Photo in San Francisco Police Union Newsletter Decried as 'Inflammatory

The August issue of the San Francisco Police Officers Association Journal includes photograph that's resulted in criticism for the department.

The photo on the back page of the union newsletter depicts two labrador retrievers sitting next to each other. One is a black lab; the other is presumably a yellow lab. The black lab is wearing a sign around its neck that reads "Black Labs Matter"; the other pooch is donning an "All Labs Matter" sign.

Image source: KGO-TV screenshot

The caption to the photo's left reads, "Maybe it's time we all just sit back and tone down the rhetoric..."

For Sergeant Yulanda Williams, president of Officers for Justice — an organization within the San Francisco police force representing black and other non-white officers — the photo “once again shows a severe lack of understanding,” she told SFGate. “It’s so inflammatory, and they still don’t get it. They still choose to inflame situations, and it’s just really insulting.”

The SFPD and acting Chief Toney Chaplin declined to comment to SFGate. And while union officials did not immediately comment, either, SFGate said Union President Martin Halloran referenced a union radio ad highlighting the recent deadly attacks on officers.

“In light of the rising violence against police officers, we hope everyone can start to turn down the volume,” Halloran says in the ad, SFGate noted. “Anti-police rhetoric has been cited as a contributing factor to the violence against police officers. I think we can all do better and the police will do our part. We will continue with our best efforts to build bridges of communication and understanding between us and the community that we serve."

More from SFGate:

The union published the photo amid questions about whether the department has a systemic problem with racism, following the emergence of two separate sets of racist text messages exchanged between officers. Halloran has repeatedly said no such problem exists, calling the department one of the most culturally and racially diverse in the nation.

The U.S. Department of Justice is in the midst of a collaborative, top-to-bottom review of the police force that was launched after officers shot and killed a stabbing suspect, Mario Woods, in the Bayview neighborhood in December.

A panel of retired judges, assembled by District Attorney George Gascón to investigate potential police misconduct and bias, has questioned whether the union holds too much power in the department, and many activists have accused the union of standing in the way of reforms.

Anand Subramanian, executive director of the panel of judges investigating bias, also criticized the publication of the dog photo, saying, “It shows a severe lack of judgment and empathy for the real and justified pain and outrage that black communities are feeling.”

(H/T: Drudge Report)