March 12 2003

In This Issue

LET'S FACE IT : District Attorney Terence Hallinan hasn't exactly done a great job of public relations and spin control on the police scandal. He looks, well, wobbly. First, he insisted there was no runaway grand jury (until leaked transcripts showed he urged the panel not to indict the top brass). Then he said the conspiracy case was solid (until maybe it wasn't; at press time the San Francisco Chronicle reports he's going to let the two top cops off the hook).

But let's get beyond politics and P.R. and look at the larger issues for a second.

For starters, it's tough for this D.A., or any D.A., to deal with a media war over grand jury indictments. For a few good reasons and a lot of very bad ones, almost everything a criminal grand jury does is secret. Hallinan can't talk about what went on inside the jury room. He can't release the transcripts (which ought to be available to the public immediately). He can't defend himself very well when the defense starts leaking selected bits of the record to the press.

It would have looked better if Hallinan had come to a decision from the start – prosecute or don't – and stuck to it. This is a political case, and the stakes are high: if the cops walk, police reform (and Hallinan's career) will take a beating.

But when you get right down to it, it appears Hallinan will still press charges against most of the cops directly involved in the cover-up, including several commanders. As long as he doesn't back away from that part of the case, the prosecution is still a big deal.

And there's a much more important point here, which has gotten lost in the press coverage of Hallinan's on-again, off-again moves. Whatever happens with this case, it's clear that secrecy rules at the San Francisco Police Department. Former narcotics-squad officers – macho cowboys – have been running things. Senior cops helped cover up a police beating, which they apparently do all of the time. Women and gay cops are in open revolt. It's a mess – and apparently Mayor Willie Brown doesn't care.

When all of the criminal trials are over, the next mayor and the next Police Commission will have a huge job of cleaning up the department. And the fact that the D.A. isn't very good at spin control doesn't change any of that.