8/18/2019 SFPOA Delagnes Videotape Press Release
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For Immediate Release: April 18, 2016Contact: Nathan Ballard
(415) 235-6283
SFPOA SUBMITS VIDEOTAPED TESTIMONY
OF FORMER UNION PRESIDENT GARYDELAGNES TO D.A. GEORGE
GASCON’S
BLUE RIBBON PANEL
Gascon Refused To Allow Delagnes To Speak,
Fearing Contradiction Of Gascon’s Broad-Brush
Condemnation Of Police Officers
Deposition Features Firsthand Account Of
Cambridge Dinner Where Gascon Disparaged
Minorities
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the San Francisco Police Officers’
Association (SFPOA)will submit a videotaped deposition from Gary
Delagnes, a retired San Francisco police
officer and former union president, to District Attorney George
Gascon’s handpickedBlue Ribbon Panel.
“Because George Gascon is afraid to hear from anyone who
disagrees with him, he
suppressed the testimony of police officers who deserve a chance
to speak,” said SFPOAPresident Martin Halloran. “We are submitting
this testimony on videotape today to set
the record straight.”
The union disagrees with Gascon’s view that widespread racial
bias exists in the SanFrancisco Police Department, and argues that
Gascon’s handpicked panel should listen to
the union’s point of view before Gascon issues his “findings.”
In March, the uniondemanded that Delagnes be allowed to speak to
Gascon’s panel, but Gascon refused to
allow Delganes to speak.
The videotaped deposition of Delagnes contradicts Gascon’s
broad-brush condemnationof the police department. The deposition
also contains a firsthand account of the dinner in
Cambridge, Massachusetts in April, 2010, where Gascon used
racially disparaginglanguage. In the video, Delagnes also recounts
how an African-American restaurant
patron approached Gascon and asked him to stop using
offensive language.
8/18/2019 SFPOA Delagnes Videotape Press Release
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The videotaped deposition of Delagnes is
here:https://youtu.be/znwJtiHqIuw
The portion of the deposition that details the Cambridge dinner
is here:
https://youtu.be/-7YMtRac89k
***NB: The videotaped deposition contains explicit
language***
Gascon has refused to comment in any detail on the Cambridge
dinner. He initially issuedthrough a spokesman what Mayor Willie L.
Brown, Jr., described as a “non-denial
denial.” (San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 2016.) After a week
of silence, Gasconacknowledged attending the dinner, but issued a
denial that lacked any detail.
Mayor Brown also said that Gascon should have asked a prosecutor
from another county
to convene the Blue Ribbon Panel. (San Francisco Chronicle,
March 6, 2016.)
Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp (ret.) demanded that Gascon
recuse himself from the panel. In a February 17, 2016 letter
to Gascon, the judge accused Gascon of a conflict of
interest. Kopp said that by handpicking the Blue Ribbon Panel,
Gascon has created the perception that he is investigating
himself, because Gascon was chief during some of the
time period being scrutinized by the panel.
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