About a dozen city officials gathered in Mayor Gavin Newsom's office Friday afternoon to usher in what many hope will be a new era at the San Francisco Police Department with the swearing-in of George Gascón, the first outsider to take the helm in 30 years.
Gascón then fielded questions on a range of topics, including how seriously marijuana possession will be treated (not very, unless it's related to an open-air drug market, gangs or violence), how he'll get witnesses to crimes to come forward (through officers getting to know residents), and whether he'll take seriously the quality-of-life crimes that plague the Tenderloin (yes, because residents and businesses want it).
