good evening. and welcome to the san francisco police department's medal of valor awards ceremony. i ask that you please rise and remain standing for the presentation of colors by the san francisco police department's color guard and the singing of the national anthem by mr. eric dongila.

other [inaudible]

♪ oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪♪ ♪ or the ramparts we watch were so gallantly streaming ♪♪ ♪ and the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air ♪♪

♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪♪ ♪ oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave ♪♪ ♪ or the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪♪

thank you for attending tonight's medal of valor awards ceremony. i am sergeant stacy youngblood. i would like to acknowledge people behind the scenes who helped make the medal of valor awards ceremony possible. next, i'd like to thank the members in the department who are instrumental in organizing this ceremony. ms. reasa tom. sergeant tania reynoldss and sergeant rachel killshaw. and thank you for singing the

national anthem and to the sfpd color guard. they all deserve a round of applause. [ applause ] next, i'd like to introduce your san francisco police commission. we have president malia cohen. commissioner larry yee. and commissioner james byrne. vice president elias, commissioner hamasaki could not be here tonight. now i'll introduce your command staff starting with the chief of police. william scott. from the chief of staff assistant chief robert mozer. michael redman. from the field operations bureau deputy chief david lazar. and robert o'sullivan. deputy chief daniel perrea.

and acting deputy chief raj baswani and now your commanders from the airport bureau. from the community engagement. not here either. from the field operations bureau, golden gate division, commander rachel moran and commander paul yepp. year here to honor a select group of officers from the san francisco police department who engaged exceptional acts of bravery that far exceeded what was demanded of them. the self-less acts these individuals took. before we hear about their acts of valor, chief scott would like to say a few words. i'm sorry. out of order. our president of the police commission malia cohen would like to say a few words.

>> president cohen: thank you. [ applause ]. >> president cohen: good evening, ladies and gentlemen. hello, are you guys out there? hello. good evening. tonight is a night of an opportunity that we get to recognize outstanding leadership, valor, and just good old-fashioned bravery. tonight is an evening where we will recognize and uplift and celebrate those men and women that have dedicated their lives to protect and serve. i am honored to bring greetings and i'm honored to bring a congratulatory message to every man and woman that's receiving the award tonight. i'm president of the police commission. my name is malia cohen and i'm grateful to be serving the city and county of san francisco, a city that i grew up and a city that i know and love. with that, i want to say congratulations. the stories we're going to hear

tonight about the valor are going to leave you inspired and uplifted. may it be a lesson to all of us as we continue to make our journey in this world. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, president cohen. and now chief scott would like to say a few words. >> police chief scott: thank you, sergeant youngblood. courage in the face of danger. in essence, that's the definition of valor. before i go any further, i want to thank members of the san francisco police department who will receive awards tonight because that in essence is who they are and what they have done and some very extreme circumstances which you will hear in detail they displayed courage in the face of danger. to the families here, i want to thank you for being here, but also i want to thank you for

sharing your memory, your police officer, your sergeant, your lieutenant with us because we know how challenging this job can be and we know the impact it has on you and for some of you, this may be the first time you've heard what you'll hear tonight in detail because so many of us don't want the fan fair and they don't brag about it and they may say something about what happened at work today, but often times, they don't share a lot of details. many of us try to shield our families from hearing about it. but the work is simply outstanding. of there's no other way to put it and for those of you that will hear the story of your sfpd member for the first time, some of you will and some of you will hear the other stories for the first time. i don't think when you leave tonight, there will be any disagreement that we have heroes within this department.

people that go day in and day out and do their job and protect this city. this has been a difficult year for all of us. sometimes it feels like nobody appreciates us and it feels like the job is that thankless and we know it's not. but there's so much drama around the world of policing profession right now. times have been very tough. we haven't had this ceremony in four years and, you know, there was a lot of moving parts to the reasons we haven't had this ceremony, but now we're back and i'm not going to be too long because i want to get on with the program and let you hear the great work that's been done, but i can't leave this podium without thanking a few people that got us here tonight and i want to start with retireded sergeant rachel

killshaw. i know she's not receiving a medal of valor tonight, but the work that she's put in to get this back on track, it would probably take me all night to explain everything that rachel has done to help get this back on track. i also want to thank our police commission and president cohen, commissioner byrne who is on the committee. now we have a committee held the medal of valor at the command staff and the captains make the recommendations. commissioner byrne is apart of that committee. thank you for your work. you brought common sense, compassion, and fairness to this process and i want to thank you. commissioner yee is also on the committee and i can say the same thing to him and i also want to thank two of our former commissioners petra dejesus and d.j. brookter who helped us get to this point.

and the reason i want to bring that up is now we will not have absences at the medal of valor ceremony because you deserve recognition. so often when we hear everything is wrong with policing, you are what's right with policing. so to the families, thank you. i hope you enjoy what you're about to hear and we can sit in the comfort of this great building and look at these heroic actions and it's still chilling, some of the courage that these officers went through to receive this award. so thank you again. we really appreciate your work. everybody on the stage and then some. we appreciate what you do and you probably don't hear it enough, but we do. sergeant youngblood, thank you, and we will go on with the show. [ applause ]

>> thank you, chief scott. and now the commanding officers will read the award citation for each of the officers. first, commander paul yepp and sergeants brett bradford, jeremy cummings. gregory buharshar and jason gallagher. >> thank you, sergeant youngblood. good evening everyone. so it is really my honor and privilege to tell you about the events that occurred on november 17th, 2017. so on november 17th, 2017, at approximately 1:09 a.m. officer daren mccray, officer trevor

roberts, and officer robert glenn responded to the area of montgomery and broadway streets regarding a possible auto boost, stolen vehicle incident. while the officers were handling this call for service, they heard multiple gunshots. officer mccray saw two flashes of light coming from a second floor apartment on the 300 block of broadway street. the officers did not know if they were the intended targets of the suspect's gunfire. the officers took immediate action to quickly move citizens out of harm's way and ask for additional help. the officers set up a perimeter, cleared pedestrians off the street, ordered people to shelter-in-place, and stopped vehicular traffic from entering the area i'll while they were exposed to possible gunfire on the street. a witness from the apartment building confirmed hearing the sounds of gunfire coming from inside the apartment building. officers evacuated the

