San Francisco mayor-elect Daniel Lurie’s appointment for a newly created public security position confronted allegations in a 2018 civil swimsuit of abusing his authority and intimidating a person who he rear-ended in a visitors collision.
Paul Yep, a former commander with the San Francisco Police Division, was named by Lurie to be the town’s first chief of public security on Thursday.
The newly created position will coordinate with metropolis departments that contain public security and can report on to the mayor. It comes as a part of a restructuring of the mayor’s workplace that Lurie promised throughout his marketing campaign that he stated will convey extra accountability to metropolis authorities.
Former San Francisco Police Division Cmdr. Paul Yep has been appointed to develop into the town’s first chief of public security. (San Francisco Police Division)
Yep was born and raised in San Francisco and attended Lowell Excessive Faculty and San Francisco State College, in keeping with Lurie’s workplace. He was a 28-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Division who has been serving as a vp at Academy of Arts College since his retirement from the division in 2023.
He was accused in a 2018 civil lawsuit of rear-ending a person backing out of his driveway in Burlingame as Yep drove an unmarked police cruiser.
The person alleged in courtroom filings that the occasion prompted bodily accidents and intentional emotional misery to him and his spouse.
The couple additionally alleged a sequence of actions that unnerved them, together with accusing Yep of initially refusing to offer his ID after the collision, then figuring out himself as a police officer when he did. They additional accused him of figuring out he was driving unsafely and accused him of later driving by their residence after the collision, which they thought of intimidating.
Yep didn’t return requests for remark. He strongly denied all of the allegations in courtroom filings.
Settled earlier than trial
The 2 filed dueling sworn depositions as to their model of occasions.
The person by no means filed a police report. Yep filed one two days later with the Burlingame Police Division, which discovered him at fault for driving at an unsafe pace. Police discovered no different wrongdoing and the opposite social gathering by no means responded to their requests for an preliminary assertion, in keeping with the police report.
The couple sought unspecified damages above $25,000. The case, Timothy Hansen et al v Metropolis and County of San Francisco et al, was settled in 2020 forward of a scheduled jury trial that was to start in February 2021.
The newly created chief of public security will work carefully with division heads coping with points similar to police accountability and sufferer and witness rights.
A spokesperson for Lurie declined to remark.
Lurie stated in an announcement saying the appointment that he was proud to call Yep to the position given his lengthy service to the town.
“Paul has dedicated his career to keeping San Franciscans safe and there is no one better for this critical job. Together, we will support our law enforcement and ensure that every resident, worker, and visitor is safe in our city,” Lurie stated in an announcement.
Yep stated in an announcement on his appointment shared by Lurie’s workplace that, he was “honored.” “I look forward to leveraging my experience to help the Mayor-elect’s team execute his vision for building stronger and safer communities across our city,” Yep stated.
Coordinating security in a number of departments
These departments embrace Grownup Probation, Police Accountability, Division of Emergency Administration, Fireplace Division, Sheriff Inspector Normal, Juvenile Probation, Police Division, Sufferer and Witness Rights.
The chief of public security can even be the mayor’s level of contact with the Sheriff’s Workplace, District Lawyer, and the Public Defender.
Yep has a bachelor’s diploma in enterprise administration from SFSU and previously served on the San Francisco Municipal Executives Affiliation, a labor group that lobbies for advantages for public workers on the managerial stage.
On the San Francisco Police Division, he oversaw the chance administration division within the chief of workers’s workplace, after a profession that included roles such management roles because the commanding officer of the Central, Northern and Richmond police stations.
His appointment as public security chief was lauded by Anni Chung, the president and CEO of the nonprofit group Self-Assist for the Aged, referred to as SHE, which largely serves immigrant and monolingual Asian seniors.
“On issues concerning public safety and so much more, Paul has been a trusted ally to the Chinese community for years,” Chung stated in an announcement.
“I’m excited to hear that he’ll continue to serve not just our community, but every San Franciscan in this critical role,” she stated.
Lurie will likely be inaugurated on Wednesday.
