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<\/p>\nWilliam Palmer\u2019s term as commissioner has involved multiple allegations of violence and several encounters with law enforcement.<\/p>\n
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A San Francisco Sheriff officer stands following a press conference announcing the San Francisco Sheriff\u2019s Office\u2019s plan to resume warrantless searches of criminal defendants who have been released and awaiting trial, outside of City Hall on April 28, 2025. Palmer\u2019s tenure as president of the civilian watchdog is set to end in September.\u00a0(Gina Castro\/KQED)<\/p>\n
An effort to remove the head of the San Francisco<\/a> Sheriff\u2019s Department Oversight Board faces its first test on Monday, when officials are set to vote on a motion to suspend Commissioner William Palmer.<\/p>\n The Board of Supervisors\u2019 Rules Committee vote follows a watchdog investigation<\/a> earlier this month, which found that the commissioner violated city law multiple times by using his public position to his personal benefit.\u00a0<\/p>\n The motion, which would also recommend official misconduct charges against Palmer, will go before the whole board on Tuesday. If approved by the board, the charges would then be forwarded to the Ethics Commission, before a final board vote.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s investigation, conducted by the San Francisco Inspector General, was initiated upon request by Supervisor Stephen Sherrill \u2014\u00a0after the San Francisco Chronicle published a scathing report<\/a> this summer alleging that Palmer picked up a woman experiencing a mental health crisis off the street, pressured her to have sex and gave her drugs.<\/p>\n Palmer was not arrested and is not facing criminal charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n The watchdog\u2019s report detailed a December 2025 traffic stop by San Francisco sheriff\u2019s deputies in the Tenderloin for Palmer\u2019s expired registration.<\/p>\n During the 51-minute stop, Palmer repeated that he was the president of the Oversight Board at least six times, referenced his relationship with Sheriff Paul Miyamoto and threatened retaliation against the deputies.<\/p>\n Palmer was appointed to the Sheriff\u2019s Department Oversight Board, based on his personal experiences with the carceral system.<\/p>\n Now 55, Palmer spent more than 30 years in prison for a crime he committed as a teenager. He was released in 2019, and a court of appeal later found that his sentence amounted to excessive punishment.<\/p>\n He\u2019s since served as a vocal advocate<\/a> for people in jails.<\/p>\n Palmer\u2019s tenure on the board, however, has involved multiple run-ins with law enforcement.<\/p>\n A woman accused Palmer of rape, though criminal charges were dismissed<\/a> in 2024. Three other women accused him of violence, according to the Chronicle\u2019s<\/a> reporting \u2014 which also said another woman took out a restraining order against him. That, the Chronicle reports, is in addition to several traffic violations and almost $10,000 in parking fees over six years.<\/p>\n Mayor Daniel Lurie has repeatedly referenced the allegations against Palmer as part of his push for Proposition F<\/a>, a ballot measure which would expand both the mayor and board\u2019s authority to allow the removal of most commissioners without cause.<\/p>\n Some progressives, including Supervisor Jackie Fielder, the Democratic Socialists of America San Francisco and former Supervisor Dean Preston, have opposed the mayor, saying that it\u2019s already easy for the mayor to remove corrupt officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n Palmer\u2019s term as a commissioner ends in March, unless he is removed sooner. His tenure as board president closes at the end of September.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-1321806616-scaled-e1790379502794.jpg\")
Palmer speaks in a business pitch competition at Solano State Prison in Vacaville, California, on Dec. 17, 2015. Before his tenure on the Sheriff\u2019s Department Oversight Board, Palmer was an entrepreneur and artist while incarcerated. \u00a0(Michael Macor-The San Francisco Chronicle\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/sfpd-20120221-1.jpg\")
A San Francisco police car patrols the Mission on Feb. 12, 2021.\u00a0(Andres Barraza\/KQED)<\/p>\n