Law enforcement. These protests come at a time when our communities have been struggling even more because of the coronavirus. For too long, black people have been subjected to abuse at the hands of those in power. Now is the time that we can make sure that the demonstrations that we see are translated into real action. As has sadly been demonstrated by the death of george floyd, black communities are also disproportionately represented in our criminal justice system, so reforms go hand and hand both around Police Reforms and criminal justice reforms, as well. Weve seen in San Francisco a lot of real change but also knowing that we have a lot more to do. So we are really excited with this panel here today to talk about the work that San Francisco has already done but also our commitment to doing even more, including using the police in response to noncriminal activities, addressing police biases and strengthening our ability, and promoting economic justice. If were going to make real change, we need to fundamentally change the nature of policing itself. Here is an incredible opportunity, and so todays conversation will discuss other paths, criminal justice reforms that have been made in San Francisco, and joining us today, i am so excited to have van jones here. Now people know about his work around criminal justice reform, environment justice, and other things, but i remember when i was living in public housing, that was a time when African Americans would not always standup to the police. You would see this black man, van jones, on the news whenever there was an injustice, calling it out and pushing for a change. Hes been doing this work for over 25 years, and just imagine, at a time when it was not popular, that he especially as an African American man was a target, he had the courage to step up to fight, and hes still fighting. Thank you so much to van jones for joining us today. We also have board of equalization chair malia cohen, who when she and i were on the board of supervisors, we led so many Police Reforms. She was instrumental in banning the chokehold and other policies that we are now implementing in San Francisco even when others attacked her, when they came after her, she stood strong, she stood tall, and now, as a result of her work, we have a separate office of Police Accountability that she brought to the ballot, and we worked together to do some Amazing Things in our Police Department. Welcome, malia cohen, and finally, we have police chief bill scott. Chief scott has also been a partner for pushing for these Police Reforms here in San Francisco, and we all know that change is not easy, but hes been committed to working with our communities and working for change because we want better not only for our Police Department, we want better for our community. So thank you all so much for joining us here today. Im really excited to get us started on this panel, and i want to really start with you, van. The fact is i mean, the fact is youre still here, doing this work, and now, you have more people who are doing this work. And when you were doing this work, you were criticized, you were discriminated, you were threatened. At that time, there were a lot of beatings because i remember seeing them my he have personally. There was no Police Accountability then. Tell me, what does it mean to see it right now . First of all, its a crazy experience. To see you the mayor, its just that, its a whole word. To be looking at you, malia, and to be looking at chief scott, i dont think people understand what it was like just in the 90s in San Francisco. I mean, we literally had a shoot first ask first, ask questions later policy. I look back to when i was a kid, and i thought, what was i doing . In San Francisco, we had a policy of shooting, pepper spraying, and beating African Americans to death. Sean williams beaten and pepper sprayed to death by a Police Officer named mark andaya. We finally rose up and said we had enough. I remember that. We would go to 850 bryant, and we would use that, we would use that Public Comment to turn the Police Commission meetings into public rallies, and we finally got rid of that Police Officer. That finally put me on the National Stage because no one had gotten a Police Officer fired in 30 years. I cannot tell you how important it is, what youre doing. It is very hard. People need Law Enforcement. We just want Law Enforcement. We want the police to obey the law, and we want them to play their lane and let the counselors play their lane, let the yoga instructors play their lane, let everybody play their lane. But when the Police Officers are given too many jobs to do, and too little oversight, thats what were going to have, were going to have homelessness is a police issue, drug addicts are a police issue. When kid throws an eraser, its a police issue. Everything is a police issue. I just want to say that i cannot tell you how important it is for you to create a model, a reinvented Police Presence in San Francisco, that that can license people across the country to do the same thing. I dont want to go down memory lane. Weve got too many problems right now, but at this time a trip, 25 years later, to see people like you and the chief talking about things we were talking about 25 years ago. The hon. London breed yeah, it is amazing. And when you think about it, 25 years, and sadly, we still see African American men, for the most part, losing their lives at the hands of Law Enforcement. The hon. London breed and the question i ask myself is, why is it always African American men . We have