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Record of Proceedings

Chief of Police Advisory Board Meeting on 2024 Marijuana Ordinance - March 19, 2025

City Council & Commissions — Wednesday, March 19, 2025
BodyKilleen, Texas
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateWednesday, March 19, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:31

All right, good afternoon, everyone.

0:32

I'm Chief Lopez, and I'm gonna call this meeting to order as the meeting of the Chief of Police Advisory Board pertaining to the 2024 marijuana ordinance.

0:41

Um can I get roll call, Ms.

0:43

Johnson?

0:46

Chief Pachel Lopez.

0:49

Present.

0:49

Mrs.

0:50

Vivus present.

0:52

Speaking to the mic.

0:56

Present.

0:57

Mr.

0:57

Crockett.

0:59

Present.

0:59

Mr.

1:00

Soto.

1:01

Mrs.

1:02

Rowe.

1:03

Present.

1:04

Present.

1:05

Mr.

1:06

Griffin.

1:08

Mr.

1:09

Griffin.

1:09

Present.

1:10

Present.

1:14

Present.

1:16

Thank you.

1:18

Thank you.

1:19

So we're gonna follow the agenda since this is the first meeting we had as a group.

1:23

There's no agenda.

1:23

So next year when we do this again, we're gonna have an agenda.

1:27

Um go around the the room and introduce the members.

1:31

We have Miss Roe, Mrs.

1:36

Soto, Miss Beavis, Mr.

1:40

Griffin, Crockett, McKay.

1:44

McKee.

1:45

So these are the new members of the Chief of Police Advisory Board.

1:48

Um we established this board last year in order to be in compliance with the with the marijuana marijuana ordinance, which I'm gonna discuss shortly.

1:56

And um this is our first meeting, like I said, so we're gonna start with the presentation.

2:06

Let me give you a background on the marijuana ordinance.

2:08

On November 8th, 2022, the citizens of Kaleem passed proposition A.

2:13

On December 6, 2022, the Kleene City Council removed the probable cause clause, which prevented Kaleen police officers from using the auto order of marijuana as probable cause for search.

2:25

Section 22-80, which is the ordinance that I emailed you, states that Kaleen police officers should not issue citations or make arrests for Class A or Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana offenses except in the limited circumstances described in Section B, which I'm gonna cover next.

2:45

Now Section B states they could they can only arrest for these two instances.

2:58

Or the investigation of a violent felony.

3:05

Section 22-81 states that citations for possession of drug residue or drug path filling should not be issued in lieu of possession of marijuana sarge.

3:14

Section 22-82 is prohibits um the city for police officers using funds or personnel to conduct THC consultation testing.

3:24

That means that we can't submit the substance for testing and use city funds.

3:34

It also requires the police department to conduct training and policy updates and community involvement, and you guys, ladies, are the piece of the community involvement.

3:45

All right.

3:46

Now part of the training includes updating the K KPD general orders, which is always ongoing, updating the training bulletin as needed, training officers as needed, and updating internal data base databases and systems as needed.

4:00

It also states that the city manager should arrange regular meetings to discuss the development of policies, procedures, and practices related to this ordinance, which shall include the community stakeholders.

4:11

And you, like I said, are the community stakeholders that we entrust you to do this.

4:15

Um this meeting should be open to public participation, have minutes and agendas publicly accessible, and have audio and video recordings uploaded to the city's website, which is what we're doing right now.

4:34

Now we're gonna discuss the data.

4:36

The data on this report represents marijuana offenses data from um offenses from January 1st, 2024 to December 31st, 2024.

4:46

All documented cases involving marijuana are incidents regardless of arrest or release, and I'm gonna explain that to you shortly.

4:53

Some incidents may have multiple offenses and all suspects is listed.

4:56

So there could be one incident, but may have four or five suspects.