apartment building which consisted of approximately 40 single occupancy units. it was later learned that an additional casualty of the shooting was a black lexus ride share vehicle that was parked waiting for a passenger pickup on the west side of montgomery street. a rightful round had penetrated and ripped through the driver's side passenger window as the terrified driver quickly fled as the rounds were being fired. sergeant brent bradford, one of the supervisors on scene formulated an action plan based on the relevant facts that were known at that time which were, one, the suspect fired multiple shots from his apartment in the direction of the officers and other bystanders. the suspect retreated from the apartment window and concealed his whereabouts inside the unit by shutting the lights off. three, the suspect practicely had a position of advantage

which was elevated from the officers on the street level. four, there were unknown injuries, casualties inside the apartment building. and, five, it was unknown if the suspect was still inside his apartment. sergeant brent bradford, one of the supervisorings knew they had an obligation to find and isolate the threat, to determine the appropriate emergency public safety and medical response. they decided to deploy a contact team which sergeant bradford as the lead. sergeant bradford has extensive military and tactical operations experience which made him the most experience person to lead the contact team. the contact team had two primary goals, one, locate the suspect to stop the threat of the suspect or suspects shooting again, and, two, search for additional suspects, victims, and to render medical aid. sergeant bradford assembled a contact team consisting of the following officers. officer gregory huhosur eshgsz,

officer david chang, officer jason gallagher, and officer jeremy cummings who has since been promoted to sergeant. the team was equipped with ballistic shield covers. sergeant bradford ensured his contact team was briefed and properly equipped for the immediate mission which was to move to where the room of where the shooter was. they started to move to the apartment in the face of known danger not knowing if the suspect would continue firing his weapon from the department. sergeant bradford discovered the suspect left his apartment and went to another nearby apartment holding an assault style rifle and with a handgun in his waistband. fearing for the safety of the occupants in this apartment, the contact of the arrest team with officers mccray, glenn, and roberts went to the apartment where the suspect had relocated. of the officers knowing the suspect was in possession of a

handgun which he had just fired, risked danger to their own lives and verbally ordered the occupants of the apartment to come outside. they did this in a coordinated matter behind cover and employing shields. the suspect came out stating "i give up." the officers located the renter of the apartment. she was not injured. the officers located an assault weapon and a 45 caliber. the officers achieved the primary objectives they set out for located dangerous suspect and locate and render aid to any potential victims. in summary, officers mccray, glen, and roberts quick and decisive actions in getting citizens to safety saved innocent persons from eminent danger. additionally, they worked together to gain information they needed to determine the location of where the shots had been fired. these officers' diligence

prevented the suspect from escaping after committing a senseless crime. they did this while the shooter had a position of advantage elevated. sergeant bradford and his contact team as well as the arrest team officers mccray, glenn, and roberts, in the face of great danger efficiently and strategically tracked down the heavy armed suspect leading to his arrest for attempted homicide and charges. without any injuries to the citizens of san francisco. for their actions, these officers and sergeant have been awarded the bronze medal of valor. [ applause ]

>> all right. sergeant brent bradford. sergeant jeremy cummings. daren mccray. trevor roberts. [ applause ] robert glen. muse muse [ applause ] david chang [ applause ]

and gregory buhareer [ applause ] christopher castonelli and jason gallagher. [ applause ] next, captain guytano calgereni and sergeant jared yee. [ applause ] >> good evening everyone. first of all, i want to congratulate everyone here who has won an award. amazing job and the family

members should be very proud of all of them because as the chief said, we go out there and risk our lives without even thinking about it and we do a great job and i commend all of you. so congratulations. on august 31st, 2018, sergeant jared yee and his partner were on patrol when dispatch reported an active fire to a multiple unit residential building on 48th avenue in cabrillo. upon arrival, sergeant yee did not see any san francisco fire department personnel on scene. smoke and flames were rapidly engulfing the three-story complex. witnesses were reporting to the officers that no one had exited the building and despite lack of any protective fire equipment and without the

slightest hesitation, sergeant yee and his partner entered the burning building to evacuate the residents. after clearing the first and second floor with his partner, sergeant yee decided he's going to respond to the third floor and check for any other tenants. without warning, a thick block of smoke instantaneously filled the third floor hallway making it impossible for sergeant yee to see and breathe. he could feel the intense heat coming from below him. despite the increasing life-threatening danger to himself, sergeant yee continued to check on any remaining residence for anyone that was not yet evacuated from the building. sergeant yee located a window

and he used his baton to break it open to get some kind of ventilation so he could start breathing and be able to see. at the same time, he heard a door open and close. in the darkness and the heat and the smoke, he went to the door and located the last remaining resident on the third floor. he brought the resident to the exterior window, away from the encroaching flames. his partner who had been rendering aid to several injured evacuees realized that sergeant yee was trapped on the third floor, so his partner contacted the fire department down on the street level and showed them a window where sergeant yee was with the resident. they were cornered inside the third floor and weren't able to get out. the fire department rapidly

deployed a ladder and sergeant yee was able to get the resident out and then himself out while the building was still on fire. thanks to the eminent and heroic action of sergeant yee, no one perished in that fire. sergeant yee set assign concerned for his own personal safety in order to save the lives of others. for the action of sergeant yee, he has been awarded the bronze medal of valor. [ applause ]

>> we're going to go a little bit off script. for the first group, we're going to call you up one by one real quick because we have your medals as well. if i can have sergeant brett bradford come back up again. sergeant jeremy cummings. [ applause ] officer daren mccray. [ applause ] officer trevor roberts. [ applause ]

officer robert glenn. [ applause ] officer david chang. [ applause ] officer christopher capanelli. [ applause ] and officer jason gallagher. [ applause ] next is captain guytano caljeroni and sergeants lawrence ing and brian crana as

well as michael gordon, michael hill, patrick mcnichols as well as sean thompson who wasn't able to attend tonight. >> it's an honor again to be up here to give awards to these fine officers. on january 19th, 2021, a year to this day, officer patrick conden and officer sean thompson were on patrol when dispatch reported a violent domestic dispute at the 800 block of 26th avenue. a 911 caller was yelling for help stating that her husband had a gun and was injuring people inside the house. a struggle and shouting was heard in the background when the 911 dispatcher received

