San Francisco Mayor Declines to Fund Taskforce Into Police Bias

San Francisco mayor Ed Lee says he won’t grant a request to fund a taskforce eyeing 3,000 arrests handled by officers accused of sending racist and anti-gay text messages. Authorities say the arrests could have been influenced and resulted in wrongful convictions, as the result of bias by 14 San Francisco police officers being investigated for the text messages. Six officers are facing possible termination, two have retired, and six others are facing some kind of discipline. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday that in his proposed budget, Lee declined a request by district attorney George Gascón for $383,315 to expand the taskforce. Francis Tsang, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said the request exceeded the amount of funds available.