Pasadena Police motorcycle (Photo – @pasadenapd)
The Community Police Oversight Commission meeting on December 2 concluded after 10:00 pm.
By Meredith McCurdy
The meeting began with administrative updates from staff informing the Commission that
Funding has been secured for two commissioners, Commissioner Annang and Independent Police Auditor Brian Maxey, to attend the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) Training.
Staff provided the Commission with an update on the use of chat feature in Zoom as another form of communication during Commission meetings. Staff stated that a primary reason the City of Pasadena has cautioned against the use of the chatbox is an accessibility issue; if someone were to use a screen reader, that person would be unable to hear what is happening in the meeting while also using the screen reader to hear what is happening in the chat. Staff informed the Commissioners that traditionally the City uses public comment as a form of communication and that people also have the option to send in comments via email.
Commissioner Annang pushed back and stated that, “This is something that the City can do. This is Pasadena. If other cities are doing it, if Alhambra is doing it, if LA is doing it then there is no reason for us not to be doing it.”
Commissioner Annang also stated that, “It is a transparency issue for our community. Some of our community members find it hard to be on a screen. They are coming home from work or whatever and our meetings are long so they would rather just chat in their questions and that becomes public knowledge. Why would we inconvenience the community by requiring a letter? Chat doesn’t take away from anything.” City of Pasadena staff offered to take the concerns back for further discussion, including meeting with the City’s disability coordinator.
Brian Maxey, who is serving as the Commission’s Independent Police Auditor, made a presentation responding to the request at the November Commission meeting that he review prior critical incident reports to determine if the Pasadena Police Department complied with the recommendations. The reports that were reviewed included Leroy Barnes (2009), Kendrec McDade (2014), Reginald Thomas (2016) and the 2020 Review of Pasadena Police Department use of force policy.
Based on the Commission requirements, four reports were provided by the Department. Among the four reports, 83 recommendations were made, 54 were completed, 20 were partially completed and 9 were not completed. Some of the partially completed recommendations included a recommendation that someone from the Pasadena Police Department training personnel respond to critical event scenes, and that officers involved in a critical incident be interviewed in a timely manner.
The meeting concluded with Commissioners discussing the work plan for 2022, which will be voted on at a future Commission meeting. The Commissioners discussed the possibility of having ad hoc committees that would include community members. Commissioners also were tasked with reviewing the police report of Reginald “JR” Thomas.
The Community Police Oversight will continue to meet on the first Thursday of every month at 6:00 pm.
Meredith McCurdy is a supporter of social justice issues, women’s rights and a lover of life.
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