Guest Opinion | More Decisions Needed in Formation of Police Oversight Commission

The national reckoning with racism, white supremacy, and policing that consumed the nation after May 2020, was supposed to bring about change in Pasadena. In October 2020, city leaders promised the community that it would address these persistent issues by creating the Community Police Oversight Commission, a civilian committee for redressing concerns of abuse and misconduct by the Pasadena Police Department (PPD).

Considering that the Community Police Oversight Commission is probably the most important commission in Pasadena’s history, it is incredibly disappointing that very few decisions have been made about its formation, many questions still linger, and the commission is nowhere near getting started in its work.

The Pasadena City Council never discussed and made a decision about the experiences, skills, or qualifications they would be looking for in commissioners before the City posted the application. Each Councilmember and the Mayor will select their respective appointee by either a transparent, public interview, or in the typical, self-determined, private process.

There is no standard for Councilmembers to consider what the community needs in its commissioners and these appointments will make up eight of eleven seats on the commission. Essential questions were never addressed, such as “Will current or former law enforcement officials be permitted to apply?” Or, “Can persons with felony convictions serve on the commission?” They merely declared that “if feasible” there should be at least 50% women on the body. They have not established how this aspiration will be collectively achieved.

We, the undersigned, along with many others in the city, have been demanding that the Community Police Oversight Commission be made up of individuals most impacted by police violence. We continue to make this plea because we believe that while everyone in our community has a sincere stake in our police department being great, not everyone in our community shares the same concerns and lived experiences with the PPD.

The formation of the first Community Police Oversight Commission is an opportunity for the City of Pasadena to amplify the voices of people who do not traditionally have power, and largely go unheard – to center their lived experiences, their concerns and ideas, in the work to proactively provide recommendations for change.

The City Council has agreed that the Public Safety Committee should discuss the commissioner selection criteria for only three of the seats on the commission, which are for community-based organization representatives. These three appointments will be the only chance to ensure that commissioners:

•   Represent or demonstrate knowledge of the experiences of limited-English speakers, persons experiencing homelessness, and/or people living with mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
•   Represent one or more of the following communities: Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color, immigrant, refugee, LGBTQ, youth, faith, business, and other communities reflecting the overall demographics of Pasadena residents.

Another matter of concern is the term of service for commissioners. Commissioners will be required to serve a three year term but at the start of their work, terms will be staggered, with initial commissioners serving 1, 2 or 3 year terms. For the initial members of the commission representing community-based organizations, the City Council will vote to appoint them for a one year term.

As a result, the community-based organization representatives will serve the shortest term of all commissioners at the onset, and those three seats will make up a class that will experience vacancies at the same time, every three years. It would be much more equitable and just if each of the three community-based organization seats on the commission were also staggered – 1, 2 and 3 year terms.

Finally, it is critical that all of the Community Police Oversight commissioners receive education in trauma-informed care as well as anti-racism training. Just as it is important that the commissioners be well-informed about policing and how the PPD operates, commissioners must be trained to understand the psychological and social circumstances under which community members interact with law enforcement, and how officers’ biases and assumptions can impact their interaction with the public. Such training would positively impact the leadership of commissioners and governance of the commission.

We applaud the Pasadena City Council’s historic move to create the Community Police Oversight Commission and we lament that it is taking so long for the commission to be established. We believe that the council can act both with measure AND speed. The community has waited long enough.

It is time for qualified, passionate, thoroughly trained individuals, with valuable lived experiences with policing, who represent the diversity of our city, be appointed to the Community Police Oversight Commission. For the sake of improving our police community relations and advancing public trust in our elected officials, the time to act is now. 

Signed:
ACLU – Pasadena Foothills Chapter
Clergy Community Coalition (CCC)
Coalition for Increased Civilian Oversight of the Pasadena Police (CICOPP)
Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA)
Indivisible Alta-Pasadena
NAACP – Pasadena Branch
National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)
Pasadena for All
Pasadenans Organizing for Progress (POP)
Showing Up for Racial Justice-Altadena
Sonja Berndt, Retired State Prosecutor
Soul Force Project 
Ryan Bell