a lot of wonderful officers out there developing relationships, trying to work with the community. I grew up not trusting Police Officers, and to bridge that gap was important, but we also know that there are racist cops, there are cops that dont see African Americans as human beings, and thats at the core of what we need to dismantle. So its not just the policies, its how do we completely rid our departments of people who have a problem with black people, with lgbtq people, with chinese people, with folks who are different than they are . Im trying to figure out what to call you, chair cohen, because im used to calling you supervisor, but im so glad that you could join this conversation because you were so heroic. I was focused on police reform, but you took it to a whole nother level, and you just ran with it. As a member of the board of supervisors, you didnt have to attend Police Commission meetings, but you sat there for hours. And the time you invested in getting rid of the chokehold and the attacks on the Police Officers association, and all the stuff that you pushed for, you see what were implementing. As you support policies, we used to have seven officer involved shootings, and then, over the past two years, we have seen three officer involved shootings, which none have resulted in death. What do you think about the work youve done, and what do you think we have to do . Because we definitely have more to do. Good morning, chief and van and mayor. Its good to be with you on this panel and be part of this incredible moment in time. You know, mayor breed, i really its a mixed emotion, right . So in many ways, im proud that we have the foresight to start these processes. We used the board of supervisors, and we also used the Police Commission, two very, very important systems that are complementary to each other. But also, i feel like we still have a lot of work to do. I feel like we need to continue to roll up our sleeves and to better our best to continue to have thoughtful conversations on police matters. When we are talking about Law Enforcement, i want to focus on at least in our city, we focus on San FranciscoPolice Department, but we also need to focus on those in custody and the San Francisco sheriffs department. I think one of the entities that deserves the highest credit to our citys success really has to do with civilian oversight. Weve got a great Police Commission, and we need to continue to strengthen that commission. I am proud of the department of Police Accountability that we that got passed in 2016 that voters approved with over 70 . So there is a lot of things to be proud of. But looking forward, and looking into the future, theres still much work that needs to be done. So im delighted to be on this today with you and chief and van so that we can continue to talk about and make these changes. Im an instigator. You are, van. You are. And i appreciate these conversations. Theyre uncomfortable, and its time to be uncomfortable because now, were having an honest conversation about the changes that we need to make for black people in this country. I talk about this as mayor and when i was supervisor, and its not just because im black. African americans are less than 6 of the population in San Francisco, but almost 40 are homeless. And almost 50 are involved in the criminal justice system. The kids are dropping out of high school. Everything you talk about, were disproportionately represented, and everything that we talked about, we cant congratulate ourselves until theyre a part of the success, and that success means a reform of policing. Chief scott, youve been a member of the department for a few years now. Youve been criticized about the implementation of the reform. The obama administration, in 2015, issued recommendations around 21 century policing, and we committed, in San Francisco back then, that we are going to implement those recommendations. There have been a lot of criticism because out of the 273 recommendations, San Francisco has only been able to implement 61. Now its not about checking a box. We want to make sure people understand when theyre doing antibias training, when theyre doing deescalation training, that they get it. So tell us why things are moving so slowly, and what can we expect moving forward, and how are we going to get to a better place around policing in our city . Yeah, thank you, mayor breed. Let me start off by answering your question about reform. 272 recommendations, that process was a longtime process in terms of what got us there. And really, what got us there are the officerinvolved shootings that san franciscans were outraged about. So of those 272 recommendations, 58 of them specifically deal with use of force, and i am happy to report to you all that we were in compliance with according to the department of justice on over half of our use of force revisions. Ill back up a step further in terms of the time that it takes. Reform is not like you just said in there, a checked box process, it is not that. Even with the 61 recommendations that we have completed, one of the things that we had to work on was whats the Continuous Improvement loop . So weve completed the recommendation, but what we had to put in place were systems of accountability so we dont rest on our successes and say were done. And when the california d. O. J. Looked at our work, you know, a lot of our work got kicked back for just that reason. We had cannot the work that we needed to do, but its whats next on the forefront. We had to go back like our officer involved shootings, we had town