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> Plenty of SFPD folks would love to do arrests, but when called made it clear that was no point because the DA would refuse to prosecute. At least that’s what

> Plenty of SFPD folks would love to do arrests, but when called made it clear that was no point because the DA would refuse to prosecute. At least that’s what they said on scene. Assuming that there are legitimate grounds for arrest, this is what it means for police not to do their jobs. AFAIK, there is no "aw, what's the use, anyway?" exception.

rhino369 4y ago
I don't want to defend the cops, but when the DA expressly states they aren't going to enforce certain laws, then its really not their job to arrest people for that anymore. At that point the DA has made is clear that its not a legitimate grounds for arrests even if the law is on the books.
- shkkmo 4y ago
  > then its really not their job to arrest people for that anymore. Did they quit? If they are still recieving a paycheck then it is quite literally still their job. Instead of doing their job, the police decided to try to do the DA’s job, which is deciding which cases should be prosecuted.
  - rhino369 4y ago
    If the cops aren't enforcing any law at all, then I'd agree they aren't doing their jobs. But if they are doing the rest of their job, but not arresting people for crimes the DA won't charge, that is doing their full job.
- __derek__ 4y ago
  I don't know how SF's chain of command is structured, but it would be unusual for the DA to be in there between the city council and SFPD leadership.
lazide 4y ago
The cops are often caught between multiple conflicting and individually impossible goals, many political. ‘Keep the streets safe!’ ‘Stop scaring people away by standing around all the time when there is no trouble!’ ‘Enforce the law!’ ‘Don’t arrest grandma because she was driving drunk, you’re scaring the old people’ They pragmatically have to pick and choose what to do based on what actually works. If the DA won’t prosecute something, arresting someone for it is just a bunch of paperwork, time, and effort that doesn’t accomplish anything most of the time, so will get deprioritized.
- __derek__ 4y ago
  Don't get me wrong: I empathize with not wanting to do parts of a job that feel pointless, but it's still not doing the job.
  - lazide 4y ago
    The city council, chief of police, and associated other folks elected to oversee and appoint them disagree, as does the electorate apparently, based on the recall election results. If the police were refusing to do their jobs, ultimately it would be the city council held to account, and you’d see rather different types of political pressure being applied. It seems instead that folks want a different DA. How we got there and whatever finger pointing was happening and if it was justified is of course part of the debate we’re having.
lazide 4y ago
There totally is such an ‘aww what’s the use’ exception by the way. It’s called discretion. It’s also used to not arrest someone who may technically have committed a crime, but for when it would be a injustice/unfair/politically untenable to arrest them for it. It’s not supposed to be abused of course, but people are people. It would be impossible and undesirable for them to no have it however, in real life. You’d end up with the worst of Barney fife type behavior at the best.

rhino369 4y ago

I don't want to defend the cops, but when the DA expressly states they aren't going to enforce certain laws, then its really not their job to arrest people for that anymore. At that point the DA has made is clear that its not a legitimate grounds for arrests even if the law is on the books.

shkkmo 4y ago
> then its really not their job to arrest people for that anymore. Did they quit? If they are still recieving a paycheck then it is quite literally still their job. Instead of doing their job, the police decided to try to do the DA’s job, which is deciding which cases should be prosecuted.
- rhino369 4y ago
  If the cops aren't enforcing any law at all, then I'd agree they aren't doing their jobs. But if they are doing the rest of their job, but not arresting people for crimes the DA won't charge, that is doing their full job.
__derek__ 4y ago
I don't know how SF's chain of command is structured, but it would be unusual for the DA to be in there between the city council and SFPD leadership.

lazide 4y ago

The cops are often caught between multiple conflicting and individually impossible goals, many political. ‘Keep the streets safe!’ ‘Stop scaring people away by standing around all the time when there is no trouble!’ ‘Enforce the law!’ ‘Don’t arrest grandma because she was driving drunk, you’re scaring the old people’ They pragmatically have to pick and choose what to do based on what actually works. If the DA won’t prosecute something, arresting someone for it is just a bunch of paperwork, time, and effort that doesn’t accomplish anything most of the time, so will get deprioritized.

__derek__ 4y ago
Don't get me wrong: I empathize with not wanting to do parts of a job that feel pointless, but it's still not doing the job.
- lazide 4y ago
  The city council, chief of police, and associated other folks elected to oversee and appoint them disagree, as does the electorate apparently, based on the recall election results. If the police were refusing to do their jobs, ultimately it would be the city council held to account, and you’d see rather different types of political pressure being applied. It seems instead that folks want a different DA. How we got there and whatever finger pointing was happening and if it was justified is of course part of the debate we’re having.

lazide 4y ago

There totally is such an ‘aww what’s the use’ exception by the way. It’s called discretion. It’s also used to not arrest someone who may technically have committed a crime, but for when it would be a injustice/unfair/politically untenable to arrest them for it. It’s not supposed to be abused of course, but people are people. It would be impossible and undesirable for them to no have it however, in real life. You’d end up with the worst of Barney fife type behavior at the best.