City Council Reappoints 3 Incumbent Commissioners of Police Oversight Commission

The City Council reappointed three commissioners of the Community Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) for three-year terms expiring on June 30, 2025.

During Monday’s meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the reappointment of commissioners Alexis Abernethy, who applied on behalf of the Links, Pasadena/Altadena Chapter and Florence Annang, who applied on behalf of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP) Pasadena.

With Councilmember Steve Madison recusing himself, the remaining members also unanimously approved the reappointment of Juliana Serrano, who applied on behalf of All Saints Church.

The vote came a week after the Public Safety Committee recommended the reappointment of the three incumbent commissioners for a full three-year term.

The CPOC, which held its first meeting in October 2021, is composed of 11 members. Eight were nominated by the City Council while three were nominated by community-based organizations.

The three incumbent community-nominated commissioners were appointed to one-year terms that began on July 1, 2021 and expire on June 30, 2022.

The City staff opened the application for three community-based seats last May 6 and accepted applications until May 23.

The city received a total of five applications. The two other applicants are Kim Santell, who applied on behalf of Rainbow Rescue and Tina Williams, who applied on behalf of Harambee Ministries.

Williams later withdrew her application and voiced her support for the reappointment of the three incumbent commissioners.

The City received six letters advocating for the reappointment of Abernethy, Annang and Serrano. Members of the CPOC are among those who expressed support for their reappointment.

“All commissioners feel that our current Community Based Organization Commissioners are invaluable contributors to our body, our current work, and losing them now would be a terrible blow to the Commission,” CPOC Chair Raúl Ibáñez said in the letter he submitted on behalf of the CPOC.

The CPOC, established in October 2020 through an ordinance, is created by the city to enhance, develop and strengthen community-police relations and review and make recommendations regarding the ongoing operations of the Pasadena Police Department.