CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Police to Overhaul Policy on Protests

After more than a year of controversy, the San Francisco Police Commission has voted to revamp policies that determine how police officers handle political protests and other public gatherings. The use of plainclothes officers at demonstrations will be reduced, police cooperation with the Immigration and Naturalization Service will be strictly limited, and a first-ever hearing on alleged political spying will be held Jan. 17, the panel decided. The commission also heard Police Chief Frank Jordan describe in detail the events of Oct. 6, when police clashed with AIDS activists in the Castro neighborhood. Jordan said 151 officers--more than half the available patrol force that night--were assigned to the protest by his brother, former Deputy Chief Jack Jordan. The chief, who has called police actions that night an improper sweep, said officers may not have issued three dispersal orders as usual before moving a second group of demonstrators from Castro Street.