The Widows’ and Orphans’ Aid Association of the San Francisco Police Department held their monthly meeting on Tuesday October 6, 2026, at 1100 hours at the Northern Police Station in San Francisco, CA.
Roll Call: President Jim O’Meara, Vice President Ryan Walsh, Treasurer Eric Wang, Secretary Mark McDonough, Trustees Lou Barberini and Leroy Lindo, Rich Cibotti, Domonique Ellis, and Administrative Assistant Sally Foster were present.
Approval of the Minutes: Trustee Ryan Walsh made a motion to approve the September 2026 minutes. Trustee Lou Barberini seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Receiving Applications; Suspensions and Reinstatements: Trustee Domonique Ellis reported that she has sent out WOAA Membership Applications to the 287th, 288th, and 289th Recruit Classes that have left the Police Academy for the Field Training Officer program. Domonique stated she will present our membership to the 290th and 291st Recruit Classes prior to their graduation from the Academy. Trustee Rich Cibotti will present our membership to the 285th Lateral Transfer Recruit Class this month. There are no new suspensions or reinstatements.
Communications and Bills: Due to a change in the Treasurer position, no bills were presented, Bills will be presented at the following meeting in November.
Report of Visiting Committee: No report this month.
Report of Trustees: The WOAA Board received the sad and tragic news of the following members who passed this month:
John F. Harrington, age 87: John Fisher Harrington was born on October 27, 1938, in Washington D.C. Over the course of five decades John dedicated himself to public service with a distinguished career that included service in the Civil Air Patrol, the Air Force Reserve, the San Francisco Police Department, the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office, and as a licensed Private Investigator. John lived in Washington D.C., briefly in North Dakota after his father died, and was raised by his mother in Oakland, CA. He spent his entire adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula. John was named San Francisco Police Officer of the Year after while alone, disarming a rifle-wielding suspect who had shot up a Bar on Franklin Street for which he was awarded a Silver Medal of Valor. John was a world traveler who visited 47 countries, an avid history and non-fiction buff, an instrument related pilot, scuba diver, motorcyclist, and skydiver. His proudest accomplishment was being a loving and supporting father and fiend to his family. John was quoted to having said: “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming, WOW…WHAT A RIDE!!!” John is survived by his five children, his four grandchildren, his 15-great-grandchildren, and his loving companion Linda. John worked as a telephone installer prior to entering Law Enforcement. John entered the San Francisco Police Department on January 6, 1961, and was assigned to Star #598. John worked the following assignments during his 31-year career: Potrero Police Station (April 17, 1961), Taraval Police Station (February 19, 1962), Southern Police Station (April 16, 1963), Ingleside Police Station (August 16, 1963), Co. K AIB (September 8, 1963), Internal Affairs (promoted to the rank of Police Sergeant and transferred on August 9, 1972), Central Police Station (September 4, 1974), Ingleside Police Station (October 13, 1976), Central Police Station (September 13, 1977), Vice Crimes (July 21, 1990, and promoted to the rank of NCS Police Lieutenant on August 9, 1990). John Fisher Harrington retired with a Service Pension on January 31, 1992. AWARDS: Officer John F. Harrington was awarded with a 2nd Grade Medal of Valor for services rendered on October 19, 1968 when he faced, and disarmed a man who had fired a rifle at patrons of a tavern. When Harrington arrived at the scene he heard the gunshots and observed the suspect holding the patrons at bay. Sergeant john F. Harrington was awarded with a Police Commission Commendation for services rendered on Wednesday November 19, 1975, at approximately 1630 hours when he arrested a knife wielding suspect who was jabbing the weapon at a victim. The suspect then directed his threats at the Sergeant when Harrington Harrington and Michael J. Williams, and Officers Robert McDonnell and Kenneth J. Cottura were awarded with a Police commission Commendation for services rendered on Saturday August 27, 1977 at 0050 hours when they conducted an outstanding, diligent, and painstaking investigation starting with an abandoned auto complaint which subsequently led to the arrest of Patricia Capistrant and Michael Scot Burns for the murder of Josephine Bruski which occurred sometime earlier in St. Paul, Minnesota. Sergeant John F. Harrington, and Officers Sherman Ackerson, Kirk Brookbush, Ann Corriea, Kevin Dillon, Vincent Neeson, Brigido Ramon, and Stephen Venters were each awarded with a Police Commission Commendation for services rendered on Tuesday February 3, 1987, at 1340 hours when a despondent ex-corporate officer of the Bank of America walked into the Bank at 555 California Street. He walked into the legal department on the eighth floor, pulled out a gun, and threatened suicide. Officers Brookbush, Ackerson, and Ramon arrived first and Brookbush engaged the armed suspect in conversation through the doorway. The situation went on for one hour until a negotiator arrived and relieved Brookbush. The negotiator, after a considerable amount of time was able to talk the suspect into surrendering. The suspect was disarmed and placed