Latest Guides

Government

Council Committee Begins Wrestling With Details of Police Oversight Panel

Published on Thursday, September 17, 2020 | 4:49 am
 

Back on Aug. 24, the Pasadena City Council approved the framework for an 11-member Community Police Oversight Commission, but left some details about how that panel will eventually come together for future discussions.

Wednesday, the first of those future discussions took place during the council’s Public Safety Committee meeting – though no decisions emerged, as committee members kicked around various general thoughts before agreeing to bring the matter to the full council for further hashing out.

That could come as early as this Monday, when the full council is scheduled to meet by teleconference at 2 p.m.

“I would simply invite all of us to be prepared for a Monday night fuller discussion,’’ said Council Member John J. Kennedy, who chairs the Public Safety Committee.

What is known – because it was decided at that Aug. 24 meeting – is that the oversight panel will consist of 11 members, with appointments coming from each of the seven council members as well as the mayor, plus three at-large appointees coming from yet-to-be-determined community organizations.

What is also known is that the commission will work in conjunction with an independent police auditor, or IPA, to be hired by the city attorney.

What remains to be decided is how those at-large commissioners might be appointed, from what community organizations they will come from, and what transparencies the council can build into the whole decision-making process for all 11 of the eventual oversight commission members.

Achieving membership targets that will be equitable across all manner of demographic categories is another remaining hurdle, as is the training that oversight commissioners will need to undergo.

The Public Safety Committee – consisting of Kennedy, Mayor Terry Tornek, Vice Mayor Tyron Hampton and Council Member Steve Madison – took initial steps Wednesday by beginning to ask at least some of those questions. But much more work remains.

“Traditionally, when we appoint someone to a commission … the individual council member will solicit applications … but the council member goes through that process of reviewing the application and selecting his or her appointee privately,’’ said Tornek.

“The suggestion with regard to this (police oversight) commission, which is somewhat unique, is that people would ideally like to see that process opened up.’’

Tornek said he’s heard suggestions that “the council should go about the process in the same way we do when we fill the vacant seat of an incomplete term of one of our members. … The process was to have the applications and then have a public vetting on the part of the council, and then the council make a decision as a group.’’

But Tornek said the large number of applicants expected to vie for spots could prove problematic to replicating that process for the oversight commission.

“I don’t think that process is practical given the number of applicants that we may have in this instance, and also since the appointments would presumably be the purview of each individual council member rather than the group as a whole,’’ he said.

“But I do think – and I’m anxious to hear our colleagues’ reaction – there’s an opportunity to sort of adopt or suggest to the council sort of a hybrid system wherein each council member could conduct his or her vetting process in public rather than simply interviewing people privately and then forwarding the application to the council for concurrence.

“I think if we were willing to do that, that might be helpful in terms of making the process more transparent and giving people a higher level of confidence in the appointees that each of us will make.’’

Hampton said he, too, anticipates “a lot of applicants,” and suggested that a panel might be convened before the council would eventually sign off on that panel’s finalists.

“People (would) apply just like they apply for a job with the city of Pasadena … through HR (Human Resources),’’ Hampton said.

“I’m just thinking that that takes it out of the council’s hands and it gives a little bit more transparency to the residents and people that have distrust for government right now.’’

But one focus of the selection process, Hampton stressed, is “making sure that we’re inclusive.’’

Madison, meanwhile, said, “I would just say I’m a tad concerned about politicizing this even more than it’s been politicized, and I think probably the best practice would be to allow each council member to address this in the way that his or her constituency feels is most appropriate.’’

“I’ve had some interactions with my constituents about it,’’ Madison added. “Candidly, those are much more basic in terms of, ‘What’s this about, Steve? What’s it gonna do?’ We haven’t gotten to any sort of anything even approaching vetting. Nobody’s applied or asked to be considered that I’m aware of.’’

Madison also said he’s holding a Town Hall meeting on Thursday night at which “there could be some feedback” on the issue, though the focus of the Town Hall is the Arroyo Restoration Project.

For his part, Kennedy considered Wednesday’s meeting a starting point.

“What is really left to be determined is how the three additional (at-large) members of the commission will be selected,’’ Kennedy said. “I wanted to give us the opportunity here at the Public Safety Committee at least to have a discussion about the best practices for doing so.’’

Once all the many loose ends regarding the oversight commission are tied up, an ordinance amending the Municipal Code will return to the council for a final sign-off.

Besides the 11-member commission, the still-evolving oversight model calls for an independent police auditor – significantly, to be hired by the city attorney rather than the city manager, who oversees the Police Department. The auditor will have subpoena powers “to facilitate gathering information during investigations,’’ according to a city staff report. 

However, there are limits on that subpoena power. According to the report, “Any information obtained or reviewed by the IPA, as well as any reports issued by the IPA, could not be used to impact any disciplinary or personnel decisions.’’

Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.

Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.

Make a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

 

 

buy ivermectin online
buy modafinil online
buy clomid online
buy ivermectin online