San Francisco PD Tries Out Civilian Investigators
San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon talks to Renee Montagne about a new civilian policing pilot program in his city. They'll be trained to handle low-level offenses, leaving police officers free to respond to more violent crimes. He first started using civilian investigators when he headed the police force in Mesa, Ariz.
RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
Welcome to the program.
C: Thank you, Renee. Good morning.
MONTAGNE: What kinds of crimes are we talking about here?
C: And then when the officer gets there, often they are in a rush because they have other calls to go to. And frankly, often the investigations on the low- level crimes are also done very poorly, because the officers do not have the time to do it right.
MONTAGNE: Give us just one example of the kind of investigation a civilian might do.
C: So at the end of the day, you end up with a better preliminary investigation with a collection of evidence. And then on the other hand, we're leaving the police officers to be able to deal with gang activity and some of the other higher-level crimes that include violence, and where you really need someone that has to be a sworn officer.
MONTAGNE: Well, now, the police union in San Francisco isn't happy at all about having lower-paid, lesser-trained people doing jobs now being done by uniformed officers. And one of the arguments they make is that evidence that is not handled by police officers all along the way can be picked apart in court.
C: Again, I understand the union's concern, but I believe that this actually will further the profession, and it will provide the space for police officers to continue to be very well-paid and that pay to be justified by the functions that they perform, and have other people perform other functions and do it equally as well.
MONTAGNE: Thank you very much for joining us.
C: My pleasure.
MONTAGNE: San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon.
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