Richardson v. City & County of San Francisco Police Commission

After 16 years as a member of the San Francisco police force, Inspector Marvetia Lynn Richardson was terminated by the San Francisco Police Commission (Commission) for misconduct arising out of three separate incidents. Richardson filed a petition for writ of administrative mandamus in the San Francisco Superior Court seeking reinstatement, back-pay, and damages. The court affirmed the Commission’s decision in all regards. Richardson appeals, asserting numerous challenges to the court’s order denying her petition. We affirm.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Unauthorized CLETS 1 Transactions

In February 2007, Dwayne Jackson 2 filed a complaint with the San Francisco Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC), alleging that Richardson had obtained confidential information on him and his wife through improper computer searches. The matter was referred to the San Francisco Police *675 Department’s (SFPD) management control division (MCD), which conducted an investigation and discovered that between January 1, 2006, and March 2007, Richardson had run 48 unauthorized searches on the SFPD’s CLETS computer system. The subjects of her searches were Samonia Nelson (her girlfriend), Jackson (Nelson’s…