that call. as officers conden and officer thompson arrived on scene and tacticfully approached the residence, a hysterical woman burst towards the front door yelling, help, he's attacking us. two other victims covered in blood rushed out to escape. officer conden and officer thompson directed the injured victims to safety. the officers began walking towards the front door and the suspect was at the front door, slammed the front door shut and was seen fleeing into an unknown location into the residence. the victim stated that her special needs son was still in the residence with the suspect

as well as an elderly victim that had been brutally assaulted with life-threatening injuries to his head. an officer was at the rear of the residence and broadcasted over the radio that he was witnessing through the back window the suspect actively assaulting the elderly victim. due to the circumstance of an active threat of life, sergeant ing, sergeant crana, officer gordon, officer hill, officer mcnickel, and officer cond shgzon and officer thompson immediately formed a search to contact team and courageously forced entry into the building. the team tactfully and responded to the rear of the residence where the suspect and victim had been seen. at a great danger to the entire

set of officers there, the entry team broke through the back bedroom door and discovered that there was an eldery victim unconscious on the floor bleeding from the head and the suspect was just a few feet away lying in a bed with his hands underneath a pillow. the suspect was ordered to show his hands, but the suspect did not comply. with the full belief the suspect was concealing a firearm, officer gordon provided lethal cover as officer hill and officer mcnickel bravely approached the suspect. officer hill and officer mcnickel were able to arrest the suspect without further incident. the remaining officers rendered aid to the two victims inside the residence until medics arrived. officer hill located a handgun in the same room where the

suspect was arrested. all the victims except the juvenile son had serious and/or life threatening injuries and all ultimately survived. thanks to the immediate and heroic actions of sergeant ing, sergeant crana, officer gordon, officer hill, officer mcnichols, officer conden, and officer thompson, multiple lives were saved that day. these courageous officers set aside concerns for their own personal safety in order to save the lives of others. for the actions, these sergeants and officers have been awarded the bronze medal of valor. [ applause ]

>> sergeant lawrence ingh. sergeant brian crana. [ applause ] officer patrick conden. [ applause ] and officer patrick mcnichols. [ applause ] next, captain timothy felby commander officer of southern station and officer trent collins and charles august who could not be here tonight. [ applause ] good evening. i'm captain tim fallaby

southern police station. commissioners, chief, command staff, the recipients and awards tonight and your families. i'm honored to tell you the story of officer charles august and trent collins. they were working uniform patrol as single officer units. at approximately 12:42 p.m. dispatch broadcasted a call of shots fired on golden gate avenue in the city's tenderloin district. a shot spotter activation recorded nine shots being fired. as tenderloin units arrived, are there was a chaotic scene and a large crowd of people pointing to the victim inside a gold-colored jeep. he had been shot multiple times. the tenderloin units attempted to render the aid to the victim who had been shot several times and broadcast there were

numerous rifle shell casings on the ground. officers on the scene were able to locate a person who witnessed the shooting and had a video recording of the shooting suspect and his vehicle. officers broadcast the suspect and his vehicle including the license plate number. a sergeant on the scene advised units in the area that the shooting suspect was likely still armed with his assault rifle. officer charles august was parked in front of 850 folsom street facing eastbound when he observed a vehicle matching the description. he followed after the vehicle, caught up to it at 4th street and confirmed the license plate was that of the suspect's vehicle. officer charles august knew the suspect had just shot a person in broad daylight in front of a crowd of people and may still be armed with an assault rifle. considering the public's safety and the area he didn't try to stop the person right away, he

called for an additional unit to stop the vehicle. officer trent collins arrived on scene and they began to initiate a felony stop of the vehicle. the suspect ignored officer august and officer collins' attempt to pull over and sped up running several lights downtown. officer collins and and august followed. officers august and collins pursued the suspect eastbound until he exited on ablow road. after he went driving through the streets downtown in oakland, he crashed at 24th and mandela park way. these two officers were armed with handguns and were pursuing a suspect they knew had an assault rifle who had just shot someone in broad daylight. as they approach the vehicle, they could see the rifle on the front seat next to the suspect within arm's reach. not wanting to give him an advantage, they came forward and they were able to secure

the weapon and take him out of the car and take him into custody where he was later charged with murder for the person he had killed on our city streets. these two officers demonstrated outstanding bravery pursuing the suspect knowing he had just shot someone. they were able to take him into custody full aware of the danger they were up against. for their actions, officers charles august and trent collins have been awarded the bronze medal of valor. >> next, captain chris canning. and officer jeremy lee.

>> good evening. it's my honor so share and relate the events of the evening of november 3rd, 2020, and recognize officers thomas lee and yuri torcheon for their actions. on november 3rd, 2020, spo officer thomas lee and recruit officer yuri torcheon were working in full police uniform in a marked vehicle. at around 8:00 p.m., f.t.o. lee and officer torcheon were driving and heard multiple gunshots. an officer at a fixed post broadcast that shots were fired and a vehicle had fled west on eddie from larkin street. officers lee and torcheon raced to the scene. they saw people fleeing west on turk. as they made their way north,

people were screaming that a person had a gun. the officers observed a person on the ground who was holding their leg and someone saying the person had been shot. f.t.o. lee was later told by witnesses that the suspect dropped something on the ground. officer lee looked at the object and saw that it was a firearm. officer lee approached the suspect and as he did, the individual reached into his pocket. officer lee displaying admirable restraint and discipline gave immediate commands to the subject demanding to see his hands. officer lee directed officer torcheon to handcuff the suspect who dropped the firearm while he secured the firearm by stepped on it in a chaotic and uncontrolled scene. as officer torcheon attempted to handcuff the individual who was now on the ground, the

suspect began to resist and pull his arm away from officer torcheon. the danger opposed by the suspect at a scene where a victim was shot is now resisting attempts to restrain him. the suspect was reaching in the direction of where the gun lay on the ground inches from him. officer lee called for backup and advised that the suspect was resisting arrest which updated multiple units already responding to the scene. officer lee assisted officer torcheon in physically subduing the suspect all while keeping the firearm secured under his foot. the area was secured allowing the san francisco fire department medics to enter the scene and treat the shooting victim. three subjects with firearms were involved in the incident and that one of the subjects may have disguarded a firearm on the west side of the street. this is precisely where officers lee and torcheon

