For Immediate Release: April 18, 2016

Contact: Nathan Ballard (415) 235-6283

SFPOA SUBMITS VIDEOTAPED TESTIMONY

OF FORMER UNION PRESIDENT GARY
DELAGNES TO D.A. GEORGE GASCONS
BLUE RIBBON PANEL
Gascon Refused To Allow Delagnes To Speak,
Fearing Contradiction Of Gascons 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 Gascons handpicked
Blue 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 SFPOA
President Martin Halloran. We are submitting this testimony on videotape today to set
the record straight.
The union disagrees with Gascons view that widespread racial bias exists in the San
Francisco Police Department, and argues that Gascons handpicked panel should listen to
the unions point of view before Gascon issues his findings. In March, the union
demanded that Delagnes be allowed to speak to Gascons panel, but Gascon refused to
allow Delganes to speak.
The videotaped deposition of Delagnes contradicts Gascons broad-brush condemnation
of the police department. The deposition also contains a firsthand account of the dinner in
Cambridge, Massachusetts in April, 2010, where Gascon used racially disparaging
language. In the video, Delagnes also recounts how an African-American restaurant
patron approached Gascon and asked him to stop using offensive language.

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 issued
through 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, Gascon
acknowledged 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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