5:01

Before I go on, I gotta tell you, my defense is that the Bell County has sued the city for this marijuana ordinance.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Cannabis Regulation█████████████████████████████████████████████76%
Mental Health Awareness████████14%
Community Engagement██4%
Procedural██3%
Legislative Process█2%
Public Safety█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Chief of Police Advisory Board Meeting - March 19, 2025

The Chief of Police Advisory Board convened on March 19, 2025, to review data on marijuana enforcement in 2024 and discuss the implementation of the 2022 marijuana ordinance. Chief Lopez presented statistics, and board members discussed community education, diversion programs, and the ordinance's impact.

Discussion Items

  • Presentation of Marijuana Ordinance Data: Chief Lopez reported that in 2024, Killeen police documented 1,030 marijuana-related incidents (up from 610 in 2023). Of these, 121 resulted in arrests (107 males, 14 females). By race/ethnicity: 70% African American, 15% Hispanic, 5% White, 1% Asian, 1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 2% unknown. Only 23 arrests were for marijuana alone; the majority (98) involved additional charges such as weapons, warrants, or other drugs.

  • Ordinance Overview: Chief Lopez explained that Proposition A (passed Nov 2022) limits arrests for Class A/B misdemeanor marijuana possession except during violent felony investigations or when authorized by command staff. The City Council later removed the clause prohibiting use of marijuana odor as probable cause for search, allowing officers to use odor.

  • Community Education and Diversion: Board members discussed the need for greater public awareness of the ordinance, suggesting social media campaigns. Chief Lopez noted that a marijuana diversion program (similar to Harris County's) would require action by the county courts and DA's office. He advocated for more diversion programs for low-level, non-violent offenses, citing a recent diversion center in Belton for mental health-related trespassing.

  • Future Policy Updates: Chief Lopez stated that KPD is rewriting general orders and plans to post all policies online by end of 2025. The board will continue to meet regularly as required by the ordinance.

Key Outcomes

  • The board acknowledged the data showing disproportionate arrests of African Americans and discussed ways to reduce negative impacts.
  • Members agreed to explore promoting diversion programs to the County Attorney and District Attorney.
  • No formal votes were taken; the meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn (passed unanimously).

Meeting Transcript

All right, good afternoon, everyone. I'm Chief Lopez, and I'm gonna call this meeting to order as the meeting of the Chief of Police Advisory Board pertaining to the 2024 marijuana ordinance. Um can I get roll call, Ms. Johnson? Chief Pachel Lopez. Present. Mrs. Vivus present. Speaking to the mic. Present. Mr. Crockett. Present. Mr. Soto. Mrs. Rowe. Present. Present. Mr. Griffin. Mr. Griffin. Present. Present. Present. Thank you. Thank you. So we're gonna follow the agenda since this is the first meeting we had as a group. There's no agenda. So next year when we do this again, we're gonna have an agenda. Um go around the the room and introduce the members. We have Miss Roe, Mrs. Soto, Miss Beavis, Mr. Griffin, Crockett, McKay. McKee. So these are the new members of the Chief of Police Advisory Board. Um we established this board last year in order to be in compliance with the with the marijuana marijuana ordinance, which I'm gonna discuss shortly. And um this is our first meeting, like I said, so we're gonna start with the presentation. Let me give you a background on the marijuana ordinance. On November 8th, 2022, the citizens of Kaleem passed proposition A. On December 6, 2022, the Kleene City Council removed the probable cause clause, which prevented Kaleen police officers from using the auto order of marijuana as probable cause for search. Section 22-80, which is the ordinance that I emailed you, states that Kaleen police officers should not issue citations or make arrests for Class A or Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana offenses except in the limited circumstances described in Section B, which I'm gonna cover next. Now Section B states they could they can only arrest for these two instances. Or the investigation of a violent felony. Section 22-81 states that citations for possession of drug residue or drug path filling should not be issued in lieu of possession of marijuana sarge. Section 22-82 is prohibits um the city for police officers using funds or personnel to conduct THC consultation testing. That means that we can't submit the substance for testing and use city funds. It also requires the police department to conduct training and policy updates and community involvement, and you guys, ladies, are the piece of the community involvement. All right.

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