The relationship between the media and law enforcement is often adversarial. Reporters appear to seek the sensational elements of a crime story, often to the detriment of the police, and officers tend to be uncooperative with journalists they seem to instinctively mistrust. Not so with “The Badge,” a new series presented by a San Francisco Chronicle reporter/photographer team embedded with the SFPD. Kudos to the Chronicle for pursuing this series and to the officers who willingly put themselves in the media spotlight in the hopes of helping civilians develop a better understanding of life behind the badge. You’re putting a human face on “the police,” which will benefit us all.
By John Koopman The San Francisco Chronicle
In the early morning light, just before dawn, 30 cops assemble outside the police station in San Francisco's Ingleside district. They load weapons, strap on body armor, check radios, pull on windbreakers that say "Police" in big yellow letters. There's an FBI agent, a U.S. marshal, and from the San Francisco Police Department there are 10 members of the Gang Task Force, a dozen more from the Fugitive Recovery Enforcement Team, narcotics officers and some uniformed officers from the Ingleside Station. There's going to be a raid. The cops are looking for a couple of alleged drug dealers in the Alemany housing projects. Informants have said there are guns in the homes, so there's a heightened sense of tension. The sun peeks over the hill at Candlestick Point to the east, casting Ingleside in a warm glow. "Somebody's going to jail today," predicts Lt. Ernie Ferrando, head of the Gang Task Force. This all started weeks earlier, when narcotics officers conducted an operation in the Alemany projects. Undercover officers went into two apartments on Ellsworth Street to buy drugs. They didn't make any arrests, but brought the information back for further action. The cops secured arrest and search warrants for the two residents, who live in apartments next to each other. Warrants are listed as "day service" or "night service," indicating the time of day they may be served. You cannot search a home at night if the warrant says "day service." Day service starts at 7 a.m., which is why the officers gathered at the Ingleside Station at 6:30 a.m. The thinking is, most people are still asleep at 7 a.m. If they're sleepy and bleary-eyed, there's less chance they might be ready to fight, or be high on drugs. Going to a drug house is a high-risk operation. You never know what's on the other side of that door.
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