Lt. Clayton Harmston will take charge as the new police captain at Taraval Station. Harmston has served 25 years with the SFPD, including previous roles at Taraval Station. He is a recipient of the gold medal of valor and a purple heart. Harmston has engaged in legal actions against SFPD, alleging racial discrimination regarding promotions for white officers. A lawsuit filed in 2019 with 12 other officers led to a settlement of $380,000 from the city in March 2023.
Harmston, who has been an officer at SFPD for 25 years, also served at the Northern Station on the investigation team and at Bayview Station. He received a gold medal of valor - the department's highest honor - and a purple heart in 2003 after arresting an armed driver who was on parole. The driver shot at him and another officer.
Harmston was also involved in legal disputes with the city and SFPD, accusing the department of racial discrimination against white officers when it came to promotions. In 2019, Harmston, along with 12 other white SFPD employees, filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that they were 'passed over for promotions by lower-scoring candidates.'
A disturbing pattern emerges from SFPD's promotional scheme because it shows that lower-scoring African-American and female candidates are the primary beneficiaries of SFPD's illegal promotion process, the lawsuit read.
The city settled the lawsuit in March 2023 and paid out $380,000 to the officers.
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