1 00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:20,900 Davis Aurini: Davis speaking. 2 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,800 Albie Esparza: Hi, this is Albie Esparza from San Francisco Police, how are you? 3 00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:27,800 Aurini: Not doing too badly, yourself? 4 00:00:28,100 --> 00:00:33,000 Esparza: Good. You left a message and so we're trying to see what it is that we can help you with. 5 00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:35,900 Aurini: Yes, just give me a second, here. 6 00:00:37,900 --> 00:00:42,100 Aurini: Alright, so I'm just trying to reset my brain right now. 7 00:00:43,500 --> 00:00:47,800 Aurini: Davis Aurini, I'm a freelance writer/journalist/filmmaker. 8 00:00:47,900 --> 00:00:51,900 Aurini: Could I just confirm you name again, as to who I'm speaking to? 9 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:54,900 Esparza: [UNKNOWN WORD] Esparza, what can we help you with? 10 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,600 Aurini: I’m calling about an incident which occurred in your district on the 26th of August. 11 00:01:00,700 --> 00:01:07,100 It was to a Ms. Sarkeesian. She's a prominent cultural critic and she received a number of death threats over Twitter, 12 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,500 which wind [sic] up driving her out of her own home. 13 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:19,200 This has been reported quite a bit through the gaming media, as well as in other mainstream sources like the L.A. Times and the UK's Telegraph. 14 00:01:19,900 --> 00:01:23,400 Esparza: I'm very familiar with the case - or with the incident. 15 00:01:23,500 --> 00:01:29,000 There's nothing- there's no record of anything occuring on the 28th of August. 16 00:01:29,100 --> 00:01:32,300 I've been reach her for the past two days. 17 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:34,300 Aurini: So she n- 18 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:40,800 Esparza: So, if you have a way to contact this person and ask them for a case number, we would appreciate that. 19 00:01:41,100 --> 00:01:46,200 There's no record from our dispatch center, that I called and asked. 20 00:01:46,700 --> 00:01:49,500 There's no record of any report being taken. 21 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:58,100 I saw her tweet that says "authorities." I need to make sure that she reported to the San Francisco police and how she did it, because there's no record. 22 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:04,600 Aurini: Okay, thank you. I just have a couple of other questions about how you typically deal with these cases, if you don't mind. 23 00:02:06,300 --> 00:02:11,400 She said that the officers told her she should stop doing her cultural commentary if she was receiving threats. 24 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:17,400 Is this the sort of thing that you would say to a victim of harassment? 25 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:24,700 Esparza: No, but that's hearsay, so it's third-party information, so I'm not going to speculate on whether or not that was said. 26 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,200 But, we wouldn't say that to someone who's filing a report. 27 00:02:28,300 --> 00:02:33,900 Aurini: Would that possibly be disciplinary action if an officer were to say such a thing? 28 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,200 Esparza: We're not going to talk about hypothetical situations because it's hearsay. 29 00:02:38,300 --> 00:02:39,400 Aurini: Understood. 30 00:02:39,500 --> 00:02:47,200 Esparza: There's no record of that incident occurring, and so I'm not going to speculate. And therefore, it's inapproprate to make comments on that. 31 00:02:47,300 --> 00:02:49,000 Aurini: Understood. 32 00:02:49,100 --> 00:02:53,300 I have some colleagues that have received harassment in other districts, 33 00:02:53,400 --> 00:03:03,800 and the police there recommended that they not respond to it or discuss it online once the investigation has begun. 34 00:03:03,900 --> 00:03:11,500 Is that your department's policy, and if not, what advice would you give to somebody that was receiving threats? 35 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:21,900 Esparza: Well, if someone receives a threat - we're talking specifically online or via text messaging or Twitter and e-mails, that type of stuff - 36 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:33,400 it's important to document it. So they should somehow save either a text message or an e-mail or a tweet. 37 00:03:33,500 --> 00:03:40,400 If they can capture that and bring it to the police station as evidence, that would be booked. 38 00:03:40,900 --> 00:03:47,800 It's very important that they document it, as long as they can do so safely. 39 00:03:47,900 --> 00:03:56,800 But, it's very imporant because, again, if they don't do it and this continues, you never know what could happen, right? 40 00:03:56,900 --> 00:04:08,500 So, at least document it. If the department has any leads we will do our best, because we take it seriously when someone makes threats against someone's life. 41 00:04:09,300 --> 00:04:15,200 So we would ask that they file a report. Bring the evidence so we can initiate an investigation. 42 00:04:15,300 --> 00:04:18,400 Aurini: Alright, and I guess just one final question. 43 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:30,600 Would your department handle online harassment, or is this the sort of thing that you would pass on to the F.B.I. or somebody else? 44 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:36,300 Esparza: Well, it certainly depends on the nature; what the threat says. 45 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:40,700 Typically, if it's just threats, our department would handle it. 46 00:04:41,100 --> 00:04:52,900 If it's anything more significant, as far as maybe local domestic terorrism, that type of stuff, it would go to FBI or federal agents. 