City Announces Two Public Meetings to Solicit Community Input on Police Oversight

The City of Pasadena today announced two public meetings will be held in January for community members to learn about various forms of police oversight and to provide input into the analysis being conducted by the City.

The meetings will be held at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 26, in the City Council Chamber, Pasadena City Hall, Second Floor, 100 N. Garfield Ave., and at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, January 28 at the Jackie Robinson Center’s Auditorium, 1020 N. Fair Oaks Ave.

Both meetings will cover the same topics and are being held in two locations to encourage participation. Public comment will be accepted at both meetings.

“Pasadena enjoys an involved and concerned citizenry and a modern, professional Police Department,” said Councilmember John J. Kennedy, who chairs the City’s Public Safety Committee.

“There is a need to build on the best of both, and the goal is to make us a better City. To that end, the City has engaged outside professionals to lead a study of Independent Oversight to determine whether there are models of oversight from which Pasadena could benefit. We need the public’s input and encourage their active and critical participation in this study and planning phase where it can make an appreciable difference,” Councilmember Kennedy said.

The City Council, as part of the Fiscal Year 2016 Operating Budget, approved funding for a consultant study of police oversight alternatives. The City Council Public Safety Committee was charged with approving the scope of services for the study.

In December 2015, the City contracted with Change Integration Consulting, LLC, and one of its principals, Kathryn Olson.  Olson will conduct the study with Barbara Attard. Both are recognized experts on the subject of police oversight and are past presidents of NACOLE, the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.

Attard previously served as the Independent Police Auditor for the City of San Jose; as Director of the Berkeley Police Review Commission, and worked in the San Francisco Office of Citizen Complaints.

Olson’s prior experience includes serving as the civilian director of the Office of Professional Accountability for the City of Seattle’s Police Department. She currently is part of a team developing a standardized system to assess police use of force.

A statement released by the City today said that in addition to conducting public outreach and meeting with government officials and members of the Pasadena Police Department, the consultants will prepare an analysis of various forms of police oversight along with possible recommendations.

The consultant’s final report is expected to be completed in March and will be presented to the Public Safety Committee and the City Council, the city release said.