San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi is participating in a community forum tonight on the recent police misconduct scandal involving residential hotels in the city.
The forum, hosted by San Francisco-based POOR Magazine, will include people living in the city’s residential hotels, as well as Tal Klement, a deputy public defender who worked on one of the cases that was dropped because of surveillance video showing the alleged misconduct.
At least 83 cases have been dismissed by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office since Adachi’s office released several videos last month that appear to show events that conflict with accounts written in police reports.
Four of the videos were taken at residential hotels in the city’s South of Market and Mission neighborhoods during drug busts in December and January. The footage shows officers apparently entering rooms without a warrant or consent, contradicting what was written in the officers’ reports.
The FBI has taken over the investigation into the alleged misconduct.
At tonight’s forum, Adachi is expected to discuss legal resources for SRO residents and call for legislation prohibiting police from using master keys to gain access to the tenants’ apartments, according to the public defender’s office.
Police have said they consider the need to use the master keys on a case-by-case basis.
The forum is scheduled to run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at POOR Magazine, located at 2940 16th St.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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