Time is Right to Revisit Creation of a Citizens Police Review Board

In a previous article, I wrote in support of the concept of citizen oversight of law enforcement in the City of Santa Cruz. I believe that we are now at a time and place in the affairs of our community that such a board is not only needed but essential if we are to preserve our freedoms and diversity. In that article, I noted that the review board which was created almost two decades ago was hamstrung by parochial politics that persist to this day and was disbanded amid frustration with the process and a lack of substantive impact. And although that noble but ill-fated effort is now history, the question remains: How would that model of citizen oversight apply to present day Santa Cruz, to our common interest in the protection of individual rights, including those of people of color and people experiencing homelessness, and to the pursuit of public safety?

In my time as city resident, I have seen a growing concern for public safety coupled with an expanding public mandate for law enforcement to use whatever means and methods they thought best to curb the perceived uncontrolled growth of the homeless community. More recently, those policies seemed to have been tailored to address people of color as well. Indeed, one does not need to be a social scientist to understand that the dynamic balance between protecting basic freedoms and the duty to maintain public safety has shifted dramatically over the past few years. I have watched our elected officials support a marked and noteworthy increase in the number of sworn officers serving in the police department while seeming little concerned about the chilling effect heightened police presence inevitably creates in the community at large. But it is not the expansion of the police department or the overarching presence of law enforcement in our community that concerns me most. Rather, it is the singular lack of citizen participation in the development of these policies and the complete absence of ordinary citizen oversight of this ever-expanding aspect of our community.

It is often observed that police officer training is almost entirely devoted to intelligence gathering, weapons proficiency and police procedure. They are only tangentially trained in nonviolent conflict resolution and community relations. And here I will say that this is not entirely their fault. The officer on the street is only as good as the training he or she receives and clearly they are not receiving the kind of training and input that would create not only an enlightened police force with a clear understanding of the diversity that exists in our community, but a more efficient department as well.

Every incoming police administration in recent times has called for a policy of positive engagement to bridge the perceived divide between law enforcement and the community at large. In point of fact, if this chasm were not real and existing, there would be no need to call attention to it as a matter of departmental policy. But what the department has failed to recognize is that the citizens of our community know a few things about public safety and the protection of individual rights. They know that law enforcement alone cannot make the community safe. They know that true public safety can only be developed and sustained in an atmosphere of trust, accountability and inclusiveness. They know that individual liberties are a bedrock value that must be honored and preserved. And they know that community engagement is the foundation of wise and forward thinking public safety policy. So the question becomes: If we accept these statements as true, how are we to actualize them in ways that best benefit our community as a whole in all of its present diversity?

I respectfully suggest the creation of a nine-member Citizens Police Review Board composed of representatives of neighborhood groups, homeless and behavioral health advocates, organizations representing people of color and social service providers who would be charged with review of police policies and procedures and tasked with oversight of our police department. Understand that when I say “oversight” I do not mean control. Such a board would be committed to ensuring that the City of Santa Cruz has a police department that acts with integrity and administers justice fairly and evenhandedly for all of its residents. However, to insure the independence of such a body, the board would consult directly with the police department and would pass along advisory opinions to our city council for informational purposes only. That is the only way to “depoliticize” the process while creating a clear line of accountability between the community and the department.

On issues of operational policy and commitment of resources, any such board would need to have direct input to achieve any degree of real effectiveness. The obvious benefit of this input would be that resource allocation and policing priorities would more accurately reflect the community’s concerns, providing a more inclusive base of opinion about how best to make safe our city while giving equal weight to the preservation of civil liberties. For example, if the board felt that public safety would best be served by spending more money on gang suppression and less on petty theft investigations, resources could be allocated accordingly. If the board recommended more money be devoted to the investigation of sexual assaults and less to enforcement of the so-called “quality of life” ordinances such as the camping ban then that policy could drive fundamental reallocation of resources. Although ultimate decisions would continue to be the province of the department and its chain of command, a citizens review board with independent authority would have the power to make recommendations to the Chief concerning substantive policy and procedure.

Lastly, the broad issue of police conduct in the ordinary course of serving and protecting our community is something every citizen has a right to be concerned about. A Citizens Police Review Board would provide the voice we need to make sure the conduct of local law enforcement truly reflects our values as a community.