in custody. Sergeant John F. Harringtion, and Officers Kenneth Esposto, Lance Logan, Anthony Rodriguez, Donald Ross, and Stephen Venters were each awarded with a Police Commission Commendation for services rendered on Friday September 8, 1989, at 1354 hours when they observed smoke coming from a third floor window at 1411 Stockton Street, the Holland Hotel. Sgt. Harrington immediately called a code 33 and requested a response from the San Francisco Fire Department. Harrington coordinated a rescue operation with search teams to clear the building of any tenants. Fourteen tenants were led or carried from the building prior to the arrival of the Fire Department. Sgt. Harrington and the five Officers involved in the rescue evacuation had to be treated for smoke inhalation. The next day on Saturday September 9, 1989, Sgt. John F. Harrington and Officers Jay Holle, Vincent Neeson, and Richard Van Winkle were each awarded with a Police Commission Commendation for services rendered on Saturday September 9, 1989 at noon, The Sergeant and Officers responded to 220 Bush Street and were advised that a Fraud/Forgery suspect was pursued to that location and was possibly still hiding somewhere at that location in a high rise building. Sergeant Harrington quickly organized the Officers into search teams. The suspect was quickly located hiding in an unlocked storage area that contained a quantity of stolen property and evidence of the suspect’s criminal activity. Further investigation led the Officers to a locker at the Greyhound Bus Depot where a large quantity of “loot” was located, including $2,753 in cash, television sets, calculators, and binoculars were recovered. After running over 20 AKA’s associated with the suspect, two arrest warrants were discovered to be outstanding, one from Columbus, Ohio and one from the state of Oregon. In all, the suspect was booked on 13 felony charges.
Ann E. Mannix, age 66: Ann E. Mannix (Corriea) was born on February 12, 1961. Ann entered the San Francisco Police Department on September 2, 1986 beginning a highly successful and honorable career of 35 years of service to the City and County of San Francisco. Ann wore Star #1720 and worked the following assignments during her career: Central Police Station (December 30, 1986), Park Police Station (April 18, 1987), Potrero Police Station (July 23, 1988), Park Police Station (February 4,1989), Headquarters ( November 17, 1992), Operations (October 23, 1993), Crime Prevention ( February 1, 1994), FOB/FTO ( December 3, 1994), Academy ( April 20, 1996), Permits ( October 19, 1996, and promoted to the rank of Police Sergeant November 18, 1996), EEO ( February 28, 2003), Permits ( March 1, 2003), EEO ( March 15, 2003), Academy ( August 23, 2003 ), EEO (August 29, 2003), Taraval Police Station
( promoted to the rank of Police Lieutenant on August 30, 2003) , Park Police Station ( June 19, 2004), Southern Police Station ( January 12, 2008), Northern Police Station ( promoted to the rank of Police Captain and transferred on November 14, 2009), Tactical ( December 22, 2012), MTA (promoted to the rank of Police Commander and transferred on January 17, 2015), Operations Bureau ( May 28, 2016), promoted to the rank of Deputy Chief on November 17, 2018. Ann E. Mannix retired with a Service Pension on June 26, 2021. AWARDS: Sergeant John Harrrington with Police Officers Anne Corriea, Kevin Dillon, Vince Neeson, Brigido Ramon, Kirk Brookbush, Sherman Ackerson, and Steve Venters were all awarded with a Police Commission Commendation for their roles on February 2, 1987. On that day, a despondent ex-corporate Officer entered the Bank of America at 555 California and walked into the Bank’s Legal Department. On the eighth floor. The man pulled a gun and threatened suicide. Officers Ackerson, Brookbush, and Ramon were the first to arrive. Officer Brookbush conversed the armed man through the doorway. The situation went on for another hour until the Police Negotiator arrived. The negotiator relieved Brookbush and was able to establish a rapport with the armed man. The negotiator was successful in the surrender of the armed subject. Police Officers Ann Corrriea, William Coggan, John Poelstra, Leonora Militello, Robin Matthews, and Teresa Jacobs were awarded with a Police Commission Commendation for services rendered on Tuesday November 8, 1988, at 1515 hours. The Officers arrested a man in a Santa Claus suit on the 600 block of Campbell Street. The suspect was walking down the street carrying a shotgun and a meat cleaver. The armed suspect had told a neighbor to stay inside as there was going to be a massacre and that he would kill kids. The Officers arrived and observed the suspect armed with the shotgun and a cleaver. The suspect was yelling incoherently. The Officers drew their weapons, spread out, and approached the suspect. The suspect observed the Officers, and began walking toward them. Coggan and Poelstra ordered the suspect to drop his weapons. The suspect complied and dropped the shotgun and meat cleaver, and then drew a .44 magnum handgun from his waistband, hesitated, and then placed it on the ground. The suspect was taken into custody, and Officers seized the suspect’s weapons. Officers Ann Mannix, Marco Desangles, Robert Miller, Jeremiah Buckley, Robert Clevidence, David Goff, Anthony Hartzer, Pierre Martinez, and Alejandro Verzosa were each awarded with a Police Commission Commendation for services rendered on January 26, 1992 when they apprehended two dangerous serial armed robbers. The arrest ended the spree of armed