Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: FEBRUARY 2017 31 I n San Francisco, a Superior Court judge has rejected a bid by the San Francisco Po- lice Association to block a new use of force policy that would prohibit officers from firing at moving vehicles. Judge Richard Ulmer denied a motion by the San Francisco Police Officers As- sociation for a preliminary injunction. The change in policy to prevent officers from shoot- ing at moving vehicles was recently approved by the Police Commission. The San Francisco POA filed a suit in December alleging that the city had engaged in unfair labor prac- tices by refusing to bargain on the policy. But the judge said use of force issues are the purview of management, not collec- tive bargaining units. “Use of force policies in general are managerial deci- sions. I don’t think there is any other way you can read the case law,” Judge Ulmer said in court. “Based on what I’ve seen so far, I think the city is likely to win.” San Francisco POA Presi- dent Marty Halloran said the union would continue to fight. “We believe that it is not over and we will do what we can within the legal system to protect our members’ rights, and to see that they are not forced into a situa- tion that could cause them great bodily injury,” Hal- loran said. In addition to the shooting at vehicles prohibition, the Police Association also wants to do away with prohibitions on the use of a control tactic hold known as the “carotid restraint.” The commission considered a motion to retain the use of the carotid restraint at a recent meeting but that motion was defeated on a 4 to 3 vote. Mayor Ed Lee has pub- licly committed the city to implementing all of the report’s recommendations under incoming Chief Wil- liam Scott who formerly served with the LAPD. U Unacceptable nacceptable Police association sues for right to shoot at vehicles I n California, seven years after he first filed a claim of race-based harass- ment, discrimination, and retaliation, a three-judge appellate court upheld a lower court’s verdict for De- tective Steve Karagiosian. A Burbank P.D. detective, Karagiosian was awarded $150,000 in 2012 for discrimi- nation and harassment due to his ethnicity. Detective Karagiosian tes- tified during the 2012 trail in Los Angeles County Su- perior Court that sergeants and detectives regularly used derogatory terms such as “towel heads” when referring to Armenians. “We are gratified that the Court of Appeals upheld the award,” Attorney Solomon Gresen said. “The misconduct proven at trial is not permissible, and we are happy that the Department has worked to address these very serious issues since the verdict was handed down. “Since then, Burbank’s new Police Chief, City Manager, City Attorney, and dedicated officers like Steve Karagio- sian, have made a real differ- ence. I credit Steve with being a big part of the solution.” The Court upheld the $150,000 in damages and $719,527.50 in attorney fees. The court also ordered the City to pay the costs of the appeal. Steve Karagiosian is an Armenian-American officer who was appointed to the elite Special Enforcement Division (SED) in August 2007. During the trail, Kara- giosian testified that the com- ments were targeted at him because of his Armenian descent and in retaliation for his vocal opposition to racial harassment and discrimina- tion in the department. He said after that he was the frequent object of verbal harassment. Justice has been served The San Francisco POA argues the new policy prohibiting shooting at moving vehicles is a threat to officers and civilians.