SF Police Commission Awaits Legal Opinion in Sheila Detoy Case

• Unarmed, Innocent, 17 Yr. Old Filipina Gunned Down by Police 5 Years Ago

The San Francisco Police Commission decided today to go into closed session next week for discussions with city attorneys about a 1998 officer-involved shooting in which a teenage girl died. Sheila Detoy, 17, died on May 13 that year after police near Lake Merced fired into a car in which she was a front-seat passenger. The Police Commission, which would decide any disciplinary cases against the officers involved, is awaiting a legal opinion from the City Attorney's office regarding which documents commissioners should be allowed to view. "There's somehow this fear that we'll be tained and that we have to be protected," said Commissioner Peter Keane, who has argued for maximum disclosure even though some expressed concern that viewing Police Department reports could skew commissioners' objectivity. Others made plain their frustration over the length of time that has passed since the shooting and the lack of disciplinary hearings in the case. "Six years is just insane," said Commissioner Joe Marshall. Police officials at today's commission meeting described plans in the works to accelerate officer-involved shooting investigations, which often take years. [more]

• On May 13, 1998 undercover San Francisco police officers and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were staking out the apartment of Raymondo Cox, 21 hoping to arrest him on drug charges. When Cox got into a car with Sheila Detoyand driver Michael Negron, police attempted to block one end of the driveway with a van. When Negron threw the car into reverse to try to go out the other way, police officers say they feared that the car would hit them, so they opened fire, killing Detoy. Police can shoot at a car coming at them but Officer Breslin fired from the side of the car when he was out of harm's way
• PoliceWatch Stops Commission From Letting Rogue Cops Off the Hook [more]
• FIVE YEARS - NO JUSTICE FOR SHEILA DETOY [more]
• Mother of slain girl files wrongful death claim [more]