The state Commission on Peace Officers and Training voted unanimously Wednesday to authorize a full decertification hearing – a major step towards possible removal – for a San Francisco sheriff’s deputy based on his prior admissions of lying to agents investigating corruption in Chinatown.

Despite his having formally admitted to a judge to having lied to federal investigators probing corruption involving Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow a decade ago, Michael Kim was rehired last year after Sheriff Paul Miyamoto personally vouched for his character in a letter.

Kim now faces potential removal under a state law that authorizes state decertification based on prior acts of dishonesty, excessive force or other qualifying circumstances.

The 15-0 vote to authorize a decertification hearing against Kim came after he spoke on his own behalf at the hearing in West Sacramento.

In pressing for a hearing, POST investigators raised concerns that Kim had written to the judge who sentenced him for misdemeanor contempt of court in 2017 that he had already resigned and had no intention of pursuing a career in law enforcement.

After investigators said that court filing itself raised questions about his credibility, Kim sought to explain to the board what happened.

“My attorney and I – we thought at the time, that I would not be able to come back with this charge,” he said.
But after he finished probation early for the misdemeanor, he said, former colleagues and commanders urged him to try to get his job back.

“Because of their urging, I did apply, and I went through the whole process,” he said. “There were no shortcuts, I did everything that every candidate would go through. There were no shortcuts.”

A fact-finding hearing is the next step in the process that could prompt a final vote to formally decertify Kim.

The sheriff’s department declined to comment on the vote Wednesday, saying it would be “premature” given there are two more steps in the process to come. Should the fact-finding hearing step result in a recommendation to the full board, the final step would be a commission vote to decertify.