contacted the suspect who dropped the firearm. another witness in an apartment building across the street recorded some of the incident while officers lee and torcheon were dealing with the suspect. later the person appeared to be collecting something in close proximity to the officer. it was likely that what was being collected was an additional firearm discarded by the suspect. hearing the shots being fired in the area and being directed to the exact location where the shooting had occurred by an officer on a fixed post. upon their arrival, they were informed that an armed subject was still on scene and a person had been shot. at this point, officers lee and torcheon could have taken cover and waited to take action until additional units had arrived on the scene. since there was no longer an active shooter, chooting to

wait would not have been justified censure. in the time hearing the shots as well as responding to the scene, officers lee and torcheon had sufficient time to evaluate the risks they were exposing themselves to. and to secure the scene so medical personnel could treat a person who was shot. these objectives were sufficient to justify the risks taken by the officers. officers lee and torcheon were successful in accomplishing these objectives. this was despite a suspect who had reached into his pocket immediately after dropping a firearm and then engaging in a violent struggle with the suspect that was actively resisting arrest. the outstanding bravery providing safety with respect by officers lee and torcheon are in keeping with the best

tradition of the san francisco police officer. these officers have been awarded the bronze medal of valor. >> officer torcheon. next, deputy chief daniel perrea officers andre garza, cameron stokes, and anthony cerge.

[ applause ] >> good evening to all our award recipients. families and friends congratulations, and good evening to all of our department members present and retired who came out to demonstrate respect and honor you on your accomplishments on the days of your award nominations. we should call your attention in the action of officers andre garza, officer anthony cerce, cameron stokes, sergeant jeff camalosa, and sergeant cam alouis. a man entered a sporting good store. the man approached the counter and inquired about an

advertised shotgun. when the clerk took the shotgun from the display rack, the suspect drew a black handgun and pointed it at the clerk. the suspect demanded the shotgun and ammunition in which the clerk surrendered. the suspect fled the scene and traveled to 3555 caesar chavez street in san francisco. at approximately 4:15 p.m. a priority call for service for the location was broadcast. numerous fear struck individuals that phoned 911 to report seeing a man armed with a handgun and a long gun and entered the construction site adjacent to st. luke's. one of the callers heard the suspect state, "i'm ready to die today." there were approximately 30 construction workers on the site including a crane operator stationed in the operator seat approximately 100' above street level. the intrusion by the armed suspect sent panicked workers

scrambling for escape. officer garza, stokes, circe immediately responded to the location. additional broadcasts were made describing the action and location of the suspects as reported by witnesses. the officers were advised he took position atop a high level service elevator. and personnel who were reacting to his presence and the threat to be posed. officer garza and officer stokes arrived at the south side of st. lukes while the officers arrived on the north side of the facility. the officers scanned the building under construction and

the area observing peds and vehicle traffic present and active. the sergeant alouise could see people running for escape. sergeant aluise and officer garza a retired member of the marine corps all have additional special training regarding the capabilities of long guns. all of the officers were aware of the increased danger of the long gun with the ability of the individual to fire with great distance and higher accuracy. construction workers escaping the building. they gave officer stokes the description of the suspect which he immediately broadcast to the radio. the crane operator was forced to remain in his seat with no safe route of escape. he called 911 to report the

suspect was pointing the gun towards the emergency of st. luke's. other witnesses explained that they were stopped in traffic on valencia street. they saw the suspect holding a silver gun on top of the construction site. they saw the suspect pointing down in the direction of the populated area beneath him. officer stokes and officer garza evaluated numerous possible threats the suspect posed to innocent members of the public and devised a strategy at st. luke's emergency room nearby. they took a position placing themselves between the emergency room and the suspect. in the event, the suspect attempted to inflict harm on the persons in the emergency room. officer garza and stokes heard what they believed to be the sound of two gunshots coming from inside the construction site. officer stokes told many

potential victims in the area to get inside the main building at st. luke's while officer garza deployed his patrol rifle. for the safety of officer garza and himself the officers also observed the suspect to be tracking police units with his long gun. based on the information provided by witnesses to 911 and directly to officers on the scene, the actions of the construction workers and the officers on observations, these officers reasonably believed they were at the scene of an active shooter incident. and officer circy deployed a ballistic shield. sergeant alouise made his way up to the front where he was able to provide information to the other officers on scene. sergeant alouise gave a description to the suspect and confirmed he was armed with a

silver colored long gun. officers soon heard a loud boom consistent with gunfire. they repeatedly gave directions to the suspect to put down the weapon. the action of these two officers while intended to bring the incident to a peaceful conclusion also exposed their position and drew the attention of the armed suspect. officer circy and sergeant alouise continued to give loud directions to drop his weapon, but he would not comply. the officer was aware of their presence and position and were separated by a distance of only 60 yards. all five officers heard with a they believed were gunshots and reasonably concluded that the suspect fired at potential victims and police officers on scene. sergeant alouise heard the

shots fired. the officers were reasonable to believe that the suspect had the present intent, means and opportunity and the ability to inflict serious injury or bodily death officers were forced to discharge their weapons. the officer saw the suspect turned away and become still. these officers clearly had time, knowledge, and expertise to evaluate the risk the suspect presented to their own personal safety. the objective of intervening the suspect to the public was worth the russing. in an effort to obtain the objective, they located him and intentionally placed themselves in between the suspect and the

public. for their actions, these sergeants and officers have been awarded the silver medal of valor. >> sergeant jeffery alouise. [ applause ] sergeant jeffery camalosa. [ applause ] officer andre garza. [ applause ] officer cameron stokes. [ applause ] and then officer anthony circy. [ applause ]

next, captain timothy falby and officers nicholaus delgado and kyle roach. [ applause ] >> good evening again. i want to bring your attention to the actions of officer kyle roach and nick delgado. on the date of october 10th, 2020, officers nicholaus delgado and kyle roach were working uniform patrol. they were assigned to southern station and they were working as part of a city wide response to stunt driving incidents. at approximately 23206 hours which is 11:26 p.m., dispatch broadcasted a call of a car-jacking on the corner of market and gok street.

