CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Chief Admits Error in Handling Protest
Calling last month’s police sweep of San Francisco’s Castro District a mistake, Police Chief Frank Jordan has ordered a drastic, top-level shake-up of the tactical squad, including plans to discipline his brother, Deputy Chief John Jordan. One startling revision involved stripping the squad of crowd control, one of its regular higher-profile functions. “Civil disobedience did occur,” the chief said of an Oct. 6 demonstration protesting government policies on the AIDS epidemic. He admitted, however, that police response to the protest, including a clubbing, was “inappropriate” and reflected a command breakdown. The departmental shake-up came after weeks of bitter protests from leaders of the gay community.
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