San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr resigned Thursday, hours after a city officer killed a woman at the edge of the Bayview neighborhood and after he was asked to step down by Mayor Ed Lee.
At a City Hall news conference, Lee said he hoped to “heal the city” amid outrage over recent police killings of people of color and revelations that a number of officers had exchanged racist and homophobic text messages.
Lee named as acting police chief Toney Chaplin, 47, who was a deputy chief.
Lee appointed Suhr in April 2011 when George Gascón became district attorney. A 30-year veteran of the force, he had the backing of the police union, Chinatown political powerhouse Rose Pak and state Attorney General Kamala Harris, Gascón's predecessor as district attorney.
But Suhr presided over a series of controversies, including the arrests of officers, allegations of racism and racial profiling in the force, and disputed officer-involved shootings.
“I have previously expressed confidence in Chief Suhr because I know he agrees with and understands the need for reform,” Lee said. “But following this morning’s officer-involved shooting and my meeting with Chief Suhr this afternoon, today I have arrived at a diferrent question of how best to move forward.”
San Francisco police are investigating an officer-involved shooting of a woman Thursday morning in the southeastern part of the city near the Bayview district. SF police shooting of woman, 27, renews concern about lethal Ex-cop who blew whistle on officer says she was forced to retire
Lee said, “In this solemn moment we must put aside politics and begin to heal the city.”
On Thursday morning, a San Francisco police sergeant shot and killed a woman who was driving a suspected stolen car near the Bayview neighborhood, officials said. There was no immediate indication that the 27-year-old woman had a weapon or was trying to run down the sergeant before the shooting, police said.
It was the third fatal shooting of a suspect by San Francisco police within the past six months. Previous shootings, particularly the Dec. 2 killing of 26-year-old stabbing suspect Mario Woods in the Bayview, have prompted critics to accuse police of being too quick to use their guns, especially against suspects who are minorities.
Woods was African American, and Suhr said the woman who was killed Thursday was black. Her name and the names of the officers involved have not been released.
Suhr and Lee had until Thursday been fending off calls from critics, including four members of the Board of Supervisors, that the chief be replaced.
