From: Jennifer Rakowski
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Manager Manager; Tony Daysog; Tracy Jensen; City Clerk; Nishant Joshi; Michele Pryor; Greg Boller; City Attorney
Subject: [EXTERNAL] City Council item 7-b
Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 5:00:11 PM
Dear City Council,
I am writing to bring to your attention several important issues that I believe warrant further review with respect to the Alameda Police Departments performance and progress.
In the staff report it highlights the changes the Alameda Police Department has made to policies regarding use of force. It does not share use of force data.
In 2022 the department documented 30 reports of use of force (14 pointing a weapon, 11 low level and 5 intermediate level. In 2023 the department documented 107 reports of use of force ( 40 pointing a weapon, 64 low level, and 3 intermediate level) and in 2024 it increase further to 146 reports of use of force ( 36 pointing a weapon, 105 low level, and 5 intermediate level). This is a staggering increase. Before you take comfort in the fact that the majority of these increases has taken place in low level reports I would remind the City Council that incidents that have been deemed “low level” uses of force have brought street protests and cost the city thousands of dollars in lawsuits.
I also believe the City Council should ask for more information regarding the December 2024 incident which police self identified as being a mental health incident and called the Care team but continued to stay involved. Multiple officers used intermediate level force, knee kicks on the person. The individual was transported to the hospital for a medical check before being taken to jail.
The 2025 RIPA data report reflects 33 APD stops where a firearm was pointed at the person, 5 canine bites or holds, 2 stops where electronic devices were used and 1 where chemical spray was used. The frequency of pointing a weapon and canine bites are higher than nearby cities.
The 2025 RIPA report continues to show disparities in stops based on the perceived race of the individual. During 2023 - which is the most recent year reported in the 2025 RIPA report. APD made 5610 stops. APD showed the following ratio of disparity Black 4.46, Hispanic/Latine(x) 4.82 and Pacific Islander 4.02. In the prior year the ratio of disparity was black 5,04, Hispanic/latine(x) 3.41 and Pacific Islander 5.07.
Alameda Police action outside of the city limits also raise concerns. Published reports show the armed emergency response vehicle is used more often outside of Alameda in cities like Oakland, Emeryville, Tracy, Hayward and Pittsburg then it is within city limits. Often this is in conjunction with the US Marshal service. Given recent changes to immigration enforcement how can this practice be squared with the city's sanctuary city policy? These trends highlight the need for independent community oversight. The Police Auditor is not meeting that need at a basic levels. The Auditor reports regularly highlight that the most of their review begins with the police department. The published phone number for the Police Auditor is incorrect and the public email address generates an automatic bounce back. The Police Auditor focus appears overly cooperative with the police at the expense of public engagement.
The police department's published resource lists has not been updated in years. More than a decade when it comes to domestic violence revised Feb 2011, Mental Health August 2016, Social Services August 2016 and Community Resources December 2014. This means that these materials do not reflect the city's own services and current contacts for community partners.
Finally, this item appears to have been brought before council to extend and evaluate Alameda Police Department hiring bonus. I am already on record against the size of the bonus. I ask the council to evaluate the program, understanding both the median income of this community, the other salaries and vacancies with the city and the city's overall budget plan.