Sacramento Community Police Review Commission Meeting - May 13, 2024
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Sacramento Community Police Review Commission Meeting - May 13, 2024
The Sacramento Community Police Review Commission (SCPRC) met on May 13, 2024, at 5:30 PM in the City Hall Council Chamber. The meeting included welcoming new commissioners, public comment, approval of minutes, and discussion of four substantive agenda items. The commission addressed follow-up on data requests, a community engagement proposal, a longstanding police liaison recommendation, and challenges posed by city rules governing commission operations. All votes were unanimous except for abstentions on the consent calendar and items 3 and 5.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of April 8, 2024 Meeting Minutes (File ID: 2024-00022): Passed with 11 yes votes and 1 abstention (Commissioner Smith). The motion was moved by Commissioner Carter Martinez and seconded by Commissioner Z. Johnson.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kai On (son of victim in 1999 fatal crash) spoke during matters not on the agenda. He stated that for nine months he has been unable to obtain the name of the driver who killed his father. He alleged that the Sacramento Police Department provided contradictory information and that 26 pages of police reports omitted the victim's name. He requested the commission’s help in investigating the case.
- Carolina Flores (speaking on Item 4) urged the commission to involve community groups such as the Vanita Waters Association and East Indian churches, and argued that the city’s “limited resources” claim is a tactic to silence the public. She opposed military equipment spending, stating funds should go to schools, foster care, and the homeless.
Discussion Items
- Item 2: SCPRC Follow-Up Log (File ID: 2024-00225): Received and filed. No additions or questions from commissioners.
- Item 3: 2023 Work Plan Data Request (File ID: 2024-01075): Commissioners reviewed an extended data request covering military equipment use (MEU), strategic planning/budget management, community policing, and vehicle chase policy. After debate, a motion by Commissioner Castillo-Krings (seconded by Commissioner Z. Johnson) to approve the data request was amended to remove the community policing response and vehicle chase sections, focusing only on MEU and budget/fiscal questions. The amendment passed 11 yes, 1 abstain (Commissioner Carter Martinez). Assistant City Manager Mario Lara committed to prioritizing responses: MEU first, then the new budget data, then backlogged recommendations.
- Item 4: Proposed Community Engagement Process (File ID: 2024-00976): The commission approved a plan for up to three community forums in 2024, including the mandatory AB 481 MEU meeting. Modifications were made per commissioner input: (1) Changed the language on police department attendance from “optional invitation” to “extend an invitation” to all three forums; (2) Added translation services; (3) Added the Maple Neighborhood Center (3301 37th Avenue) to the venue list. The motion by Commissioner Carter Martinez (seconded by Commissioner Landeros) passed unanimously (11 yes, 0 no).
- Item 5: 2020 Recommendation for Police Liaison (File ID: 2024-00977): The commission approved a letter to the Mayor and City Council stating that the 2020 recommendation for a Sacramento Police Department liaison to the SCPRC has not been implemented and urging reconsideration. Discussion highlighted that the police department stopped direct engagement with the commission in March 2024, citing concerns about one commissioner’s private conduct. Several commissioners expressed disappointment, calling the disengagement “dangerous” and a violation of First Amendment rights. The motion by Commissioner Carter Martinez (seconded by Commissioner Z. Johnson) passed 10 yes, 1 abstain (Commissioner Griggs).
- Item 6: Discussion on Developing Recommendations Regarding City Rules (File ID: 2024-00978): The commission discussed how Chapter 2.40 of the Sacramento City Code (updated August 2022) impedes the SCPRC’s work—specifically, the ban on ad hoc committees, the rolling 12-month absence policy (interpreted by the City Clerk as a rolling year, leading to potential removal after as few as two missed meetings), and the requirement that annual work plans be approved by the Personnel and Public Employees Committee before any related work can begin. No formal motion was made; commissioners agreed to draft recommendations for a future meeting. Commissioner Bliss invited any interested commissioners to contact him directly (to avoid Brown Act violations) to form a working group of no more than five members.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar approved (minutes of April 8, 2024).
- Item 2 received and filed.
- Item 3 approved as amended: data request narrowed to military equipment use and budget/fiscal topics only; deadline for responses staggered (MEU first, budget by end of July).
- Item 4 approved as amended: community engagement plan with three forums, translation services, expanded venue list, and clear invitation to police department for all meetings.
- Item 5 approved: letter to Mayor and Council urging implementation of a dedicated SPD liaison.
- Item 6 discussed; next step is to draft recommendations for commission consideration at a future meeting.
- The meeting was extended past the two-hour limit by a unanimous vote (11 yes) to adjourn at 8:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Good evening, members of the public. This is or um welcome to the Monday, April. I'm sorry. Good evening. Welcome to the May uh 13th, 2024 meeting of the Sacramento Community Please Review Commission. The meeting is now called to order. Will the clerk please call the rule to establish a quorum? Thank you, Chair. Members, if you could please unmute your microphones. Commissioner Sample is currently absent. Commissioner Z Johnson. Here. Commissioner John Johnson. Present. Commissioner Carter. Present. Sorry. Commissioner Kim Carter. Carter. Carter Martinez. Present. Commissioner Griggs. Present. Commissioner Renee Carter. Present. Commissioner Landeros. Present. Commissioner Smith. Present. Commissioner Castillo Kings. Here. Commissioner Salazar. Present. Vice Chair Buen Rostro. Present. And Chair Bliss. Here. Thank you. We have quorum. Thank you, Clerk. I would like to remind members of the public in chambers that if you would like to speak on an agenda item, please turn in a speaker slip when the item begins. To provide greater community participation in our commission's work, we will also allow more time for members of the public to give comments, and we'll ask the clerk to accept speaker slips until the finers the final speaker has concluded their comments. For matters not on the agenda, you will have five minutes to speak once you are called upon. And for matters listed on the agenda, you will also have five minutes to speak once you are called upon. Followed by a brief staff update and the consent calendar, then the discussion calendar before closing with commissioner ideas, questions, and comments. With that, we will now proceed with today's agenda. Please rise for open acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's Indigenous People and Tribal Lands. To the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains, Miwok, Patwin Wintune peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe. May we acknowledge and honor the native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today in this active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's Indigenous People's History, contributions, lives and lives.
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