San Francisco police report using force in 30% fewer cases three years after launching a sweeping reform effort following controversial killings that inflamed tension between officers and some communities they serve, officials said.

The last police shooting in San Francisco came June 9, marking the start of the longest span without an officer-involved shooting in nearly two decades, Chief Bill Scott said. He credits the dip to a new and stricter use-of-force policy and training that emphasizes de-escalating tense situations, as well as broader crisis intervention training that all officers have received.

Scott, though, acknowledged the department has more work to do. Of 272 reforms recommended by the U.S. Department of Justice after a top-to-bottom review in 2016, less than one-quarter have been deemed accomplished, he said.

Scott’s comments came in an interview as Hillard Heintze, an independent law enforcement consulting agency brought in to oversee the improvements, prepared to update the San Francisco Police Commission on Wednesday on the department’s progress. A detailed report on the reform initiative is expected in the coming weeks.

“What I’m trying to illustrate is, with the training and all the things the men and women in the department are doing to get better, we are seeing some positive outcomes,” Scott said. “We have a lot of work to do, but we’re pleased with the outcomes and it shows our commitment to this work.”

Officials from Hillard Heintze have not discussed the changes publicly since being hired by the state attorney general’s office, which took over a review of San Francisco police in February 2018 after the Trump administration ceased the Justice Department’s collaborative reform program.

Former Police Chief Greg Suhr asked for the review in April 2016 as he faced pressure over fatal police shootings, including the video-recorded 2015 killing of Mario Woods. Five officers shot Woods, a 26-year-old black man, as he shuffled along a sidewalk in the Bayview. Woods was suspected in an earlier stabbing and was holding a knife. City prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against the officers.

San Francisco was among 14 police departments around the country in the midst of reforms when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions canceled his office’s national community policing program in September 2017. Scott, hired after Suhr resigned following another controversial shooting, called in the state attorney general’s office.

When the state stepped in, Scott said the department had moved forward with almost half of the original recommendations. But the chief said this week he has submitted 63 of the 272 recommended tasks, or 23%, for approval. The attorney general’s office, he said, has a different compliance standard, forcing the department to reassess steps it took.

“We’re really in a good place now,” Scott said. “We have a defined compliance standard. It did cause us to go back and reassess each of these recommendations, and in some cases we found additional work based on the new standard.”

Some reform advocates are skeptical about whether the moves reflect long-term shifts that will improve policing in the city and win back the trust of communities.

“What we’re talking about is significant cultural change in the department,” said John Crew, a retired lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. “In the long term, it’s not just whether there is a shooting, it’s whether there is accountability.”

Crew pointed to the fatal police shooting of Luis Góngora Pat in April 2016 in the Mission District. Góngora Pat’s family sued; the city and the family have a tentative $140,000 settlement pending to avoid taking the case to a civil trial. The Police Department has not said whether the officers in the shooting were disciplined.

The district attorney’s office, which cleared the officers of potential criminal charges, spoke to witnesses who said Góngora Pat, who was homeless, charged three officers with a knife before they opened fire. But surveillance video showed that the officers exited their patrol vehicles and closed quickly on Góngora Pat, shooting him within 30 seconds despite a then-new department policy emphasizing de-escalation.

“The question is what happens when there is a shooting that is outside of policy?” Crew said. “Do they learn from their mistakes? There has been no public discipline.”

Police Commission President Robert Hirsch called for the public presentation from Hillard Heintze so the panel could question the reviewers and better understand the process before a report is issued.

By calling on the attorney general’s office to take over the review, he said, San Francisco established itself as a model for other cities in California. He added, “The vast majority of the work is in front of us, but we’re making significant headway. This is not short-term. This is permanent.”

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky