yahoo
DOGE impersonators who barged into S.F. City Hall appear to be thirsty YouTube pranksters
They were neither Department of Government Efficiency officials nor simple impersonators. Instead, a social media video posted Monday may have provided evidence that three men who asked for sensitive data and caused a stir at San Francisco City Hall two weeks ago were YouTube pranksters thirsting for a laugh. Comedian Danny Mullen posted a 29-minute clip, with roughly the first 17 minutes focusing on his and two other men's actions at City Hall on Valentine's Day. The men have been the focus of an investigation by the San Francisco Sheriff's Office, which noted it is 'a crime to interfere with public business.' 'Video surfaced last night showing that the individuals impersonating DOGE were engaged in a 'prank' for the benefit of YouTube notoriety,' said Tara Moriarty, sheriff's director of communications. An email to an address for Mullen was not returned. In the video, Mullen refers to himself variously as 'Brad Schmidt' and 'Facef—' and says he is a DOGE supporter. He and an unidentified man and the cameraman, who does not speak, moved relatively freely among City Hall rooms and hallways around noon on Feb. 14. Read more: DOGE impersonators demand sensitive information at S.F. City Hall, flee before deputies arrive, authorities say Mullen wore a black MAGA hat and a black Dogecoin shirt, the same shirt his bespectacled unidentified accomplice donned. At one point, Mullen identifies himself as a DOGE worker and says he has to put a thumb drive into a City Hall official's computer. She tells him, 'No, you won't,' closes her laptop and leaves the room. The men bounce around departments, including the assessment appeals office, telling workers they will audit their computer systems, calling one's work "lists of stupid s—," while bothering employees as they worked. Each of the men also carried racy identification cards with strippers and QR codes on them. For the most part, employees calmly placated or humored them, with some ignoring the trio or asking them to leave. 'The behaviors of the individuals under investigation went beyond courteous interactions with city workers and legislative staff, and were carried out in areas where city employees have an expectation of personal workspace safety,' Moriarty said. The apparent prank comes at a time of high insecurity for federal employees, thousands of whom have lost their jobs to DOGE cuts backed by tech titan Elon Musk and President Trump. Read more: A look at Musk team's firings and government overhaul so far In two instances during the San Francisco incident, employees threatened to involve law enforcement, with one man who identified himself as a judge telling the the intruders he was going to call the California Highway Patrol if they didn't leave. As shown on YouTube, all government workers had their faces blurred. Throughout the footage, Mullen and his partners pass by, greet and joke with law enforcement and sheriff's personnel. 'All day, the cops just didn't care that we were doing this,' Mullen said in the YouTube video. Moriarty said, however, that 'as revealed in the footage, our city staff remains committed to being friendly, approachable and hardworking, and we do not appreciate those who engage in harassing behavior to serve their own political agendas." Beyond the political, Mullen seemed to have a personal agenda as he used the YouTube video to promote an upcoming stand-up comedy show. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
