Dozens Demand Deputy Firings After Mass Strip Search of Women in SF Jail

A four-hour hearing at San Francisco's Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee exposed harrowing accounts of abuse inside County Jail 2, as survivors, civil rights attorneys and more than 30 community organizations confronted Sheriff Paul Miyamoto over a May 2025 mass strip search of approximately 20 women — filmed by body-worn cameras while male deputies watched and, witnesses say, laughed. The committee also advanced a street sweeping data mandate and delayed a citywide dog sterilization ordinance.

• Over 30 organizations demand deputy suspensions after survivors testify about mass strip search, sexual assault and years without sunlight inside SF County Jail 2

• Sheriff discloses 18 sexual assault reports in 2025, confirms involved staff reassigned but not fired, and commits to strip search policy review and body scanners

• Public Defender's office says strip searches deter attorney visits, violating the Sixth Amendment, as lockdowns block legal access for hours at a time

• DPA director reveals his office lacked jurisdiction to investigate the May 2025 complaints until December, with roughly 40 open investigations now underway

• Clean Streets Act advances to full board after audit finds sweeping routes unchanged since 2008

• Citywide dog spay/neuter mandate delayed to April 9 amid equity concerns for unhoused residents

Supervisor Chen convened the hearing during Women's History Month, telling colleagues: "When I called for this hearing, it was in the light of atrocious allegation of sexual misconduct committed against at least 20 women being held in a San Francisco jail." (Lightly edited for clarity.) Co-sponsors included Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Shamann Walton, Jackie Fielder and Danny Sauter.