Sacramento Community Police Review Commission Meeting - August 13, 2018
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Sacramento Community Police Review Commission Meeting - August 13, 2018
The Sacramento Community Police Review Commission held a regular meeting on Monday, August 13, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chamber, adjourning at 8:16 p.m. The commission considered reports on police complaints, community engagement sessions, foot pursuit policy, diversity and accountability recommendations, and state legislation. Several motions were passed, including adoption of ad hoc committee recommendations and a statement of support for two state bills.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Meeting Minutes: The commission unanimously approved the minutes for the May 14, 2018 regular meeting and the special meetings of June 20 and June 28, 2018.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Foot Pursuit Policy: Multiple community speakers expressed frustration that the foot pursuit policy was developed without broad community input. One speaker stated that the process felt like "putting a band-aid to cancer" and that key community leaders were not involved. Another questioned how officers would be held accountable for following the new policy, given that existing de-escalation policies were not followed in the Stephon Clark incident.
- Diversity Recommendations: A public commenter criticized the diversity ad hoc recommendations as "platitudes" and asked for more specific, actionable proposals.
- State Bills (SB 1421 & AB 931): Public commenters urged the commission to support the bills. One speaker argued that AB 931 would create a fair standard for use of force and prevent unjustified killings, referencing the Stephon Clark case. Another spoke in opposition, claiming the bill would endanger officers and the public by creating an unrealistic standard.
Discussion Items
1. May–July 2018 Police Complaint Activity Report
Francine Tournour, Director of the Office of Public Safety Accountability, presented the quarterly complaint statistics. During this period, there were 14 complaints comprising 21 allegations attributed to 15 officers. Of these, 3 were open formal investigations and 4 were open informal investigations. An additional 4 complaints were closed: one formal investigation resulted in officer discipline, and three were closed as informal investigations. The report was received and filed.
2. Update on US DOJ Community Relations Services (NES) Sessions
Captain Kathy Lester reported on the Neighborhood Engagement Strategy Talks (NEST) held in April–July 2018. About 75 community members participated across four sessions. The dialogues identified concerns about police training, tactics, homelessness, and safety. Commissioners raised issues about low attendance at some sessions (e.g., only 4 participants at one forum), lack of youth and immigrant representation, and confusion with other meetings occurring simultaneously. The DOJ will produce a report in about five weeks, which will be shared with the public. The update was received and filed.
3. Use of Force Commission on Police Policy
Chair Basim Elkarra provided an update on the internal Use of Force Training Review Committee, which includes four community members. The committee has been working to update use of force policies, including the newly adopted foot pursuit policy. The commission discussed the need for better communication between the committee and the commission, and agreed that future policy drafts should be shared with the commission before finalization. Received and filed.
4. Sacramento Police Department Foot Pursuit Policy
Captain David Risley presented the new Foot Pursuit Policy, which was approved by the Chief on July 24, 2018, and distributed to officers on July 26. It is the first written policy on foot pursuits for the department, developed over four months with input from a use of force review committee, the city attorney, and the police officers' association. The policy requires officers to evaluate threats, urgency, and alternatives, and allows supervisors to terminate pursuits. Commissioners asked about specific wording (e.g., "as soon as practical" for body cameras), training, and consistency with other policies. After public comment expressing frustration over lack of community input, the commission tabled a motion to support the policy to the next meeting (September 10, 2018) to allow for public review.
5. Diversity Ad Hoc Committee Recommendations
Commissioner Mario Guerrero and Vice Chair Mariana Sabeniano presented six categories of recommendations: long-term planning, recruitment, hiring, retention, training, and miscellaneous (including audits and surveys). Key recommendations include developing a comprehensive diversity plan with community and commission involvement, requiring ethnic studies courses for applicants, incentivizing officers to live in Sacramento, implementing annual bias-free training, and conducting an outside audit of past applicant processes. The commission voted unanimously to forward the recommendations to the Mayor and City Council for action, with a request for the police department to review and provide input by the September 10 meeting.
6. Accountability Ad Hoc Committee Recommendations
Commissioner Kiran Savage-Sangwan presented five priority recommendations under three categories: use of force and pursuit (release detailed use-of-force data, adopt a higher policy standard such as "immediate threat" or "last resort", and revise foot pursuit policy to include specific environmental considerations), body-worn cameras (require cameras to remain on unless requested by a subject or witness, prohibit intentional obstruction, and use third-party audits), and investigations and discipline (conduct an analysis of resources needed to give the commission independent investigative authority). The commission voted unanimously to forward these recommendations to the Mayor and City Council, with the police department to review and report back at the September 10 meeting.
7. Commission Support for State Bills SB 1421 and AB 931
After recusals from four commissioners due to potential conflicts of interest, the remaining seven commissioners voted to send a statement of support to the Mayor and City Council urging endorsement of both Senate Bill 1421 (peace officer disciplinary records) and Assembly Bill 931 (use of force standards). The city council had previously endorsed only AB 931. The motion passed 7-0, with four recusals.
8. Strategic Plan for 2018
This agenda item served as a placeholder. Commissioners discussed bringing back the earlier strategic planning priorities for further discussion at the next meeting. No action was taken.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar: Unanimously approved minutes.
- Foot Pursuit Policy: Motion to support withdrawn; item tabled to September 10 meeting for community input.
- Diversity Ad Hoc Recommendations: Approved unanimously to forward to Mayor and Council with police department review.
- Accountability Ad Hoc Recommendations: Approved unanimously to forward to Mayor and Council with police department review.
- State Bill Support: Motion passed 7-0 (4 recused) to recommend city council endorsement of SB 1421 and AB 931.
- Next Meeting: The next regular meeting is scheduled for September 10, 2018, at 6:00 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Like to call this a minute to order. Yes. Member Sabiano. Member Hoy. Member Kinsey. Member Coleman? Member Sangwan? Member Escobar? Present. Member Zamora. Member Falcone. Member Carter. And Chair Ocara. Here. We have a quorum. If you're here to speak to the committee tonight, you'll need to fill out an assistant speaking slip. Excuse me. They're in the back window there by the light, and you'll turn that into the assistant clerk. Also, if you need assisted listening or speaking device, you would see the clerk. And this is the time to turn off all of your cell phones or anything too silent. I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight. We've been looking forward to discussing to discuss some of these items for the past few months. So our first order of business will be on under a consent calendar. So approve the meeting minutes for the May 14th regular meeting and the two special meetings held on June 20th and June 28th. Do you have a motion? I would move uh the passage of the May meetings as uh meeting minutes as written. Submitted. Do we have a second? Well, it's one. It's it's an entire consent calendar, so it's for both. Oh, I'm sorry, I thought it was okay. I've read all three of them. I would move all three then. Sorry, I thought there were separate action items. Do we have a second? All right. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Abstentions? The ayes have it. All right. Now we'll move on to discussion calendar. Our first topic is the OPC PCA OPSA briefings on complaints. And I understand this report covers the period between May and July. Yes, thank you, Chair. I appreciate that. Um so quickly, just to give you coverage, we will be presenting quarterly to the commission regarding complaint statistics, and these statistics will cover the time period from May to July. There were 14 complaints at that time that were comprised of 21 allegations, and it was attributed to 15 officers. Three right now are open with another four informal.
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