the suspect had attempted to force the victim out of the vehicle while pointing a knife at her. shortly afterward, numerous witnesses called 911 adding that the suspect had jumped on the victim's vehicle and smashed out the front windshield and she could be heard screaming for help. as dispatch continued relaying this information officers delgado and roach responded immediately to the scene. upon their arrival, officers delgado and roach were flagged down by numerous citizens who pointed them in the direction that the suspect had fled in giving them an updated suspect description. officer delgado continued updating headquarters with the newly received information as he and officer roach continued their search for the suspect. a short time later, they located the suspect at the

intersection of goth and pullton streets in san francisco. the suspect noticed the vehicle and fled on foot while the officers followed him in the vehicle. they continued updating headquarters as the direction of travel of the suspect and were advising each other of things they had seen including updating they did see the knife in the suspect's hand. they maintained a tactical position of advantage as they followed after a brief while, the suspect started approaching mission street which they knew would have a lot of vehicular traffic and they were worried he could potentially car-jack another victim. officer delgado and officer roach exited their vehicle and pursued the suspect on foot. these two officers had recently been to our c.m.c.r. training for critical mind set really developing tactics used in communications and they used this together to form late a plan as they were chasing after

him, they separated time and distance. they called out demands to the suspect to try to get him to drop the knife. after a short foot chase, the suspect stopped, turned around, and started yelling at the officers. the officers attempted to establish repore with the suspect and get him to surrender. the suspect threw off his glasses and started screaming at the officers, raised his knife and started to charge the officers. at that point, both officers began to back pedal to try to create more time and distance and give the suspect a chance to surrender. as the suspect grew closer to them, an officer-involved shooting occurred and the suspect fell and the knife fell by his side, but he still had access to it. even after having been in a traumatic incident, the first thing these officers did was form late a plan to render aid

to the suspect. they obtained a ballistic shield. and they immediately rendered aid until the ambulance could get there. they had full and unquestionable knowledge of the danger involved including the fact the suspect had demonstrated the propensity for violence while armed with a knife and at no time did they hesitate or fail in their duties. they gave the suspect every chance to surrender. they attempted to create time and distance. they tried to establish a repore with him. for their actions that evening, officers delgado and roach have been awarded the silver medal of valor. >> officer nicholas delgado. applause applause [ applause ]

and officer kyle roach. [ applause ] next, commander rachel moran and officer samuel fung. [ applause ] >> good evening. i am here to present the medal of valor to officer samuel fung and to honor him, his parents, his wife and his 20-month old son miles who are all here this evening. halloween, october 31st, 2017, halloween in the castro typically draws tens of thousands of people. the san francisco police department is tasked with keeping the community and party goers safe which is no small feat. on this night, approximately 100 additional officers were

brought into accomplish this task including officer samuel fung who we know as "sam" and officer sean himston who we know as "kai". at approximately midnight, just a few hours prior to the night celebration wrapping up, sam and kai were flagged down by a concerned citizen. the citizen told the officers there was a suspicious vehicle and that he believed that it had been broken into and was currently occupied and as it turned out, the officer of the vehicle was stolen out of fremont. sam and kai approached the vehicle. kai who was the closest to the driver's side ordered the suspect out of the vehicle. the suspect produced a firearm as he exited the vehicle and immediately began shooting at kai striking him multiple times. sam recognizing that his partner was in life-threatening danger he rowicly began shooting at the suspect as the

suspect was now shooting at him. instead of taking cover to protect himself, sam remained in the fire fight drawing the fire away from his injured partner ultimately shooting the suspect multiple times stopping the threat. during the fire fight and the second to last shot fired, both sam and kai provided dispatch with crucial information that brought numerous officers to their aid. the arriving officers took immediate action to secure the action and attend life-threatening injuries to kai and the suspect. thankfully sam had not been shot. kai is alive today and enjoying his retirement thanks to the self-less heroic actions of sam. sam is still working with us and remains assigned to c.s.i. where he works with his partner steve woods. this case was brought to trial one year after the incident occurred and was found guilty on two counts of attempted

murder of a police officer. he is currently serving a 40-year sentence in prison. [ applause ] officer sam fung, he has been awarded the gold medal of valor. >> officer samuel fung. [ applause ] next, captain jack heart, prior commanding officer of ingleside station. sergeant lloyd martin, and officer jose rozales and

officer john hoke who weren't able to be here today. >> good evening. a philosopher said you know when you get to this lot in life, it's much more important to be reminded than it is to be taught. for all of your loved ones and friends here supporting you, may you be reminded of the nobility of this profession. the bravery it took for you to raise your right hand and take an oath and the courage it takes every day to fall in love with this profession once again. on march 21st, 2018, at 4:30 p.m., dispatch broadcast a person with a gun in front of a residence call. dispatch described the suspect as a known family member who was threatening his family, was on drugs, and flashed a big gun from under his jacket and was attempting to break into their house. initial responding officers were then told that the suspect was at the amazon barbershop. upon arrival at the shop, he

was detained without incident a code 4 was broadcast and the call went out that one was detained. officers kevin endo and officers tess casey. as other officers began to compare the name with the suspect's name, officers casey and endo entered the shop. within 2.4 seconds, the officers were ambushed and fired upon with a hail of bullets from within 10'. one of the first rounds fired by the suspect struck officer endo in the lower leg and shattered it from the ground while shot and bleeding, officer endo could have prioritize his own life and safety by retreating out the same door he came through or by hiding behind one of the barber's chairs. officer casey could have escaped to cover. neither of these actions would have been considered cowardess. instead, with their lives, the

barbers, patrons lives, the officers, pedestrians, merchants, and communities lives outside of the barbershop all at grave risk. they drew their firearms, returned fire and stopped the threat. within only a few moments of being shot at, officer casey still had the presence of mind to give commands and assessing the suspect. for his part, officer endo still had the presence of mind to activate his body warn camera which provided an invaluable front row seat for all of us to view both horror and valor in living color. the experience of an unprovocaled violent attack on our city's finest innocent bystanders and a community at large forded by exemplary heroism. officer brandon hoag conducted the pat search and was outside when the shots were fired. several rounds came through the wall and he along with many other officers narrowly missed

