Allegations Sustained Against Gay SF Cop

San Francisco's police watchdog has sustained allegations against a gay longtime cop who was recorded calling young African-American men "ugly fucker" and other names and referring to a defense attorney as a "bitch."

But the public defender's office isn't satisfied with the Office of Citizen Complaints investigation of police Inspector Len Broberg, who's regularly testified as a gang expert, and at least one veteran attorney is suggesting a moratorium on new gang-related prosecutions until there's more examination of how police handle such cases.

The investigation of Broberg, who declined to comment directly for this story, started after remarks he made in a March 2015 recording were publicized last May by the public defender's office.

In the audio, Broberg, a longtime member of the police department's Gang Task Force, is speaking to other officers when he refers to Deputy Public Defender Rebecca Young as a "bitch." He also refers to one suspect as an "ugly fucker" and another as a "fat ... jackass."

In a January 20, 2016 letter to then-Police Chief Greg Suhr, Danielle Harris, the felony unit manager in the public defender's office, said that Broberg "disrespects young men of color" by "calling them names and mocking them openly;" he "flippantly brands young men of color as gang members, even switching the specific gang involved at his convenience, and books these same men on charges he knows are not supported by probable cause."

Harris also referred to Broberg calling Young a "bitch" and arresting a young lawyer "without seeking a warrant or other approval first, despite knowing the DA was already involved in the case and had not charged the lawyer."

Finally, Harris told Suhr in her letter, Broberg had "used intimidation to dissuade" Mike Yoshioka, program director for the Bayview nonprofit City of Dreams, "from offering services to and testifying truthfully about at-risk youth."

In a letter dated January 5, 2017 outlining its preliminary findings, the OCC said it had sustained allegations of "conduct reflecting discredit on the department against a police officer for behaving inappropriately and making inappropriate remarks" and a "sexual slur against a police officer for making sexually derogatory comments."

However, the agency said it had not sustained an "allegation of conduct reflecting discredit on the department against a police officer for harassing persons."

Harris responded with a January 27 letter to OCC Executive Director Joyce Hicks, saying that she's dissatisfied with the agency's investigation.

"First," Harris said, Yoshioka, the City of Dreams program manager, told the public defender's office "that he has never been contacted by the OCC or by SFPD" about Broberg. (Yoshioka didn't respond to the Bay Area Reporter's interview requests.)

Harris also noted that her complaint to Suhr was dated January 20, 2016, but she didn't get the OCC's findings "until January 19, 2017 (two weeks after its January 5 date)."

She questioned why Yoshioka wasn't interviewed and "why the investigation took a whole year when the sustained allegations were based on a recording that was filed with the complaint. Further, I request you impanel an investigative hearing immediately."

'Lord and Master'

Young, the attorney that Broberg called a "bitch," told the B.A.R., "The fair thing to do would be to suspend the filing of any gang charges or gang allegations against African-American men" in the city until police handling of gang issues "is investigated and researched" by an independent commission or the district attorney's office.

"This is not some rogue cop," Young said of Broberg. "... This is the trainer. This is the lord and master of the Gang Task Force."

Among other problems revealed in the recording, Harris said in her letter to Suhr, "Broberg tells the other officers to brand one man a documented Big Block member, right after saying that same man was a Kirkwood gang member, then casually decides to deem every man there a documented Big Block member."

She quoted Broberg as saying in the recording, "So he arrived with two Big Block gang members both of whom are documented. Alvin and Calvin - yeah. Well we actually had Alvin as a Kirkwood which would be fine but he's there with the Williform brothers so - and these guys are all documented. Just put in that they're all documented Big Block gang members."

Young, who's defended clients that Broberg testified against, said, "It's so much better that it's on a recording because now we have actual evidence of what we have known for years and have been unable to stop and unable to address because he testifies completely differently in court."

She said that Broberg has "testified under oath that Big Block doesn't exist anymore," and he's testified that "he would never put gang charges on young black men for just being in an area."

Young said, "He's labeling kids as gang members who aren't gang members and ... he's doing it because they live or hang out or play in this certain area."

Even if someone has a relative Broberg suspects is in a gang, "You're finished in his eyes," Young added.

"We're forced to deal with it on a case-by-case basis in court, but that doesn't impact the practice of police in these communities because the culture in the police department is to treat young black men with suspicion who live in these neighborhoods," Young said.

She added, "You're stripped of all presumption of innocence when the DA and the cop [say] you're a gang member, and they do it so blithely," particularly against young black men.

Christopher Shea, an attorney provided to Broberg by the San Francisco Police Officers Association, told the B.A.R. that the veteran policeman "has accepted responsibility for his use of inappropriate language, but that's the only thing he's done wrong."

Shea said that many of Young's comments about Broberg are "untrue," and her statement that Broberg testified Big Block doesn't exist is "totally unsubstantiated."

"If she has transcripts of that stuff, she should be showing it to you," he said.

Responding to the comments about Broberg being the "lord and master" Shea said, "He's an expert on gangs and has trained other officers on gangs."

As for having a moratorium on gang charges or allegations in the city, it would be "inappropriate for the public defender to ask the DA to stop enforcing the law," he said.

People of Color Singled Out

In response to emailed questions, Harris, the felony unit supervisor in the public defender's office, told the B.A.R., "We haven't asked for a moratorium relating to Broberg's conduct."

However, she said, "There are several bases for such a moratorium. The SFPD 'gang task force' and the DA's gang unit prosecute young people of color exclusively. That alone is a problem. And it is not happenstance - it is a current manifestation of our country's history of racism. Ratcheting-up sentences for these youngsters and branding them gangsters is just one way that legacy lives on.

"Moreover, the 'gangs' in question are the loosest association of teenaged and young adult men who grew up in the same tiny neighborhoods, went to the same pre/elementary/middle/high schools, and played on the same sports teams," Harris continued. "These so-called gangs have no entry requirements, no leaders, no organizational structure whatsoever, no dues. GTF officers will say someone who says he's from 'Oakdale' or 'Eddy Rock' is 'claiming' gang membership when in fact what they are doing is provided basic biographical information. These groups intermingle with other groups such that the DA's gang unit has multiple current cases wherein persons from different so-called gangs are charged together - this was precisely the problem Broberg confronted when he decided to just call them 'all documented Big Block gang members.'"

Harris also said, "Broberg should not be in a position of power nor in a position where he can influence the attitudes of newer officers. At the very least, he should be in a non-public contact position."

Shea said of Harris' last statement that "she doesn't back it up with any facts."

"The OCC conducted a thorough investigation," he said. "The public defender is apparently disappointed in their finding and is now repeating the same allegations that are unfounded. Lenny Broberg has been a police officer for over 20 years and has never been subjected to any disciplinary action," and he has "an exemplary record."

"The public defender is simply disappointed because he does good police work and conducts investigations that result in their clients' conviction," Shea said.

Asked about the possibility of a moratorium on gang charges and about Harris' criticism of police and prosecutors' handling of such cases, Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the DA's office, said, "We make charging decisions based on evidence."

Sergeant Michael Andraychak, a police spokesman, declined to comment on Broberg since it's "a personnel matter."

John Alden, of the Department of Police Accountability (the new name for the OCC), said in an email, "Penal Code Section 832.7 prevents our office from answering" the B.A.R.'s questions.

"A few years ago, the California Supreme Court ruled in a case called Copley Press that the police officer privacy rights described in that code section apply to administrative investigations and resulting proceedings in police misconduct cases, such as this one," Alden explained.