San Francisco mayor says Mesa chief to lead PD

The Associated Press, June 16, 2009

San Francisco (AP) -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has chosen Mesa, Ariz. police Chief George Gascon as the city's next chief of police.

"I know going outside is a risk," Newsom told the San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday about his decision not to select a replacement for outgoing chief Heather Fong from within the police department. "But (Gascon) is a nuts-and-bolts-type of chief, a cop's cop and very active in community policing."

Gascon, 55, has been police chief of Mesa, a city of 460,000 that is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area, since 2006. Before that, he was an assistant police chief in Los Angeles.

"Any time you go into a new opportunity, there is going to be a level of uncertainty," Gascon told the Chronicle. "But I feel very comfortable."

Gascon is a supporter of sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants, which San Francisco has followed for years. He has described the use of officers to enforce immigration laws as a waste of resources, and he has clashed with a county sheriff in Arizona over the sheriff's efforts to arrest illegal immigrants.

"He shares the mayor's support for the sanctuary city policy and he has tackled some of the toughest immigration related law enforcement issues as a police chief in Arizona," said Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for the mayor.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_12604571

(above summary from: http://www.cis.org/Griffith/MorningNews91709 )

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