being shot and were diving if for cover themselves. officer hoke verbally reminded everyone to get into cover including the detainee. at this moment, appropriate actions would include remaining behind cover, getting a shield, calling the s.w.a.t. team, waiting for backup and formulating an entry plan. officer hoag had the opportunity to reflect on the life he actually faced and would face if he left cover. in addition, the fact there were no windows on the london street side of the building must have been enhanced and amplified the situational uncertainty and his reasonable fear of death. officer hoag alone with without additional protective equipment or fire power ran into the unknown. he demonstrated outstanding valor by entering the shop. determining the location of the threat. moving a terrified person who

was frozen stiff. and covering the suspect from about four feet away while being fully exposed, no cover was available. remarkably, this action also had the effect of providing leadership to the other officers and giving them the courage to enter the barber shop behind them. with the situation still unfolding and uncertainty as to the condition capabilities of the armed suspect who was down on the ground. the officer approached the barbershop and heard the officers giving commands. he was not only advised that the suspect had a handgun, but saw that the suspect was still reaching behind him for the firearm. a high level of danger was still present. officer rozales entered the barbershop anyway and crossed over to the location of officer casey and together they handcuffed the suspect. he also had the additional presence of mind to render aid to the suspect.

ameritas sergeant lloyd martin. sergeant martin was walking eastbound on geneva avenue when he heard all of the gunshots. he accelerated to it a run to get on scene with his officers. without regard for his own safety, balancing the suspect may have barricaded himself inside the barbershop, he went for the front door of the barbershop anyway while passing up several opportunities for cover. he quickly assessed that the suspect was done and officers hoag, casey, were dealing with the suspect and that officer endo needed to be evacuated. sergeant martin took charge and clearly broadcast the situation to responded officers. a bystander in a passing vehicle filmed sergeant martin assisting the evacuation of sergeant endo. in that video, sergeant martin is seen broadcasting the emergency and helping to evacuate while still in the line of fire.

with the suspect's condition still unknown to him at the time. after securing officer endo and covered in officer endo's blood, sergeant martin reentered ensures it was clear and everyone was safe. he oversaw the coordination of ambulances. finally, officer mark lustingburger. he too had to dodge the hail of bullets that came through the wall. while the situation was still unfolding and uncertainty as to the condition and capabilities of the armed suspect inside, officer luxenberg your saw officer endo and officer martin leave the barbershop. he left the safety of cover with the intention of getting officer endo behind cover. i personally witnessed officer lustenburger pick up officer endo by himself and hoist him to behind the safety of a

police car's engine block. for their actions, these members have been awarded the following. for officer rozales, the bronze medal of valor. for sergeant martin, a bronze medal of valor and a life-saving award. for officer hoag, the silver medal of valor. for officer casey, the gold medal of valor. and for officer endo, the gold medal of valor and the purple heart award. congratulations and thank you all. [ applause ] >> officer kevin endo. [ applause ] officer tess casey. [ applause ]

sergeant lloyd martin. [ applause ] and officer jose rozales santeria. [ applause ] next, captain timothy fallaby commanding officer of southern station and sergeants jason garden, jessie cruz, justin bigarian and officers cody barn, steven grich, jeffery fortuno, and brent bradford as well as sergeant jason. [ applause ]

>> on september 23rd, 2017, at approximately 11:35 p.m., officers assigned to central station responded to a residence on the unit block of salmon street in san francisco to investigate the report on the domestic violence incident. it was reported that a male subject was armed with a weapon, was holding his wife and two children hostage against their will. during their approach, the responding officers heard the sound of a woman screaming, please stop, don't do it. they tried to gain access to the apartment and noticed several items were thrown down creating a barricade at the front door. the officers were confronted at the door who told them i'll start shooting back up. the officers began to take cover and heard a gunshot

coming from within the residence. they immediately ceased advancing, requested additional resources and secured a perimeter. at approximately 11:45 p.m. a critical incident was claer declared namely an armed barricaded suspect holding hostages, a call out was made to the san francisco police department tactical unit s.w.a.t. team to the specialist and hostage crisis negotiation team. specialists began to arrive and assume the control of the outer perimeter. members of the hostage team met with family members to help them negotiate with the suspect. they had learned of a lengthy domestic violence history and the presence of a firearm at this residence. several negotiators responded and joined their fellow team members in working towards and

negotiating a successful outcome. for three hours, negotiators tried to reason with the suspect. they talked to him for the three hours. he kept rambling and asking them to give him more methamphetamine and bring him some food and at times, he game agitated and threatened others in the area. within 40 minutes of the initial declaration of a critical incident, the members of the tactical company s.w.a.t. team responding from home had arrived and formed a crisis entry team. as negotiations continued, captain simon silverman and lieutenant now captain julian ingh developed a plan for any incident that is could arrive. they displayed tremendous leadership and maintained their professionalism and calm during this life and death situation. at 2:54 a.m., officers outside

the building heard a shot and the suspect called negotiators and said he had shot one of the victims in the head and was doing c.p.r. on her now. the members of the crisis negotiation team could no longer hear the adult female victim crying in the background. captain silverman gave the lieutenant now tactical command of the critical incident. the captain ordered the crisis entry team to launch a rescue team to save the remaining victims. sergeant jason robinson, officer nick seslo began breaking down at the front door to make a crisis entry. at first they were able to get through the door and advised they were being delayed. officers sergeant brett bradford, castro, sergeant jessie cruz, justin, cody barnes, steven grich made their way to the rear of the

residence to begin working on a secondary breach point going back and forth. officer suslow and mike hara were able to get the front door open. officer suslow was the first to enter the building. officer sus low was fully aware of the fact that these obstacles and having to climb over them presented a danger to him and exposed him to gunfire. he pushed forward. immediately after climbing over the obstacles, he provided cover and pushed forward so the other members of the entry team could make their way over the obstacles and up their way the long staircase. as these officers made their way to the top of the staircase, they announced they made a successful breach. the others who attempted a secondary breach point began responded to that door and came following behind them. at the top of the stairs, they

located the door to the room in which they believe the suspect and hostages were located. they could hear the suspect yelling and children crying in the room. believing based upon the suspect's statement he shot one of the hostages and would likely kill the remaining hostages, they developed a plan and forced entry into the room. officer suslow and officer sergeant robinson and sergeant harrah. the room was a small bedroom. as the officers pushed into the room, the suspect presented a deadly threat. he was raising his handgun towards the officer. officer suslow put himself between the suspect and the hostages. other officers discharged their weapon. the threat to the hostages and the officers had been stopped.

