Police Oversight Ticketed For Further Council Discussion

The continuing issue of civilian oversight of the Pasadena Police Department will return to the full City Council for further discussion —though not at the body’s next meeting this coming Monday – after the Public Safety Committee on Wednesday spent three-plus hours debating various elements of an existing reform proposal that will likely have to evolve before any action is taken.

However, exactly when the full council will take up the matter – perhaps for a vote, perhaps pushing a vote until a later date – was not immediately known. The council routinely meets on Mondays, but after this Monday’s scheduled session, the next three Monday meetings (Aug. 24 and 31, and Sept. 7) still are listed on the city’s website as “to be canceled.”

That’s a fairly typical late-summer scenario – but it’s likely to change as Councilmember John J. Kennedy, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, continues to push for an August vote by the full council on the oversight issue.

Kennedy, in fact, told Pasadena Now shortly after Wednesday’s committee meeting that he was assured by Mayor Terry Tornek that “we’ll have at least one more meeting in August” – and that perhaps the council will meet on both Aug. 24 and 31.

“It won’t be on [this] Monday’s agenda, because we haven’t had time to absorb or react to what we’ve talked about today,’’ Tornek said.

“But it would be my intent to bring it back to the next council meeting following Monday to have a full discussion at the council and get guidance from the council about whether they’d want to have further study, whether they’d want specific questions answered or whether they’re prepared to take some definitive action to demonstrate that they think it’s important to move forward.’’

The point of Wednesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting, Tornek said, “was to begin to drill down on some of the specific issues, as we’ve done successfully, I think today, and we’ll undoubtedly do when we bring it back to the council.’’

Wednesday’s “drilling down” among the Public Safety Committee members – Tornek, Kennedy, Vice Mayor Tyron Hampton and Councilmember Steve Madison – focused on a plan brought forth on July 22 by Tornek and Kennedy.

That proposal has been widely referred to as the “Tornek-Kennedy proposal,’’ though both men have stressed in recent days that they are not claiming ownership of any master plan for police reform … that it’s merely a starting point for wider discussion among all council members.

In short, the proposal, in its current form, calls for a 13-member Community Police Oversight Commission, coupled with an independent police auditor. Both would fall under the city manager’s purview, but neither would have subpoena power — a set-up that Hampton has criticized as falling “very short of true changes.”

Hampton had previously proposed amending the City Charter to create a nine-member Community Police Oversight Commission and independent police auditor, both with subpoena power. The commission and auditor would have operated outside the purview of the city manager, who also oversees the police.

But the City Council last week rejected that idea by a 6-2 vote, leaving the so-called Tornek-Kennedy proposal as the remaining raw material for any civilian oversight path, at least in the near term.  

That plan was the basis of Wednesday’s give-and-take among committee members.  

It calls for the 13 commissioners in all. Each council member as well as the mayor would nominate one commissioner, and there would also be nominations by the city manager (one); the police chief (one); and community groups (three).

The composition of the panel, as well as the specific city office to which an auditor would report, were two of the biggest discussion points among Safety Committee members on Wednesday – and figure to be the focus of debate when the matter reaches the full council as well.

“I am adamant about … having this position (of auditor) not answer to the city manager,’’ Hampton said. “Without that, I can’t support a [oversight] proposal.’’

Hampton has also suggested the possibility of re-forming a city prosecutor’s office and having the auditor report to the prosecutor – creating at least some limited subpoena power. The city prosecutor was merged into the city attorney’s office some 20 years ago.

Placing the auditor outside the city manager’s office would also “help with creating some sort of a level of trust,’’ Hampton said.

Councilmember Margaret McAustin – not a member of the Public Safety Committee – has said she is uncomfortable with the council-heavy appointment tilt of the Tornek-Kennedy framework, which she said could politicize any potential oversight body. She also has called for women to play a prominent role in any set-up.

Kennedy said Wednesday that such points are all on the table, and that “nothing is baked.”

For his part, Madison stressed his concern about the speed at which the oversight issue is proceeding. He suggested the November mayoral election between Tornek and Councilmember Victor Gordo was a factor.

“That feels rushed to me,’’ Madison said. “The idea that this has to get done in the next two weeks – you can draw inferences about why, but I don’t think we’ll have this fully studied in the way that the vice mayor is laying out, in the way that I’m laying out.

“I hear the community, loud and clear,’’ Madison added. “But we need to be thoughtful and get this right, not do it fast because there’s an election in November.’’

Kennedy, who is African-American, disputed that point with Madison, who is white.

“I don’t think, from my perspective, Mr. Madison, [that] the election in November is the issue,’’ Kennedy said. “From my perspective, the issue is that African-Americans in this country have been the recipients of behavior by some law-enforcement agencies across the United States that you would not necessarily be subject to as a white male.

“And so when we saw the death of George Floyd, the heinous murder of George Floyd, it precipitated not just protests in the United States but protests around the world begging for some additional oversight of law-enforcement agencies, or police agencies, in this country. …

“But it’s not related to [Pasadena] politics,’’ Kennedy went on. “We didn’t create what happened in Minneapolis, but we are in fact resurfacing issues because of what happened in Minneapolis. I think the majority of the council is willing to put its best hats on and see if we can in fact fashion a way forward and provide that level of community or civilian oversight that has been requested.’’

Kennedy again said that, with some changes, he continues to believe he can garner the five council votes needed for a reform plan to pass.

Meanwhile, Madison also suggested that the Tornek-Kennedy plan, which is based a 2016 study commissioned by the city during an earlier attempt at police reform, is flawed because it draws on old data.

“This is too important to use four-year-old data and slap a new label on it,” Madison said.

Tornek replied that, “While it is true the 2016 report is three or four years old … the benefit of it is, it’s a point of departure for a discussion for what might be suitable for Pasadena, not to try to emulate any one model exactly, but to use that information in a coherent way.’’

City staff was directed by the committee to provide at least sample updates on that data for the council to peruse when the matter comes before the full body.

As for the mayoral race playing a part in any reform model, Tornek said, “I think that, as the chairman (Kennedy) has indicated, the reason for the schedule and for the haste is a sense of urgency that’s engendered not by the November election – because I’m not sure it would benefit somebody or hurt somebody, particularly my candidacy.

“But I’m trying to be responsive, and I think we all are, to the urgency that has been conveyed to us by people after the George Floyd murder,’’ Tornek said.

“I’m not apologetic about having a sense of urgency about this,’’ Tornek added. “And I quite agree that we need to do this not just fast, but to do it right. I don’t think those are mutually exclusive.’’

Some 30 public comments were read aloud at Wednesday’s meeting, some questioning the Tornek-Kennedy framework but all calling for some form of civilian police oversight.

“I think the community is really saying that they want true oversight,’’ Kennedy said, “and they want the oversight to have some teeth. … The only thing I would want, having worked on this issue for a number of years, is that we bring this matter to a head in the month of August.’’