San Francisco police union calls on chief to resign over journalist raid

The San Francisco Police Officers Association on Saturday called for Police Chief Bill Scott to resign over the raid of a freelance journalist’s home and office.

“It is time for Chief Scott to go. There’s no other way around it,” the union wrote in a post on their website.

“A true leader accepts responsibility. Chief Scott oversaw and ordered the investigation and raid of a journalist’s home, and then when the optics did not go his way, he threw the men and women who carried out his orders under a double-decker bus. His apology to the media was clearly meant for him to save face as opposed to accept responsibility for his own actions. Shameful.”

The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the resignation call.

{mosads}Police searched freelance videographer Bryan Carmody’s home and office earlier this month while investigating the leak of a report that contained unflattering information about Public Defender Jeff Adachi before his death.

Scott initially defended the raid, saying police suspected Carmody conspired to steal a police report. Carmody denied that accusation.

Then, this week, Scott apologized, saying the raid was likely not legal while calling for an independent investigation.

That reversal came after public pressure and condemnations from high-profile California politicians including Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D).