A message from the Inspector General ...
Thank you for the amazing warm reception at my swearing-in. I'm proud to be your inaugural Inspector General and have been working hard to deliver on the promise of Supervisor Walton's Proposition D - to provide comprehensive independent oversight for the San Francisco Sheriff's Office. Since my first day in the office, less than two months ago, I've been busy advocating for funding and resources to become operational. Special thanks to the Department of Police Accountability (DPA) for providing office space and lending me the resources while we build the new Office of the Inspector General. With the help of the Mayor's Budget Office and the DPA's Finance Team, I've developed a reasonable budget proposal, presented the budget for public input, and submitted the budget proposal on time. San Francisco is facing an unprecedented budget deficit, and we are doing our part to responsibly ask for only what we need to get started, with a plan to phase in staff over the next few fiscal cycles.
Over the past few weeks, I've met with many stakeholders, including Supervisor Walton, members of the Board of Supervisors, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department Oversight Board, Sheriff Miyamoto, member's of the Sheriff's staff, member's of the Mayor's staff, the San Francisco Jail Justice Coalition, members of the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, and the Bar Association of San Francisco to set responsive priorities. Please reach out with my input you may have.
While we work on obtaining the funding to hire a staff of investigators, I've proposed a Letter of Agreement to the Sheriff and the DPA for each department to continue investigating complaints about Sheriff staff to ensure no investigations is compromised during this transition. We are currently negotiating the terms of this agreement.
Lastly, I've been honored to attend many events around the Bay Area giving me the opportunity to raise awareness about our new agency. I was the keynote speaker for the Silicon Valley NAACP Black History Month Celebration, I marched in the San Francisco Lunar New Year Parade, and I was a panelist for, "A Conversation wtih Living Legends of the Largest Black Bar Associations", hosted by Duane Morris.
I look forward to updating you with our progress. Here is a link to the new OIG website: https://www.sf.gov/departments/office-inspector-general, to access services, resources, and information. The website is a work in progress so please stay tuned and check back regularly for updates.
Thank you for your continued support.
