A San Francisco police training officer was promoted days before the chief determined he used “unnecessary” force in punching and pepper-spraying a man who had fallen asleep on a Muni bus, according to an NBC Bay Area review of material disclosed under a new state transparency law governing disciplinary case files.
Brian Burke, now a sergeant, was training a rookie officer at the time of the May 31, 2018 incident. Body-worn camera footage shows the officers approaching the man at the back of the bus, responding to a report from the driver who said they couldn’t wake the sleeping man.
“Hey police. Police, wake up,” the officers tell the