Sacramento Community Police Review Commission Meeting - December 9, 2019
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Sacramento Community Police Review Commission Meeting - December 9, 2019
On Monday, December 9, 2019, the Sacramento Community Police Review Commission convened at 6:02 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chamber. The meeting included the introduction of the interim Director of the Office of Public Safety Accountability, Kevin Gardner, and a detailed report on the Sacramento Police Department's Use of Force Policy. The commission approved the dissolution of its ad hoc committees and received multiple reports, with significant discussion on policy definitions and community concerns.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Dissolution of Ad Hoc Committees - The commission unanimously approved dissolving the Use of Force, Body Worn Camera, and Mental Health Ad Hoc Committees. The motion was moved by Commissioner Guerrero and seconded by Member Zamora, with all eight present members voting in favor (Members Elkarra and Sabeniano were absent).
Discussion Items
- Item 2: Report on Sacramento Police Department’s Use of Force Policy - Deputy Chief Kathy Lester presented an oral report detailing how the new policy (adopted September 18, 2019) incorporates AB 392 requirements. The policy, which is 17 pages long, merges previous use of force and firearm discharge policies and emphasizes de-escalation, proportionality, and the sanctity of human life. City Attorney Susana Alcala-Wood and Deputy City Attorney Kurt Wenliner were present to address legal questions. Commissioners raised concerns about missing definitions (e.g., 'necessary'), the use of the term 'peace officer' versus 'police officer,' and the continued authorization of carotid restraints. Deputy Chief Lester stated the policy is compliant with the law and that the department mirrors the statutory language for clarity.
- Item 3: Follow-Up Log - The commission received and filed the follow-up log. Commissioners added requests, including a crosswalk between AB 392 and the policy, updates on LGBTQ relations and media policy, and a future presentation on the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Claudia B. spoke on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, expressing support for the full implementation of AB 392 and for the commission's recommendations, stating that the commission is a key voice in the adoption and monitoring of the use of force policy.
Key Outcomes
- The commission voted to dissolve the three ad hoc committees.
- The commission received and filed the Use of Force Policy report and the Follow-Up Log.
- The city attorney's office agreed to provide written responses to commissioner questions, including clarification on the definition of 'necessary,' the standard under Graham v. Connor, and the treatment of carotid restraints.
- Interim Director Kevin Gardner committed to conveying the commission's concerns to the mayor and city council in his upcoming meetings.
- Commissioners planned to individually meet with council members to advocate for action on their recommendations.
Commissioner Comments & Ideas
- Commissioners proposed forming new work groups for the coming year, including a use of force work group, media work group, LGBTQ work group, mental health work group, and an accountability work group.
- Commissioner Guy reported that the commission's recommendations were scheduled for the city council's consent calendar on December 10, 2019, at 2 p.m.
- Commissioner Falcon highlighted attendance at a transformational policing course and suggested more community-friendly scheduling for such opportunities.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 7:43 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
All right, thanks everyone for being here. I'm gonna go ahead and call this meeting to order and ask Wendy to call the role, please. Member Castillo Creens. El Kara. King. Here. Present. Escobar. Present. Zamora. Falcone. Here. Carter. Vice Chair Sab Vice Chair Sabiano. And Chair Saint Savage Sangwan. Here. We have a quorum. If you're here tonight to speak to the committee, please fill out a speaker slip. They're located in the back window. And you'll turn them into the assistant clerk prior to the start of that item. Also, um, if you need an assisted listening or speaking device, you would see the assistant clerk. And this is the time I'll remind everyone to check their cell phones and other devices and turn them to silence. Um, I also have the pleasure of before we jump into the consent calendar of introducing our new director of interim director of OPSA, um Kevin Gardner, and invite him up to have a few comments. Or you can do wherever you like. Hello. Okay. Hi, my name's Kevin Gardner. Good evening to you all. Uh, I am here as the interim director of the uh opera uh the office of public safety accountability. I come to you as a with a thirty one year career in law enforcement. Most recently I retired as the chief of the division of law enforcement at the California Department of Justice. Um and I spent twenty-three years prior to that with the uh city of Sacramento. Um I'm pleased to be here. I'm looking forward to working with the commission with our community to uh find a permanent replacement, but also to set some priorities for the office as we move forward. So thank you. Uh I look forward to working with you all. Thank you. Thank you for being here. And um, do you just do you have a sense of interim and timeline and what that means? We're glad to have you though for the time you are here. I think that uh I will I'll that's starting to be uh established by the uh by the HR department, and I don't want to get ahead of them and tell in talking about uh where they're going with that, but I know that they have taken the initial steps to get the process going. Great, awesome. Thank you. Um so moving on to the consent calendar. We just have one item on the consent calendar. Do you want to say anything about it? Um, this is um let me we've discussed this in the last couple meetings. Now that your recommendations have been um received, everyone was on time by the way. Thank you so much. And um, we knew we had a time issue with one of the ad hocs.
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