From: Savanna Cheer
To: City Clerk
Cc: Malia Vella; Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Trish Spencer; Tony Daysog; John Knox White; Manager Manager Subject: [EXTERNAL] Public comment for agenda item 7-B
Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2022 10:41:24 AM
Hello:
I'd like to share some concerns about item 7-B on tonight's council meeting agenda. Voting to undo a unanimous council decision barely two years after it was made, with the same council in place, is really concerning. How can the public possibly trust you if, this evening, you vote for this suggestion from APD?
Due to staff inactivity and your failure to follow up, there has been no activity on oversight of APD since the council approved the subcommittees' recommendations back in March 2021.
Just one month later, APD officers murdered Mario Gonzalez, a tragedy that one would think would spur serious inquiry and action on oversight measures! Still, nothing.
The single place you all have influence over operations at the police department is through this practice of policy change review. APD is totally unchecked otherwise. Let's be honest, Eric or Gerry, wasn't doing it (and no offence Nancy, but I doubt you are either). You five, as representatives of the residents of Alameda, are the last stop before unchecked power wielded by the police in our community. You made a responsible decision when you voted to have police policy changes come before you. In absence of any oversight body, civilian or otherwise, this practice must stay in place.
Please stay the course, avoid total hypocrisy, show commitment to good governance, and keep your promises to the values of our community so that we in turn can have confidence in your representation of us.
Thank you,
Savanna Cheer
From: F Matarrese
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: Please Vote No on Staff Recommendation for Agenda Item 7B Date: Monday, September 19, 2022 2:13:04 PM
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: F Matarrese <[email protected]>
Date: September 19, 2022 at 16:55:48 EDT
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft <[email protected]>, Trish Spencer <[email protected]>, John Knox White <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Please Vote No on Staff Recommendation for Agenda Item 7B
Honorable Mayor and Council members,
I strongly urge you to uphold your policy making authority and not authorize the Chief of Police to make policy updates without prior Council approval.
Given the enormous responsibility of ensuring equal and fair treatment under the law, I believe it is imperative that Council exercises police oversight. The Council is the City’s duly designed policy making body and it must continue its direction and fulfill its policy making duty as the ultimate approver of all APD policies.
Respectfully,
Frank Matarrese
Former Council Member
Sent from my iPhone
From: Jennifer Taggart
To: City Clerk; Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Malia Vella; Tony Daysog; Trish Spencer; John Knox White Subject: [EXTERNAL] comment on agenda item 7B - opposed Date: Monday, September 19, 2022 7:54:34 AM
Comment on agenda item 7B:
City Council must NOT authorize the Police Chief to make updates to the APD policy manual without prior City Council approval. Do not abdicate from this responsibility. Over the past few years, we've all seen numerous examples of police officers following official procedures but nonetheless violating people's civil rights, severely injuring people, or killing people - disproportionately black and brown people. If an APD policy change is needed, it's not asking much at all to have the Police Chief come and explain the issue at a public City Council meeting, so the City Council can take it to a vote.
-Jennifer Taggart
Alameda, CA
From: Is Sullivan
To: City Clerk; Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Tony Daysog; Malia Vella; John Knox White; Trish Spencer; Manager Manager Subject: [EXTERNAL] Comment on Item 7-B on 9/20/2022 Agenda Date: Sunday, September 18, 2022 7:32:47 PM
Dear Madame Mayor and Members of Council,
I urge you to vote no on this item. The public should be made aware of and be able to comment on proposed updates to APD policy. Any proposed updates to APD policy should continue to come before Council.
Best,
Isabel Sullivan
From: Drew Dara-Abrams
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Tony Daysog; John Knox White; Trish Spencer; Malia Vella Cc: City Clerk
Subject: [EXTERNAL] 7-B Recommendation to Authorize Updates to the Existing Alameda Police Department Policy Manual to Conform with New Law and Best Practices and to Authorize the Chief of Police to Make Future Policy Updates Without Prior City Council Approval
Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2022 12:49:21 PM
Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmembers,
I am disappointed to read in Item 7-B on your Sept. 20 agenda that APD is requesting the ability to update its policy manual on an ongoing basis without City Council approval.
Some of these policies may be minor ones. There may be administrative overhead in the process of having changes be considered by both APD staff and by City Council. However, there is value in bringing visibility and deliberation to these policing policies, both the minor policies and the potentially significant policies.
It's also all the more important for Alameda to have some public input from our elected officials given that these policies are produced by a company named Lexipol. It makes sense that the city isn't paying its own staff to write from scratch the policies. However, it would be a mistake to "automatically import and update" these policies from Lexipol without review and discussion by electeds or a board of community members that you designate.
Please read this Bloomberg article headlined "Police Policy for Sale: Lexipol, a private for- profit company, has quietly become one of the most powerful voices in law enforcement policymaking in the country" at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-13/the- private-company-reshaping-american-police-policy
And please take to mind the Alameda Police Reform and Racial Equity steering committee recommendation to (emphasis added at the end):
The City should hire a professional consultant to bring our Police Department’s policies and procedures in line with contemporary best practices that are informed by the values of our community and include procedural justice. Professional engagement should focus on the following elements, (1) APD should require mental health and de-escalation training on an annual or semi-annual basis, (2) consideration of an Alameda Police Department Code of Conduct, and (3) create a Police Policies and Procedures Review Board.
If APD needs more staff resources or outside consultants to deal with the administrative burden of managing policies and taking updates through a public process, then please consider how to best address those constraints directly. Having thoughtfully crafted and updated policies for Alameda's police department is in the interest of everyone.
Sincerely,
Drew Dara-Abrams