SF Police Commission: Justice 4 Mario Woods – We must be there to speak up!

San Francisco’s police union has called on its members to show up at Wednesday’s police commission in force to support the officers who were involved in the December shooting death of Mario Woods.

A letter was sent to all active Police Officers Association members Jan. 16 asking for a strong showing Wednesday night to ensure the commission remains impartial despite attacks on law enforcement from some politicians and others.

“I am writing to all active POA members to request a show of support by officers at the next police commission meeting. We are asking our members to show support for our brothers and sisters involved in the recent officer involved shootings in the Bayview district,” wrote union President Martin Halloran in his plea. “Our profession is under attack nationally, and especially here in San Francisco”

The union’s request comes as protesters and activists have been calling for Mayor Ed Lee to fire Police Chief Greg Suhr and for the prosecution of the five officers who were involved in the killing of Woods last month.

Suhr has specifically come under fire for his previous handling of a racist text scandal last year and more recently for comments he made after the Woods killing that some say sounded as if he thought the shooting was justified.

Meanwhile, the union’s president has taken a strong position on the Woods killing, saying in the January issue of the union’s monthly journal that preliminary information released by the department indicates that “these officers were forced into an impossible situation with an armed suspect who allegedly stabbed an innocent victim less than a half hour earlier. These officers exhausted all forms of less lethal force and were forced, by the suspect, to discharge their firearms”

We disagree.