A CALL FOR GOOD POLICING

POLICE WORK IS tough and thankless, particularly with the flow of
illicit drugs, the violent gangs and the turf wars.

To quell such violence -- including drive-by shootings and murders --
San Francisco initiated "Operation Ceasefire," an intensified police
campaign in the Bayview-Hunters Point area. With just three suspected
gang or drug-related homicides since December, the campaign has been
declared a success by police.

Many residents, activists and police insiders however say that the
campaign at times has become a license for some officers to engage in
the type of misconduct that passed for police work 50 years ago.

They say a string of controversial police incidents since January --
including two fatalities, the shooting of an innocent bystander and
the holding of five children at gunpoint while threatening to shoot
one of their mothers -- typifies the new approach.

"I raised my daughter to respect the police and this is what they do
in return," said Susie McAllister, whose 13-year-old daughter is
still traumatized by the latter encounter with police. "She was a
straight-A student.

My daughter is a corpse now. She just stays in her room. The
therapist says it may take years for her to return to normal."

Police Chief Fred Lau says that the cases are being investigated and
he denies that there's a pattern of police abuse. Still, he says, the
department is "overcoming many years of misunderstanding and
distrust," citing the formation of a Community Relations Board to
offer policy input.

Such oversight is welcome. Criminal behavior and police misconduct
are both abhorrent. Communities shouldn't be forced to trade one for
the other.

Indeed, Bayview-Hunters Point residents deserve the same level of
respect and protection by police as those in Pacific Heights or
anywhere else. No one should have to worry about calling police for
fear of becoming a victim.