City Committee Aiming For Police Reform Report in 60 Days

Following up on last week’s meeting of the Pasadena City Council’s Public Safety Committee, chairman John J. Kennedy and Mayor Terry Tornek on Monday outlined before the full council a plan that would bring consideration of police reform and possible civilian oversight of the PPD before the council within 60 days.

In the interim, as Tornek later said, there will be “more discussion next week and I think every week thereafter” – including further talk among safety committee members and city staff, as well as processing the torrent of public comments and suggestions that have flowed following nationwide protests against police abuse.

Exactly how all that public input will be sorted out in the coming days and weeks is the subject of “active discussions,’’ Tornek said.

“Because of the interest and demand that are being made with regard to the issue of police oversight, the committee felt strongly that we should have a short timeline to at least come back with a recommendation to the council and let the council decide whether to take action, to not take action or to engage in further discussion,’’ Tornek said.

Kennedy, the council member from District 3, leads a Public Safety Committee that also includes Tornek, Vice Mayor Tyron Hampton and Council Member Steve Madison.

Last Wednesday, those four met by teleconference for an intense four-hour session, during which numerous public comments were read aloud by city staff – comments that criticized police and called for change in the wake of the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis and other recent police-involved incidents.

“This is a defining moment,” Kennedy said at the time – while also taking pains, both last week and at Monday’s meeting, to praise Police Chief John Perez’s leadership of the PPD and his officers’ handling of recent city protests that were largely peaceful.

The committee last considered police reform and civilian oversight models in 2016, but that process ultimately produced no changes. The PPD remains under the supervision of the city manager.

This Monday, Kennedy reported, the Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to consider various police-reform models and report back in 60 days.

Kennedy said the committee also voted unanimously in favor of adopting recommendations of the national “My Brother’s Keeper Alliance” in regard to the process.

“More than 1,000 people are killed by police every year in America, and black people are three times more likely to be killed than white people,’’ Kennedy said. “We can take the steps and make reforms to combat police violence and systematic racism within the law. So, the My Brother’s Keeper’s Alliance has called on mayors and councils across this country to commit to the following actions:

“One, review your police use-of-force policy.

“Two, engage your community by including a diverse range of input, experiences and stories in your review.

“Three, report the findings of your review to your community and seek what they (the alliance) call feedback — I call feed forward.

“Four, reform your community’s police use-of-force policy.’’

Kennedy said the My Brother’s Keeper recommendations call for findings to be reported back to a community within 90 days – but that the Public Safety Committee has committed to reporting back in 60 days, recognizing a sense of urgency, and in response to public calls for quick action.

“The committee committed to bring forward within 60 days for council consideration a framework for greater civilian oversight of the PPD (but) made no decision on what that would look like,’’ Kennedy said – adding that the shape of any proposed reforms would emerge as the process plays out.

For his part, Tornek said, “We will be engaging the community with regard to … oversight.’’

“The city last reviewed various models of police oversight … in 2016,’’ Tornek said. “And the committee … is not committed to a particular model, nor is it committed to actually making a recommendation for a model for oversight.

“But because of the interest and demand that are being made with regard to the issue of police oversight, the committee felt strongly that we should have a short timeline to at least come back with a recommendation to the council and let the council decide whether to take action, to not take action or to engage in further discussion.’’

The Mayor went on to say, “We think we need to demonstrate positive motion on the issue and careful consideration for the short time frame, and that’s why, without making a commitment to a model or even adoption of an oversight model, that the committee was unanimous in its recommendation.’’

Following Monday’s comments by Kennedy and Tornek, City Clerk Mark Jomsky read into the record a long litany of public comments on the police reform issue – an indication of the mountain of information and options that awaits committee members and city staff in the coming 60 days.

Those comments can be read in their entirety at http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/councilagendas/2020%20Agendas/Jun_15_20/AR%2014%20PUBLIC%20COMMENT.pdf and at http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/councilagendas/2020%20Agendas/Jun_15_20/AR%2014%20SUPPLEMENTAL%20CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

“We’ve all received a tremendous amount of communication on this issue,’’ Tornek said. “I know that there remains a wide variety of opinion on the efficacy of civilian oversight and what it might look like. But we need to demonstrate with certainty to the community that we’re actively reviewing it and that we’re going to do it quickly.

“We didn’t specify the methodology but we did specify the time frame,’’ Tornek added. “There are active discussions now with the chair [Kennedy] and with the staff about how to accomplish the outreach and what the nature of the public input should be, and how to accomplish that, bringing back to [the] Public Safety (Committee) and then ultimately to the council.’’

Tornek also stressed that the committee is “not starting from Ground Zero here” – a reference to the “slew of models that were reviewed” during 2016 police-reform discussions.

The Public Safety Committee is looking to meet again next week.