immediately after the shots were fired, the hostages were moved to safety and the building was secured within one minute by responding officers clearing any additional suspects. thankfully they learned that the suspect had not shot the victim. he had said he had and he fired rounds off into the room that we could hear. sergeant mike harrah sergeant jason roberts, demonstrated outstanding bravery in entering the building. after seeing these things were there to slow them down. they also showed outstanding bravery when they made entry into the room knowing there was a person on the other side of the door who was threatening to kill more people. based on this statement, their objective rescuing the hostages with such importance that it justified the risk and their

actions. the officer rescued the hostages and ended the threats the suspect posed to the officers, his family, and the community. the tactical s.w.a.t. team also rushed into the building knowing they were going to be engaged in a gun fight with a barricaded suspect. they were fully aware of the dangers posed and continued pressing forward until the hostages were rescued and the scene was secure. so for these actions, sergeant mike harrah is being awarded the gold medal. sergeant jason robinson, a bold medal. officer nick suslow gold medal. and sergeant jason garden,

sergeant brent bradford, sergeant jessie cruz, sergeant justin bugaran, officer cody barnes, officer steven grich, officer fortuno, and officer wilson are awarded the bronze medal of valor. and castro. [ applause ] >> sergeant michael harrah. [ applause ] sergeant jason garden. [ applause ]

sergeant jessie cruz. [ applause ] sergeant justin bugaran. [ applause ] officer cody barnes. [ applause ] officer steven grich. [ applause ] officer azarius castro. [ applause ] officer austin wilson. [ applause ] and officer brent bradford. [ applause ]

next, captain robertier with sergeants martin layler adam plantinga and officers tracy martin, antonio claudo, matthew o'leary, michael toomy. and the others weren't able to attend tonight. >> good evening everyone. before i begin, i'd like to congratulate all the attendees and also i wanted to also mention as i'm sure everyone is fully aware of this incident that i'm going to speak about, but one person that won't be

mentioned but i would like to acknowledge is captain jack heart who was one of the first to establish a command post and directed this incident. so great job, jack. [ applause ] on wednesday, june 14th, 2017, at approximately 8:55 a.m., a number of officers responded to an a-priority shooting at the united parcel service packing and sorting facility at 320 san bruno avenue on the third floor. a reporting party stated that several people were shot and that the suspect had left the building and was described as an asian male wearing a ups uniform. however, five minute later, another reporting party stated that the suspect was still inside the building.

upon arrival, sergeant adam flantinga immediately formed a mission statement contact team and notified dispatch he was entering the building. the sergeant's team included officer garth sutton, officer tracy turner, officer ronald kucheck, officer claudio, and officer wholebrook. of they entered the 17th side roll-up doors and proceeded northbound on the west side of the building. at this time, sergeant plantinga was unaware that he was already on the third floor of the building where the suspect was. while proceeding northbound, a uniformed ups employee told sergeant plantinga that he did not see the suspect or hear any shots.

shortly afterward, sergeant plantinga and his team observe a ups employee kneeling at the northwest corner of the building. sergeant plantinga stated that the suspect had a handgun to the right side of his head and motioned him beckoning his hand but sergeant plantinga and his team maintained a distance of approximately 50'. sergeant plantinga and the officers ordered the suspect to drop the handgun several times, but had negative results. the suspect then leaned forward prompting sergeant plantinga to turn around and direct the officers to take cover. when sergeant plantina looked back, the suspect had picked an object off the floor later determined to be a mack 10 firearm and then he shot himself in the head. when the suspect slumped to the ground, the officers moved in to render aid and at this time

sergeant plantinga also observed there were two individuals laying on the ground motionless. the officers also directed their attention to the individuals to render aid. at the same time, bayview station officers officer laura cellen, officer matthew o'leary, officer henry chen, officer michael toomy. officer tracy green had also formed a contact team and entered the ups building also on the 17th side where the roll-up doors are. and this was also at the same time as sergeant plantinga was paralleling just east of his team at the same time. the officers also observed that the suspect was holding a handgun to his head and officer its o'leary and cremin articulated that they observed

the subject place a handgun on the ground and immediately picked up a machine gun style weapon off the ground and shot himself. sergeant martin layler and officer joseph sharlo also entered the ups building on the 17th street roll-up doors just after the first two teams. they also proceeded on the north side and sergeant layler was close enough and heard the shot and observed the suspect fall to the ground in conclusion, sergeant plantinga and officer sutton, claudio, holbrook, and also sergeant layler responded to an active shooter incident. dispatch told the responding personnel that the suspect had already shot several others and was already inside the

building. upon arrival, all the officers understood the risk of entering the building. there were approximately 300 uniformed ups employees at the packing and sorting facility at the too many of the incident and it was unknown at the time if the suspect had even acted alone. the officers were unaware of the lay out and when contacted, the officers concealed themselves behind delivery vehicles, but obviously didn't provide cover. the actions of these officers reflect the highest standards of the san francisco police department and the community they serve. if i can put this into perspective, the incident report also includes statements from other officers that responded to this incident and every one that played a role is responsible for preparing a statement and this report was 115 pages long. for their actions, the sergeants and officers have been awarded the gold medal of

valor. congratulations. [ applause ] >> sergeant martin layler. sergeant adam plantinga. [ applause ] officer tracy turner. [ applause ] officer ronald kucheck. [ applause ] officer antonio claudio.

officer laura cremen. officer matthew o'leary. [ applause ] officer edward tien. [ applause ] officer michael toomy. [ applause ] and officer beau dahlber. [ applause ] [cheers and applause] >> if i can ask all of tonight's award recipients to please stand and face the audience. [ applause ]

everyone. these are your heroes and this was san francisco's medal of valor awards ceremony. [ applause ] thank you. you can please take your seats. and now, chief scott would like to say a few closing words. >> police chief scott: thank you, sergeant youngblood. i'd like to thank sergeant youngblood for his work and helping to organize and put this together. sergeant sonya renolds for her work. risa from the commission office. often times, we don't pay attention to people who make things happen until things don't happen. this was a flawless presentation and i want to thank them for their work. retired lieutenant tad

yamaguchi who hates attention wherever tad is. he's volunteering his own time in retirement to give back to this department that gave so much to him. so tad, thank you and to the recipients. for the family members, we see this stuff throughout our careers, but i think many of us and i know i can speak for myself, i still get goose bumps hearing about the bravery and the courage of our finest. to the family, thank you for being here tonight. thank you for sharing this really special moment with us and, again, thank you for sharing your loved ones with the city and county of san francisco. thank you everybody. [ applause ] >> thank you, chief scott. thank you to everyone who came here tonight to honor these courageous officers and a special thanks to their family

and friends who support these officers every single day. after the retrieval of the colors, the chief, command staff, and police commissioners will be available for socially distanced photos with the award recipients and families and friends. please rise for the retrieval of the colors.

