Assuming the seat vacated by Theresa Sparks, who stepped down to become human rights commissioner, former Assistant District Attorney Jim Hammer was sworn in yesterday as the City's first second openly gay male police commissioner. Hammer was approved by a unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, and will serve the remainder of Sparks' term which ends April 30, 2011.

"I can make a difference," Hammer said when speaking before the Rules Committee before receiving the nomination. He has pledged to keep police officers from acting as immigration officials, and said that he has no qualms standing up to the powerful Policeman's Association.

Should Hammer decide to run for DA next year -- if and when Kamala Harris vacates the position to become state's attorney general -- he has said he would resign the position if it presented a conflict. Previously, Hammer has served as a TV legal analyst for CNN and Fox News and he currently has a private law practice in the city.