Councilmember John Kennedy Says Police Oversight Was “Derided” by Certain Councilmembers During Monday’s Meeting

Pasadena City Councilmember John Kennedy issued an email early Thursday morning in which he said the police oversight report considered by the City Council this week “was derided by certain members of the Council” and that Vice Mayor Gene Masuda had attacked some of his colleagues with a specious, parochial and factually incorrect allegation.

Here is the a copy of the email in full:

The Monday, 18 April, Joint Meeting of the Pasadena City Council and its Public Safety Committee adjourned around 2 am on Tuesday, 19 April. Since becoming a City Councilmember, it was the longest meeting of both bodies that I have attended

Please take a look at my opening statement, attached herewith, related to possible independent oversight of the Pasadena Police Department. This matter was really the primary topic for the evening. We received approximately 40 Speaker Cards from the audience on the topic; with each person receiving 3 minutes to share their thoughts. The president of the Pasadena Police Officers Association received 5 minutes. The Council weighed in as well for as long as each member chose to do so.

Ultimately, the report that was presented on oversight models was derided by certain members of the Council, who also challenged the integrity, methodology employed in the report, objectivity, and professionalism of its authors. Some have said the authors were demeaned. I have not attached a copy of the referenced report. However, I believe it is available on the City of Pasadena website.

[Editor’s note: The report is also available on the Pasadena Now website: Click here .]

The Council did not have the necessary five (5) votes to adopt either or both forms of oversight recommended by the consultants. As the present chair of the Pasadena Public Safety Committee, after learning that the City of Anaheim has some form of an “Independent Police Auditor” and a separate “Commission,” there is no reason in my view to fear the benefits of responsible and transparent oversight, which the current Public Safety Committee structure pains to do.

Surprisingly, the Vice Mayor of the City, Gene Masuda, took the opportunity to attack an unidentified number of his colleagues with a specious claim that some members of the City Council do not support the Pasadena Police Department. Such an insinuation is simply parochial, factually incorrect and devoid of the truth no matter how many times it is repeated by the Vice Mayor or anyone else. The Mayor and all members of the Council support our police department!

If Police Oversight is an issue that concerns you, I hope you will share my remarks with all of your friends and neighbors who may be interested. Thank you.

Respectfully yours,

John J. Kennedy

 

The email was accompanied by the following attachment: