Sacramento Community Police Commission Meeting - January 11, 2016
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Sacramento Community Police Commission Meeting - January 11, 2016
The Sacramento Community Police Commission held its first meeting of 2016 on January 11, 2016, at 6:00 PM in the City Council Chamber. The meeting included welcoming remarks from Police Chief Sam Somers, a presentation on the Officer Next Door Initiative, adoption of the 2016 meeting calendar, and an overview of the Sacramento Police Department. Public comments were heard on both agenda items and non-agenda matters. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 PM.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the November 23, 2015 meeting minutes. Moved by Bill Knowlton, seconded by Betty Williams. Passed unanimously with nine votes in favor (Dr. Ernest Uwazie absent).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Dave Jenest (Crime Watch) commented on the welcoming remarks, expressing support for the police department and urging better communication and community engagement. He also spoke on the Officer Next Door Initiative, emphasizing the need for proactive communication and community workshops.
- Bob Erlenbusch (Executive Director, Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness) requested to present a forthcoming report on homelessness and police interactions, noting recommendations on implicit bias training and support for the Impact Team. He asked to present at the February meeting.
- Efren Gutierrez (Latino community representative) expressed concern about the underrepresentation of Latinos on the commission and in the police department, urging more diversity and community-based policing. He volunteered to assist with recruitment.
- Ernest Carter (former commission member) criticized the commission as a "facade" and asserted that the police department has proven bias in investigations and report writing. He called for real civilian oversight, not just recommendations.
- Unnamed speaker (likely Ernest Carter) asked how the community can communicate with the commission, expressing frustration with the disconnect.
- Dave Jenest (final) commented on technology and staffing, noting that actual officer numbers are lower than reported and urging better communication and support for bike officer technology.
Discussion Items
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Welcoming Remarks – Police Chief Sam Somers (Received and Filed)
- Chief Somers introduced himself (32 years with SPD, second generation). He emphasized the department's shift from enforcement to prevention and intervention, building trust through transparency, and the importance of the commission as ambassadors. He noted the department requires 60 college credits and many officers have bachelor's degrees.
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Officer Next Door Initiative (Received and Filed)
- Francine Tournour (OPSA Director) and Deputy Chief Ken Bernard presented the four pillars: Training, Diversity, Engagement, and Accountability. They discussed implicit bias training, de-escalation simulators, mental health training, and the need for a diverse workforce. The commission recommended starting with the accountability pillar at the February meeting.
- Commissioner Betty Williams asked about the Office of Public Safety Accountability’s role. Commissioner Clif Roberts asked about diversity goals and current makeup, and the impact of Measure U (funding for hiring, set to sunset in 2019). Deputy Chief Bernard noted the department aspires to reflect the community and will provide detailed stats later.
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Commission Calendar Adoption (Motion passed unanimously)
- The 2016 calendar was adopted. Meetings will be held at various community locations (Oak Park, Pennell, Del Paso Heights) with some at City Hall. No meetings in June, July, or December; those months will be used for community engagement activities.
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Police Department Overview – Captain Justin Eklund (Received and Filed)
- Detailed presentation on organizational structure, staffing (sworn and civilian, peak in 2007-08, decline to ~692 sworn including academy), crime statistics (11.45% uptick in 2015 from 2014 lows, but still below 2012 and 2013 levels), and initiatives: geographic policing, neighborhood watch/Nextdoor (300 groups, 100,000 social media reach), Cops and Clergy, youth programs (criminal justice academies with 99% graduation rate, 90% college attendance), technology (pod cameras, license plate readers, real-time crime center, body cameras, shot spotter in Del Paso Heights), and Impact Team for homelessness.
- Commissioners asked about crime hotspots, geographic policing boundaries, pod camera capabilities, officer staffing goals (target of 1,000 officers), and body camera policies. Chief Somers indicated a plan to add 15 officers per year for 20 years.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes of November 23, 2015 (unanimous).
- Received and filed the welcoming remarks, Officer Next Door Initiative presentation, and Police Department Overview.
- Adopted the 2016 meeting calendar (unanimous).
- Staff recommendation to begin the accountability pillar at the February meeting, with a presentation on internal affairs and use of force procedures.
- Information request from Betty Williams for crime maps depicting 2015 hotspots.
- A request from Bob Erlenbusch to present the homelessness report in February; the commission will consider scheduling.
Meeting Transcript
We're gonna call the uh this meeting to order, the first of the year um community and police commission's advisory board. Uh welcome to this meeting. Uh at this moment to turn it over to Francine for our roll call. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Timothy Davis. Here. Rick Jones. Bill Knowlton. Here. Cliff Roberts. Here. Mariana Sabiano. Les Simmons. Here. Kathy Tao. Here. Betty Williams. Here. Rosalind Van Buren. Here. And Ernest Wazi has an excuse absence. Mr. Chair, we do have a quorum. Great. This meeting is being video recorded. If you are here to speak on an item, we will ask that you please fill out a speaker slip located in the back of the room and can be turned into the uh designated person, which is the assistant clerk right here at the front. Also, we uh we have uh assistant listening and speaking devices if you need it if needed. Uh please see designated person if needed. If you have a cell phone at this moment, we ask that you turn it to silent or put it really quickly in the off position, our silent position uh for the duration of the meeting. Uh first on the meeting agenda is we would like to just uh make a motion to pass the uh last calendar minutes of our last meeting held in November. Um and so we have some unless anyone has anything to say about those minutes, we just need a motion to pass those uh minutes forward. I make a motion to pass the minutes as presented. Great. Any second? I move to second. Uh Betty Williams. Well, we will pass those uh minutes forward and first on the uh list of discussion is the uh I just like to welcome our chief, Chief Sam Summers of the Sacramento Police Department for our first uh item on the discussion is that working? Okay, there we go. All right. Uh good evening. It is a true honor to be here. Um and I look around uh the board and I'm familiar with just about everybody up there, which is saying something because I know that you're all involved and engaged in our community, uh, which is uh is very good for uh for this particular commission. I also want to thank, you know, just the beginning here is uh thank you because a lot of times when people get on a commission, they're doing a thanking for people to come up, but I want to thank you for volunteering for this position. Um clearly you showed an interest in getting engaged and involved in our public safety and our in our police department, and um I'm glad that you've taken on this opportunity. And that's one thing we like to pass out in our organization a lot of opportunities. And I think this is one of them for our community. Um and I think it's one of those ones that I'm I'm hoping that we can really maximize to uh to uh make an impact not only with us but also the perceptions that we have within our department. Uh real quick about me is um I was born here in Sacramento, uh born and raised out in uh what's called the South Nathomas now. It used to be called North Gate.
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