>> police chief scott: thank you. you can sit please. on behalf of the commission and the commanding officers of these brave individuals of the san francisco police department, thank you for joining us here tonight and thank you to the scottish rights for the use of their facility. please feel free to pick up some researchments in the banquet hall and thank you for coming. [ applause ]

>> shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their business in the 49 square files of san francisco. we help san francisco remain unique, successful and right vi. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> i'm one of three owners here in san francisco and we provide mostly live music entertainment and we have food, the type of food that we have a mexican food and it's not a big menu, but we did it with love. like ribeye tacos and quesadillas and fries. for latinos, it brings families together and if we can bring that family to your business, you're gold. tonight we have russelling for e

community. >> we have a ten-person limb elimination match. we have a full-size ring with barside food and drink. we ended up getting wrestling here with puoillo del mar. we're hope og get families to join us. we've done a drag queen bingo and we're trying to be a diverse kind of club, trying different things. this is a great part of town and there's a bunch of shops, a variety of stores and ethnic restaurants. there's a popular little shop that all of the kids like to hang out at. we have a great breakfast spot call brick fast at tiffanies. some of the older businesses are refurbished and newer businesses are coming in and it's exciting.

>> we even have our own brewery for fdr, ferment, drink repeat. it's in the san francisco garden district and four beautiful murals. >> it's important to shop local because it's kind of like a circle of life, if you will. we hire local people. local people spend their money at our businesses and those local people will spend their money as well. i hope people shop locally. [ ♪♪♪ ] a city like no other, san francisco has been a beacon of hope, and an ally towards lgbtq

equal rights. [♪♪] >> known as the gay capital of america, san francisco has been at the forefront fighting gay civil rights for decades becoming a bedrock for the historical firsts. the first city with the first openly gay bar. the first pride parade. the first city to legalize gay marriage. the first place of the iconic gay pride flag. established to help cancel policy, programses, and initiatives to support trans

and lgbtq communities in san francisco. >> we've created an opportunity to have a seat at the table. where trans can be part of city government and create more civic engagement through our trans advisory committee which advises our office and the mayor's office. we've also worked to really address where there's gaps across services to see where we can address things like housing and homelessness, low income, access to small businesses and employment and education. so we really worked across the board as well as meeting overall policies. >> among the priorities, the office of transgender initiatives also works locally to track lgbtq across the country.

>> especially our young trans kids and students. so we do a lot of work to make sure we're addressing and naming those anti-trans policies and doing what we can to combat them. >> trans communities often have not been included at the policy levels at really any level whether that's local government, state government. we've always had to fend for ourselves and figure out how to care for our own communities. so an office like this can really show and become a model for the country on how to really help make sure that our entire community is served by the city and that we all get opportunities to participate because, in the end, our entire community is stronger. >> the pandemic underscored many of the inequities they experienced on a daily basis. nonetheless, this health crisis also highlighted the strength in the lgbtq and trans community. >> several of our team members

were deployed as part of the work at the covid command center and they did incredit able work there both in terms of navigation and shelter-in-place hotels to other team members who led equity and lgbtq inclusion work to make sure we had pop-up testing and information sites across the city as well as making sure that data collection was happening. we had statewide legislation that required that we collected information on sexual orientation and our team worked so closely with d.p.h. to make sure those questions were included at testing site but also throughout the whole network of care. part of the work i've had a privilege to be apart of was to work with o.t.i. and a community organization to work together to create a coalition that met monthly to make sure we worked together and coordinated as much as we could to lgbtq communities in the

city. >> partnering with community organizations is key to the success of this office ensuring lgbtq and gender nonconforming people have access to a wide range of services and places to go where they will be respected. o.t.i.'s trans advisory committee is committed to being that voice. >> the transgender advisory counsel is a group of amazing community leaders here in san francisco. i think we all come from all walks of life, very diverse, different backgrounds, different expertises, and i think it's just an amazing group of people that have a vision to make san francisco a true liberated city for transgender folks. >> being apart of the grou

allows us to provide more information on the ground. we're allowed to get. and prior to the pandemic, there's always been an issue around language barriers and education access and workforce development. now, of course, the city has been more invested in to make sure our community is thriving and making sure we are mobilizing. >> all of the supervisors along with mayor london breed know that there's still a lot to be done and like i said before, i'm just so happy to live in a city where they see trans folks and recognize us of human beings and know that we deserve to live with dignity and respect just like everybody else. >> being part of the trans initiative has been just a great privilege for me and i feel so lucky to have been able to serve for it for so far over

three years. it's the only office of its kind and i think it's a big opportunity for us to show the country or the world about things we can do when we really put a focus on transgender issues and transgender communities. and when you put transgender people in leadership positions. >> thank you, claire. and i just want to say to claire farly who is the leader of the office of transgender initiatives, she has really taken that role to a whole other level and is currently a grand marshal for this year's s.f. prize. so congratulations, claire. >> my dream is to really look at where we want san francisco to be in the future. how can we have a place where we have transliberation, quality, and inclusion, and equity across san francisco? and so when i look five years from now, ten years from now, i want us to make sure that we're

continuing to lead the country in being the best that we can be. not only are we working to make sure we have jobs and equal opportunity and pathways to education, employment, and advancement, but we're making sure we're taking care of our most impacted communities, our trans communities of color, trans women of color, and black trans women. and we're making sure we're addressing the barriers of the access to health care and mental health services and we're supporting our seniors who've done the work and really be able to age in place and have access to the services and resources they deserve. so there's so much more work to do, but we're really proud of the work that we've done so far. [♪♪]