San Francisco police chief resigns amid scandals

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20 (UPI) -- San Francisco police Chief Greg Suhr, at the mayor's request, has resigned following a string of scandals that have damaged the city's police department.

Suhr resigned Thursday, hours after one of his officers shot and killed an unarmed black woman. Despite previously expressing support for Suhr, Mayor Edwin Lee said change had moved too slowly in the San Francisco Police Department and asked for his resignation.

"These officer-involved shootings, justified or not, have forced our city to open its eyes to questions of when and how police use lethal force," Lee said in a statement at city hall. "The progress we've made has been meaningful, but it hasn't been fast enough. Not for me, not for Greg. ... The men and women of SFPD put themselves in harm's way literally every day. We owe it to them to restore the community's trust in their work."

The shooting victim was behind the wheel of a stolen car when a police officer fired a single shot and killed her after she refused to comply with his orders.

The SFPD has been the target of public outrage since December, when the first of two officer-involved fatal shootings occurred. Another followed in April. The department had also been embarrassed by the uncovering of racist text messages exchanged between officers.