SFPD Officer Arrested Following Internal Affairs Probe

In August of 2015, The Internal Affairs Division was notified of a sexual assault allegation made against an off-duty member of the San Francisco Department and investigators initiated an immediate investigation into these allegations. Upon completion of the SFPD investigation, the District Attorney’s Office reviewed the facts of this case and Internal Affairs investigators sought an arrest warrant for the member. There was insufficient evidence for a sexual assault charge. However, probable cause did exist to arrest the member for violations related to use and access to confidential criminal offender information and motor vehicle records. On March 23, 2016, Jason Lai of San Francisco was charged with two misdemeanor counts of Unlawful Possession of Local Criminal Offender History Information and 4 misdemeanor counts of Misuse of Confidential Department of Motor Vehicles Information. Lai was placed on unpaid administrative leave during the investigation and remains on unpaid leave to this day. Lai's booking photo accompanies this press release. During the investigation, allegations surfaced that a second sworn member of the Department had engaged in conduct that interfered with the investigation. This investigation is still open and on-going, however, this member has since separated from the Department. Maintaining the public’s trust is of utmost importance to the members of the SFPD and the Department will continue to work hard to build and maintain this trust. The Internal Affairs Division launched an immediate investigation and worked closely with the District Attorney’s Office in this investigation.