The SFPD “failed abysmally to take appropriate and meaningful steps to reform its unlawful ways,” said Coleman.
On the other hand, Daralyn Durie, founder of Durie Tangri LLP, said, “Targeting individuals for arrest and criminal prosecution based on the color of their skin is indefensible.” She added, “The numbers here—37 out of 37— speak for themselves.”
Meanwhile, ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project Director Ezekiel Edwards said the “disturbing historical trend” of targeting Black people for arrest and prosecution is happening “not just in San Francisco but across the country.”
According to Edwards, this practice by police departments is a violation of the Constitution. He added, “They perpetuate this nation’s shameful legacy of racial discrimination.”
San Francisco denied the allegations
In response to the allegations, John Coté, the spokesman for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, said the police department “did not engage in selective enforcement” during the operation at the Tenderloin District. He explained that the SFPD followed the directives of federal agents, who led the arrests.