47 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,700 But typically, the city would handle these types of incidents. 48 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:05,300 Aurini: Okay, so if it was an online anonymous account - we don't know who the person is, they just create a fake account to send death threats - 49 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:12,200 would you possibly pass that on, because it's not a local- it's not a domestic violence thing between a local couple? 50 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:23,700 Esparza: We would certainly investigate it. If we feel that it's something that's probably on a larger scale, we would share it with our regional partners or even federal agents. 51 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,200 But, every case is individual and unique and different. 52 00:05:27,300 --> 00:05:35,000 But, typically if it's something that seems more significant, then yes, it would be shared among our law inforcement partners. 53 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:37,300 Aurini: Okay. 54 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:43,900 You said you were trying to get a hold of Ms. Sarkeesian because you've never heard of it. 55 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:49,800 You would like the case number that she received if she reported it as she claims? That is correct? 56 00:05:51,200 --> 00:06:00,800 Esparza: Right, so I do have a report where Ms. Sarkeesian was a victim of threats as well, but this was back in March of this year [2014]. 57 00:06:00,900 --> 00:06:09,800 So that's the only record I found, but there's nothing as of yet from August 20 or 29th. 58 00:06:10,300 --> 00:06:13,500 Aurini: Okay, well I was just going to say as part of my ongoing investigation- 59 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:25,900 Esparza: Yeah, because of the thing that it says on her tweet, she reported to authorities. 60 00:06:26,300 --> 00:06:33,300 But, there are multiple police agencies in San Francisco, so I want to make sure that she reported to the San Francisco Police. 61 00:06:33,700 --> 00:06:43,100 And, I did call the local precinct where she lives, they don't have any records of an investigation with her name currently. 62 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:45,500 Aurini: So, this is- 63 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:50,400 Esparza: And like I said, the only thing that came up in my system was a case from March of this year. 64 00:06:50,500 --> 00:06:59,200 Aurini: Okay, so you are the public representation person for the entire San Francisco area - all of the districts within? 65 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,600 Esparza: San Francisco Police Department, yes. 66 00:07:02,900 --> 00:07:05,600 Aurini: Okay, I think that's all of my questions. 67 00:07:05,700 --> 00:07:11,100 Thank you very much, you've been very informative and I hope you have a good day. 68 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:13,200 Esparza: You too, sir. Take care. 69 00:07:13,300 --> 00:07:14,200 Aurini: Goodbye. 70 00:07:14,300 --> 00:07:15,300 Esparza: Alright, bye. 71 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,100 Aurini: Well, there you have it, folks. 72 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:26,000 There was a report back in March that she was being harassased. 73 00:07:26,700 --> 00:07:30,900 There has been no reports - that they are aware of - happening in August. 74 00:07:32,500 --> 00:07:36,600 And, they would actually like to get a hold of her and find out about this case number. 75 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,700 And, they do seem to take death threats fairly seriously. 76 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,500 There you have it. Support us on the Sarkeesian Effect. 77 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,200 Okay, this just cost me some long-distance minutes, alright? 78 00:07:53,000 --> 00:08:02,100 But, actually doing a documentary, there's [sic] a lot more work that we need to do. There's [sic] a lot of people we need to go talk to. 79 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:07,000 Unlike some of the prominent figures I've mentioned who've agreed to be in the documentary already, 80 00:08:07,100 --> 00:08:12,600 a lot of these people are private. A lot of these people work in, for instance, game development. 81 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:22,000 And, if they simply write a blog post about this, or if they show up on my podcast talking about what they know, 82 00:08:22,100 --> 00:08:29,500 then that's not an authoritative source, and that can be construed as harassment, even though it's not. 83 00:08:30,900 --> 00:08:39,000 So with making the documentary, however - as an official, respected source that will go on Wikipedia, that will go on IMDb - 84 00:08:39,300 --> 00:08:50,000 at this point, they can claim harassment if they are fired, because we will be investigating all of their claims as well and confirming their claims. 85 00:08:50,100 --> 00:08:57,000 There were a couple of bits of this video censored, because you don't need to know where Anita lives. 86 00:08:57,100 --> 00:09:00,600 That's not relevant information to this. 87 00:09:00,700 --> 00:09:09,400 But the relevant information is that she apparently has not contacted the local police department. 88 00:09:11,900 --> 00:09:19,000 Help us look into this more. Support our documentary.