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New Independent Police Auditor Richard Rosenthal Vows to Help Enhance Police Accountability in Pasadena

Published on Friday, June 3, 2022 | 5:56 am
 

Newly-hired Independent Police Auditor (IPA) Richard Rosenthal vowed to help enhance police accountability within the city as he faced for the first time the 11-member Community Police Oversight Commission to present his work plan and priorities.

Last May 9, the City Council voted to authorize the City Attorney to enter into a one-year $150,000 contract with Rosenthal for IPA services.

“I’m very pleased to have accepted the appointment. I’m very excited about the prospect of working with the commission and really assisting the commission’s work and assisting in ensuring effective and constitutional policing in the City of Pasadena,” Rosenthal said at the Commission meeting on Thursday, June 2.

According to Rosenthal’s “audit plan” for 2022-2023, among his goals is to assess Pasadena Police Department (PPD) Internal Affairs Files & Categorical Use-of-Force Investigations from June 2021 to June 2022 and submit a report on this in January 2023.

He said he will also monitor monthly meetings of the police’s use-of-force board.

“I really want to take the pulse of the Pasadena Police Department. I want to see how are they working accountability wise and the best way to do that is to assess them by evaluating their internal affairs files, community initiated complaints and internal initiated complaints going from the moment they received them all the way to the findings, the reasonableness of the findings, the reasonableness of the imposition of discipline and also looking at investigations of categorical uses of force,” said Rosenthal.

The new IPA said he will also attend monthly Community Police Oversight Commission meetings and subcommittee meetings to assist the commissioners as needed. He added that he will also work with Commission to develop methodologies for review and assessment of select Pasadena Police Dept. policies.

At the meeting, he requested the commissioners to identify and discuss in the July meeting which Pasadena police policies they want to review and assess for 2022-2023 and decide on a plan forward.

“We are doing a bit of a restart. We’re going to have to build the commission and hopefully the public and the police have a little patience and understand that we have to do it right – we’ve got to build that strong foundation,” he said.

Members of the commission warmly welcomed Rosenthal at the meeting.

“It was a long journey to get the right candidate for us but we’re happy to have Dr. Rosenthal as part of the team,” said CPOC Chair Rau?l Iba?n?ez.

“I think I do speak for all of us and for all of us in the Pasadena community, that we are excited that you are here. We’re excited that you are up to the task that is ahead of all of us,” Juliana Serrano, CPOC Vice Chair said.

Rosenthal replaced Brian Maxey who resigned last year just two months after the commissioners had formally convened to study their duties and responsibilities and discuss their priorities and work plan.

The CPOC, established in October 2020, 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.

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