robberies by the two suspects. Officers Ann Mannix, Alec Cardenas, Kevin Dempsey, Edward Ellestad, Dino Zografos, David Seid, with Sergeants Jerry Salvador, Steve Gudelj, Dave Shinn, and Inspectors Mark Gamble, Steven Lundberg, Dennis Maffei, and Robert Sudano were each awarded with a Meritorious Award for an outstanding investigation. On Sunday October 30, 1994, member of the Crime Prevention Company and the Special Investigations Division distinguished themselves in capturing three serial robbery suspects who had been victimizing local Asian Restaurants. Beginning in early October, a series of robberies occurred in the Tendeloin, Sunset, and Richmond districts. These robberies targeted Asian owned Restaurants and were committed by a group of 3 or 4 Chinese males. A pattern developed and members of the Special Investigations Division began working with members of the Crime Prevention Company night watches. Their combined efforts of surveillance on potential victims led to the capture of three dangerous robbery suspects. Lt. Ann Mannix was awarded with a Police Commission Commendation for services rendered on June 27, 2007. Sgt Keith Pasquinzo informed Lt. Tim Foley that he believed a robbery series was taking place in the Park Police District. Sgt. Pasquinzo informed Foley that two similar robberies have occurred in the span of two weekends. Lt. Foley directed Officers Elieff and Giovannelli to pull station files and search for any similar robberies. Elieff and Giovannelli located three robberies with similar MO’s, with suspect and vehicle descriptions. One of the robberies included a series stabbing that nearly resulted in death. Lt. Foley directed Elieff and Giovannelli to respond to the Robbery Detail, provide them with the information, and cooperate with the Inspector assigned to the case. Lt Foley and Lt. Ann Mannix were provided the robbery series sheet from Inspector Brian Danker of the Robbery Detail. Foley and Mannix reviewed the information and determined the most likely locations for the suspects to strike again on weekend nights, between the hours. Of 0200 and 0500, in the upper Haight Street area. Officers Dennis, Doherty, Embody, Imbellino, Goodwin, Russell, and Anderson, with Sergeants Calloway, Silas, and Lewis were selected to participate in the surveillance component of the investigation. During the preliminary field investigation, Officers noted that one of the suspects similarly matched the composite drawing of a stabbing suspect in crime bulletin #07-074. They also developed information that the driver was on probation with a search condition. The Officers located the suspect vehicle and a search of the vehicle netted evidence that linked the suspects to a robbery that occurred earlier in the evening. Sgt. Lewis conducted two cold-shows which led to the arrest of all three robbery suspects for two of the robberies. All of the suspects were charged with conspiracy, two counts of robbery, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of possession of stolen property. For their efforts, Lt. Mannix, Lt Foley, Sergeants Pasquinzo, Silas, Callaway, and Lewis, and Officers Elieff, Giovanelli, Embody, Goodwin, Anderson, Dennis, Doherty, Imbellino, Russell, and Teper, and Inspector Danker were each awarded with Police Commission Commendations.
Kevin M. Mannix, age 69: Kevin Mannix was a San Francisco Police Officer from January 15, 1985 to June 30, 2018.
Report of Special Committee: Trustee Ryan Walsh reported that the actuarial study is pending awaiting financial reports for analysis.
Old Business: No report this month.
New Business: President O’Meara introduced Eric Wang as a candidate for the open Treasurer appointment. President O’Meara made a motion to appoint Eric Wang as Treasurer appointee. Trustee Lou Barberini seconded the motion. Motion passed by vote of the Board (Barberini, Cibotti, Ellis, and Walsh). President O/Meara made a motion to appoint Ryan Walsh to the open position of Vice President appointee. Trustee Lou Barberini seconded the motion. The motion passed by Board vote (Barberini, Cibotti, Ellis). President O’Meara then recommended and made a motion to appoint Pernisha Battle to the final open Trustee position. Trustee Lou Barberini seconded the motion. The motion passed by Board vote (Barberini, Cibotti, and Ellis). Pernisha Battle, our newly appointed Trustee, was not at the meeting and was appointed in absentia.
Good of the Order: No report this month.
Adjournment: President O’Meara led out Board in a moment of silence for all our fallen brothers. President O’Meara scheduled our next meeting for Tuesday November 10, 2026, at 1100 hours, on Zoom.
To All Members: Members can obtain new beneficiary forms on our website at sfwidowsandorphans.org. Follow the link from the Resources box on our face page. Complete all requested information on contact me at (415) 681-3660, or at Widowsorphans825@gmail.com for further processing instructions. We thank the following people each month for all their assistance to help bring the best customer service to our membership: Retired San Francisco Police Captain and the Defense Administrator of the San Francisco Police Offices Association, Paul Chignell; retired San Francisco Police Lieutenant Rene LaPrevotte who hosts an email that reaches thousands of retired and active Officers; retired San Francisco Police Sergeant and the long-standing editor of the San Francisco Police Officers Association Journal Newspaper, Ray Shine; Joron Coleman of Personnel, and Kristine Singh of the Police Commission Office.