Pasadena Police Department (Photo – cityofpasadena.net)
The public is invited to attend and share their experiences with police pretextual stops at forums on March 7 and March 14.
By News Desk
California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA) defines a pretext stop as “when an officer stops a person ostensibly for a traffic violation or minor infraction but with the intention of using the stop to investigate based on an officer’s hunch that by itself would not amount to reasonable suspicion or probable cause.”
The first community police oversight forum will be on Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Pasadena Community College’s Creveling Lounge, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. The second forum will be on Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Robinson Park Recreation Center, 1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave. Both forums will have Spanish interpretation available, and will also allow virtual attendance via Zoom.
Enhance, develop, and strengthen community-police relations
The purpose of the Community Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) is to enhance, develop, and strengthen community-police relations, and review and make recommendations regarding the ongoing operations of the Pasadena Police Department to the chief of police, city manager, and/or city council. As such, these two listening sessions are the beginning of a broader effort by the CPOC to research and make recommendations to the Pasadena Police Department about the use of pretextual stops.
At the meeting, the CPOC will introduce the concept of pretextual stops and explain their full research and assessment methodology, but the key focus of the evenings will be to hear from community members.
Esprit Jones, Chair of the CPOC, says:
Hearing from our community members about their different experiences with pretextual stops and the impact they have is a critical piece of our Commission’s ability to fully understand and make recommendations on the continued use of pretextual stops in our community. We look forward to kicking off this important work with our community at these two listening sessions.”
An opportunity to look into the value of pretextual stops was brought to the CPOC when the OIR Group completed its independent review of the August 15, 2020 killing of Anthony McClain, which began as a traffic stop. The OIR Group recommended that the CPOC “should convene community conversations to formally discuss and consider the pros and cons of PPD’s use of pretext stops, especially with regard to minor equipment violations.”
1st forum Thursday, March 7 6:00 pm Location Pasadena Community College’s Creveling Lounge 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. 2nd forum Thursday, March 14 6:00 pm Location Robinson Park Recreation Center 1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89174000651
> Those who are unable to attend, or who would prefer to email their experiences and thoughts, can email CPOC@cityofpasadena.net.
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