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 Although the American Civil Liberties Union had asked for a
federal investigation into the San Francisco Police Department
following the death of Mario Woods, 26, at the hands of police in
December, the review will result only in recommendations, not
court-enforceable reforms.
"We will examine the San Francisco Police Department's current
operational policies, training practices and accountability systems,
and help identify key areas for improvement going forward," Attorney
General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
At the conclusion of the review, the Justice Department will give
San Francisco police a list of best practices it can follow to
insure fairness in its interactions with citizens.
San Francisco police will then report back to the Justice Department
on a periodic basis to show it is following the practices, a Justice
Department official said.
 Other police departments, such as Baltimore, have asked the Justice
Department to conduct similar reviews of its policies following
accusations of discrimination.
In the case of Baltimore, a review was ongoing before the death of
black detainee Freddie Gray. Gray's death then prompted a more
formal investigation, the results of which will be enforceable by
law.
Protests have flared in San Francisco over the fatal police shooting
on Dec. 2 of Woods, which was filmed by bystanders and described by
San Francisco's public defender as unnecessary. Demonstrators have
repeatedly called for Police Chief Greg Suhr's ouster.
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Suhr has said that Woods was a suspect in a stabbing, that he was
holding a knife and was a threat to officers who had tried to subdue
him with pepper spray and bean bag rounds.
In video recorded by onlookers, officers could be seen with their
weapons pointed at Woods, who was standing with his back against the
wall of a building. In the video, Woods does not seem to be holding
anything when he is shot multiple times, although police have said
they recovered a kitchen knife.
Woods' family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city
in December for wrongful death, describing his killing as a
"horrific public execution."
The death came amid unrest across the United States over
high-profile police killings of black citizens in cities such as
Ferguson, Missouri, and Chicago since mid-2014, and a renewed civil
rights movement dubbed Black Lives Matter.
(Additional reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco)
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