The San Francisco Police Department must immediately develop a policy that will not confiscate condoms from people (particularly those suspected of prostitution) and use them as evidence in any court case. As we reported last week, department officials in the same unit contradicted one another: one said condoms are never taken as evidence of prostitution and the other said police do use condoms as evidence of prostitution. This is in spite of a 1994 resolution adopted by the Board of Supervisors that called on the mayor to urge the district attorney and Police Commission "to no longer confiscate and/or alter or use the fact of condom possession for investigative or court evidence in prostitution-related offences." Seems pretty clear to us.
The police need a consistent policy that is followed by officers on the street as well as investigators and command staff. A failure to do so will undermine the message of public health officials, HIV prevention officials, and others who have implored the public for decades to practice safe sex in order to reduce transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Sex workers are some of the most vulnerable in this regard, and it's important that they have condoms with them in case their clients don't. Yet since the SFPD uses condom possession as a pretext to question and implicate suspected prostitutes, some sex workers are reluctant to carry them. This could, in fact, have dire consequences from a public health perspective, as well as put individuals at greater risk for contracting HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases.
One of the most troubling aspects of the story was that a transgender office manager for an agency serving trans women was stopped and questioned at 4 p.m. by police near Diva's, a bar that's popular with trans women. Despite her unassuming attire, officers searched her bag and took five condoms, she said, because they told her she "looked like" she "was prostituting." She was not cited.
That sort of action by officers is alarming to us, and should be to department brass and city officials as well. Already Supervisor Scott Wiener has voiced his concern over the department's apparent lack of a consistent condom policy, and Mayor Ed Lee said people should ask the Police Commission to look into the matter.
We think the mayor, Wiener, and health department officials should meet with Police Chief Greg Suhr so that everyone is on the same page.
The city of San Francisco spends $200,000 annually distributing about 1 million condoms – they need to be used as they are intended, not taken by cops in some nebulous effort at combating prostitution.
Cops do good at Pride
While we have concerns with the police department's condom policy, we must acknowledge the good work officers did during Pride weekend. We were impressed with the professionalism of the SFPD. Groups of four or five officers were evident without being threatening or distracting. They were friendly to people who asked them questions and did their best to respond. While we saw some people being called out for smoking a joint or drinking in the Castro, officers handled it professionally, explaining that public drinking was prohibited and they shouldn't be smoking marijuana in public either. All in all, good community police work during what is arguably the city's biggest festival weekend of the year, and one during which people have a tendency to celebrate wildly.