SF Jail Oversight Leader Faces Allegations of Violence Against Women, Multiple Parole Violations

"William Palmer was appointed to the Sheriff's Department Oversight Board in 2021 to help monitor jail conditions and hold sheriff's deputies accountable, and he now serves as its president. As on other city boards, Palmer serves as a member with “lived experience” of the agency it is overseeing — he was imprisoned for decades for a crime he committed as a teen, and released in 2019."

"Since joining the oversight board, Palmer has repeatedly cycled through the same system he was appointed to oversee — at times invoking his position to avoid arrest, while consistently denying responsibility for nearly every incident, as detailed in recent investigations by the Chronicle and the Voice of San Francisco. In once incident highlighted by the Chronicle, Palmer was pulled over in the Tenderloin for driving with expired registration, and he can be seen on bodyworn camera footage introducing himself to a police officer as “President William Palmer” of the Sheriff's Department Oversight Board, and refusing to hand over his license."

"Over the last several years, women have reportedly accused Palmer of assault, strangulation, stalking, intimidation, and sexual violence in multiple incidents. He has also faced allegations involving parole violations, unauthorized international travel, violent altercations, and secretly recording women on BART. Some of these cases were dismissed, while others were never fully prosecuted."

"But across many of the incidents, Palmer's response tends to follow the same pattern. Repeatedly, Palmer has described accusations against him as misunderstandings, false claims, retaliation, or examples of society unfairly targeting Black men and formerly incarcerated people, according"

William Palmer was appointed to the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board in 2021 and became its president. He has a history of incarceration for a crime committed as a teenager and was released in 2019. Since joining the board, he has repeatedly been involved in law enforcement encounters and has invoked his board role in some situations to avoid arrest. Women have accused him of assault, strangulation, stalking, intimidation, and sexual violence across multiple incidents. He has also faced allegations involving parole violations, unauthorized international travel, violent altercations, and secretly recording women on BART. Some cases were dismissed or not fully prosecuted, and he consistently denies responsibility, attributing allegations to misunderstanding, bias, or retaliation.

Read at sfist.com