A San Francisco drug cop who was investigated for having a sexual relationship with a confidential informant has been fired, The Standard has learned.
A majority of the Police Commission on Wednesday voted to fire officer Christina Hayes more than three years after she was investigated for the inappropriate relationship, according to a high-ranking police source and a city official with direct knowledge of the vote.
The allegations against Hayes arose in 2023 after her informant was arrested in the East Bay by an outside law enforcement agency. Investigators found sexually explicit photos of Hayes on the informant’s phone, according to sources with direct knowledge of the case.
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The woman told officers she was Hayes’ confidential informant. When the officers contacted Hayes, she attempted to get the informant favorable treatment, sources say.
Federal court records allege that Hayes, who was taken off the streets in June 2023 over her handling of the source, divulged confidential information and impeded an active criminal investigation. It’s unclear to whom Hayes allegedly divulged information; details on the case have not been released.
Hayes was reassigned pending the investigation and was transferred to the Department Operations Center on June 20, 2023, internal records show. Officers under investigation are often placed in the windowless command center pending the outcome of their cases.
Hayes has been with the San Francisco Police Department since 2006 and has worked on narcotics cases since at least 2018. She has earned several commendations, including Meritorious Conduct Awards in 2015 and 2017.
The SFPD acknowledged that Hayes no longer works for the department.
Hayes did not respond to a request for comment, nor did attorney, Julia Fox. She previously said her client is a well-respected officer.
“Officer Hayes has only ever been truthful and forthright in her representations to the [assistant district attorneys] with whom she works and certainly in her courtroom testimony,” Fox told The Standard in June 2023.
More than 100 cases, mostly drug-related, were dismissed in San Francisco Superior Court due to Hayes’ link to them. Cases were also dismissed in Alameda County in relation to her misconduct case. Several more cases were dismissed in federal court.
Hayes played an important role as a drug expert for the narcotics unit, often testifying in court. In one case, she testified that she had been involved in more than 1,000 narcotics arrests.
In the past several years, police tactics in drug cases have come under scrutiny for the alleged past indiscretions of the narcotics unit head and the alleged racial bias of one officer.
Inappropriate interactions with confidential informants are not isolated to Hayes. In 2015, several SFPD cops were convicted in federal court for theft and illegal searches; the case revealed that the officers illegally searched hotel rooms and paid confidential informants with illegal drugs.