A San Francisco police officer accused of drunkenly flashing his badge to evade being kicked out of a city movie theater bar could face disciplinary action after the Department of Police Accountability found him at fault in three allegations made in a complaint by the theater’s management.
In an anonymized recent summary of complaints it received, the Department of Police Accountability determined that an officer in plain clothes drank several shots of hard alcohol at the bar of a movie theater, became “overly intoxicated,” and was asked to leave. But instead of complying, the officer flashed his San Francisco Police Department badge and firearm at the theater’s employees to remain on the premises.
The Department of Police Accountability, which investigates civilian complaints made about police, found the officer violated the SFPD’s general rules of conduct as well as its alcohol policy, and that he “misused police authority.”
Neither the officer nor the venue where he purportedly misbehaved is named in the documents. The theater in question is described in the complaint summary as having a bar on an upper level of the building, and closed-off toilets downstairs.
“The named officer denied engaging in any misconduct, misusing police authority, or violating any department policies while being inebriated with a firearm and department-issued badge,” DPA’s report reads. “However, in the separate administrative interview, he admitted that his actions violated department policies.”
An SFPD policy prohibits off-duty officers who are intoxicated from placing themselves in police officer status. It is also against policy to consume alcohol while carrying a firearm, or to activate from off-duty to on-duty status when impaired.
The DPA additionally determined that the officer misused his status as a police officer by using his badge to improperly gain access to the theater’s private restroom.
It is unclear what level of discipline the officer may face in this incident. The complaint was made in November 2023, and the case was completed last month and released in the Department of Police Accountability’s monthly report.
Much of the incident was caught on surveillance camera footage, which revealed the officer and a friend “sitting at the bar, consuming several shots of alcohol” and “the named officer stumbling and leaning on the other patron” as if drunk.
When asked to leave, he could be seen “reaching into his hoodie near his collar,” which is when one employee said the officer flashed his badge on a chain around his neck, then lifted the bottom of his hoodie to display his holstered gun.
According to the report, another employee who worked in security asked the officer why he had shown his star and firearm, and said the officer “apologized and said he did not mean anything by it, and wanted to express to them that he was an officer and a ‘good guy’ and that he did not want to cause any trouble.”
That employee told the officer to take a refund for his movie tickets and leave the premises, and threatened to call the police before the officer agreed to leave.
But then, instead of leaving, the officer went downstairs and attempted to gain access to a restroom that was closed to the public and only available for employees and on-duty first responders.
“It appeared, in the footage, that he flashed his department-issued badge again, as attested by the security personnel,” the DPA summary read.
The security guard overseeing the restroom attested that he only allowed the officer entry because of the badge.
“DPA finds that the named officer’s display of his department-issued badge, even to simply enter a closed-off restroom while off duty, was a misuse of police authority,” the report read.
By the end of the incident, the officer had flashed his badge several times to various employees and security personnel at the theater. After the officer left, the report says, the witnesses called the police and “several officers” responded to the scene.
The Department of Police Accountability forwarded a fourth, unspecified allegation associated with the incident to SFPD’s Internal Affairs Division, which separately investigated part of this case. That allegation was out of DPA’s jurisdiction.
The status of SFPD’s internal investigation is unclear.
SFPD continues to polish its sparkling reputation. . . .
It should be noted the officer potentially committed a couple of criminal offenses. There is little doubt a member of the general public would face charges for drunkenly displaying a firearm in public.
I came here to say this, but hoped in my heart it had already been said. Throw the book at this disgraceful, failed public servant.
Could you be more specific? Perhaps by naming one of these offenses . . .
Section 3602 of San Francisco code and 417 of CA code.
That bad apple must have been drinking bad apple cider.
These guys can’t control themselves—the barrel is rotten. But, sure, keep shoveling money at SFPD no matter how low its crime clearance rate.
Is that a gun in your pocket or are you flexing, happy to see me
Sounds like the Kabuki.
It is incidents like this, where a police officer clearly breaks the law and their union and the department get behind them to help them get away with it that tarnish the reputation of the entire department. That he thinks he’s a “good guy” instead of a crook reminds me of an orange buffoon running for president.
What theater could this be? My first thought was Alamo Drafthouse, but their bar is on the first floor.
A bar “on the upper level of the building?” Maybe the Castro for a special event? I’m stumped.
Yes the Kabuki has a bar upstairs and restroom on the ground floor…….