hauls. Its good for the communities to be transparent, to get the community have a say in letting us know what theyre thinking, feeling, but that recommendation, even though we were doing town hauls before i got here. What they found was we didnt have a feedback loop to converse with the community and each other after the town haul to say what can we do better . So we had to go back and institute a feedback loop to make sure that every time we have an incident, that we continue to look at it critically, and we continue to get better. Let me say this, and not to be too long winded, for all of you on the call, i and many of you applaud your leadership, because somebody had to step out and be the first one. Often times im not a biker, but i know a lot of bikers. They always talk about the first one in line, everybody goes behind them because its easier to follow. You were the first one in line, and strathat was instrumental get us to successes. Mayor breed, you had the same experiences in terms of being a leader. What youre trying to do in terms of redirecting our resources, thats leadership. Other people jumped behind you and said were going to do this, too. But what mr. Jones did back 25 years ago, thats not easy, but it makes it easier for people to stand behind you and push, so i just want to say, its a challenge, but were making progress, and we will continue to go. The hon. London breed chief, i just want to say that San Francisco is one thing, and we still have our problems, but when you look at whats still happening and i try not to get emotional, but what i saw in the video with george floyd, and even mario woods here in San Francisco. And when i see these things happen, im thinking about my brother, im thinking about my cousin and others and even those that i helped raise in this community and the fillmore, all black men, right . And then, i feel like why . Why is it always us, and how this conversation now, what people saw, weve been forced to live with it. Weve had no choice. But now, others are starting to emerge and look at this incredible opportunity. So i wanted to hear from you, you know, what do you think is going on nationally as to why were here, and do you think its going to lead to national change with Law Enforcement in our country . I think it is, we have the opportunity here. Listen, in the past two weeks, youve seen the emergence of a conversation on race. Most of the time, were getting gaslit; people saying oh, well, he was running, the police had to make a quick decision, and so people were getting desensitized to what we are seeing. But this was a lynching, a lynching. A white man strangling a black man to death, and his face looking peaceful the whole time. The only threat was the cops. You have to watch it one minute, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, hes calling for his mother. His mothers been dead. Five minutes, urinating on himself. People screaming, youre killing him. Five times, he said he cant breathe. Weve been lynched for 400 years, but youve never seen it on a billion cell phones at the same time. Youve never seen it on 1 billion cell phones at the same time. In the 50s, a generation of black people, when they got to campus, campuses in the 50s, they took off. The picture, the Television Pictures of those dogs being sicced on children in birmingham in 63, the whole world moved. That young child who held that video camera put a shard of glass into every video camera in the planet, and so now, they are a part of that, they dont know what to do, and that creates an opportunity for people to say hey, we have ideas. Weve been trying to tell you, and we have a perfect video of a perfect murder in daylight with cell phone cameras and body cameras on. I know you get it now. What do we do . Im part of a National Movement matt haney your good friend matt haney and i created something called cut 50 several years to try to get some bipartisan support on that movement. We now have republicans and democrats trying to Work Together in congress right now to try to do something right now, to try to get a bill passed. All of these steps that weve been taking along the way have brought us to this point. I believe that you have 30 to 40 million white people in america right now who maybe believe three things. Number one, racism is real or more real than we thought, somethings wrong with the system when it comes to police and criminal justice, and what can i do . Im going to tell you, as an old guy, thats a miracle. Ive never seen that, and so i do think more is possible. We have to be very, very clear that at the end of the day, we have to reimagine and reinvent policing itself. The kids are saying defund the police, defund the police. Everybody is mad at the kids for saying that. But if you double click on that defund the Police Slogan i understand that people dont like that the ideas are about reinventing and reforming the police and giving them the right resources to social services and everything so the police dont have to do everything. So theres something now out there that can do that. But what i say to you is this no longer being gaslit every time we Say Something is happening thats racial, and having to climb a 1,000mile mountain of proof when we know what the hell is going on and everybody else. When nascar says you cant bring confederate flags anymore, when the nfl supports people kneeling, theres something happening. Y the hon. London breed you have people stepping down from boards, saying put a black person in my place. You have juneteenth celebrations, and a lot of folks