Target: San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee
Goal: Thank San Francisco mayor for successfully urging the Chief of a police department caught in racist firestorm to resign.
After killings of people of color by cops increased dramatically and racist scandals plagued the department under his leadership, Chief of Police Greg Suhr finally stepped down after urging from city mayor Ed Lee. The mayor himself has been under pressure to get Suhr to resign from activists including those who signed the “Fire Chief of Police Following Increase in Deadly Cop Shootings” petition here at ForceChange.
The situation got so bad that five people of color went on a hunger strike until Suhr resigned. Called the “#Frisco5” online, they were protesting the fact that 21 people had been killed by police in San Francisco alone in the past five years. Additionally, texts were discovered circulating among the chain of command that contained vile racist and homophobic comments.
Thanks to the constant pressure by activists, especially the five who risked their health to go on a hunger strike, the man who oversaw a police department that seemed to plunge into a bigoted mess has finally been removed. Hopefully, he’ll be replaced by someone committed to ending the rash of police killings and prejudice sentiment among the force. Sign our petition to thank Mayor Ed Lee for pressuring Greg Suhr to step down.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mayor Lee,
I understand that you had a hand in the recent resignation of San Francisco Chief of Police Greg Suhr. I want to thank you for doing the right thing by listening to the voices of the people, including the five people of color who felt so strongly that they went on a hunger strike until Suhr stepped down. You’ve helped to protect their health by encouraging the former Chief to resign.
I hope you understand that the resignation of Greg Suhr was necessary. In the five years that he was Chief, 21 people were killed by police officers in your city alone. That’s a drastically high number for one city. I’m sure you also remember the scandal in which racist and homophobic texts were circulated among the chain of command under his leadership. This is not the kind of image you want your police department to have.
Though it’s good that you pressured Suhr to resign, your job is not done. You need to ensure that the next Chief of Police is committed to rooting out bigotry from the department and ending the epidemic of police killing citizens of color. Please make the right choice for the next leader of the San Francisco Police Department.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Alex Crook
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