Public Safety Committee to Recommend Community-Based Organization Finalists for Police Oversight Board

The City Council’s Public Safety Committee will nominate three candidates from community-based organizations to the Police Oversight Commission at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The nominations are part of the mandate of the ordinance establishing the commission.

According to the ordinance, city staff is required to send applications for those three seats to the PSC.

The nominations will be sent to the City Council which can accept the nominations or approve other applicants.

The committee will consider 13 applicants on Wednesday representing some of the city’s most influential organizations, including the NAACP, All Saints Church, Union Station Homeless Services, and the Brotherhood Crusade.

The applicants include Alex Abernathy of the Pasadena-Altadena Chapter of Links, Florence Annang of the Pasadena NAACP, Joshua Cowing of the Salvation Army, Cynthia Kirby of Union Station, Brandon Kruhn of the Westridge School, Patrice Marshall Mckenzie of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Gloria Oduyoye of the Oduyoye Institute for Fair Police Reporting, former PUSD Board Member Mikala Rahn of Learning Works, Jasmine Richards of Black Lives Matters, Kenneth Rotter representing San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center, Juliana Serrano of All Saints Church, Curtis Silvers Jr. of the Brotherhood Crusade, Shoghig Yeprmian of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The City Council approved the commission, along with an auditor in October after voting down an alternate version that would have granted the commission subpoena power.

The council moved to provide more civilian oversight in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, as well as a number of officer-involved deaths in Pasadena over the past several years.

Following Floyd’s death, cities around the country, including Pasadena, erupted in highly emotional protests, marches, and occasional acts of violence.
Chauvin, who was fired following the incident, is presently on trial for Floyd’s murder.

The purpose of the commission, according to the city’s website, “is to enhance, develop, and strengthen community-police relations, and review and make recommendations regarding the ongoing operations of the police department to the chief of police, city manager, and/or city council.”