Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: ADOPTION OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2.22
OF COTATI MUNICIPAL CODE ESTABLISHING
COMMUNITY-POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Date: July 9, 2024
Written by: Chris Simmons, Chief of Police
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Cotati City Council adopt an ordinance amending and restating in its entirety Chapter 2.22 of the Cotati Municipal Code to establish and define guidelines for a Community-Police Advisory Committee.
Background
Cotati City Councilmembers have expressed an interest in exploring additional forms of community involvement and oversight for the Cotati Police Department. Most notably, the reincorporation of some form of the currently dissolved/inactive Cotati Police Auxiliary Commission (Commission), as last outlined in Ordinance 638 and as currently defined in Chapter 2.22 of the Cotati Municipal Code, has been previously referenced at Council meetings.
This Commission has been inactive for almost thirty years.
Background information on the history of the then-Commission, regulations and policies currently governing and utilized by the Cotati Police Department, and types of oversight models that exist in other modern police agencies were detailed in the Cotati City Council Agenda Staff Report “Police Advisory and Oversight Options” submitted and presented to the City Council on May 28, 2024.
On June 11, 2024, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to consider the draft ordinance. Prior to introduction, the City Council requested various edits to the draft ordinance, which are shown in attached ordinance with redline/strikeout. The final version, with these edits accepted, is attached for adoption.
Analysis/Discussion
On May 28, 2024, the Cotati Chief of Police provided a presentation to the City Council on transparency, accountability, and community partnerships, as well as current trainings, policies, and procedures utilized by the Cotati Police Department. The presentation culminated with an analysis of various police advisory and oversight models, including recommendations on the potential formation of a community-police advisory committee and what parameters might best be tailored for the Cotati Police Department.
As part of the May 28th presentation and staff report, the primary focus was on models that were advisory, as staff believed these models were more likely to be feasible in the context of limited staffing and resources. It was proposed that the City Council consider the following recommendations:
Community-Police Advisory Group
• Advisory only. No delegated investigatory or budget authority. • Duties. Development of community policing concepts, increasing public awareness, and addressing police/community relations regarding the public safety of the entire community. Detailed discussions, as permitted by law, to consist of:
o Notable Crime Trends, enforcement initiatives
o Use of Force – Statistics, types, summaries, reasons
o Complaints – Statistics, allegations, summaries, findings/outcomes o Notable Community events & Engagements, receive input/suggestions on ways to better engage with the community and provide assistance. o Arrest & Crime Statistics – summaries of notable incidents/contacts o Trainings
o Participation in interview panels for the Police Chief • Membership
o 5 members. Required to be a Cotati resident or Cotati business owner in good standing. Encourage members to be diverse: business community, resident, faithbased community, gender, race. o Selection by application and interview panel. The interview panel could consist of one or two councilmembers, city manager and police chief. o 2-year terms, with staggered initial terms. Removal by majority vote of City Council. Include provision for automatic resignation if member is unexcused for a defined number of meetings as well as a number of consecutive meetings. o Minimum requirements and training for commission members: ‘ride along” after selection, cannot be city employees or household, disqualification for felony conviction, crimes/incidents of moral turpitude, attorney involved in cases with law enforcement, involvement in criminal/civil cases with the City of Cotati. • Recommended Meeting Frequency
o Quarterly, with special meetings more often as needed. • Brown Act vs. Not Brown Act
o Committees created by a formal action of the legislative body (e.g.: City Council) is a Brown Act body, so this type of body is likely subject to the Brown Act. o Brown Act meetings are public and noticed, with meeting minutes taken.
However, it is anticipated that members will not be required to provide financial disclosures to the FPPC or enroll in mandated trainings.
It was further recommended that this group report at least annually to the City Council on its activities.
Following these recommendations from staff, Councilmembers discussed specific desires for establishing a police advisory committee that generally followed the recommendations of staff, but also highlighted certain components that should potentially be modified or clarified, most notably to include the committee operating within the parameters of Brown Act meeting requirements. Other comments from Councilmembers included three-year staggered terms for committee members and panelists for selecting and appointing committee members be comprised of two councilmembers and the City Manager. The proposed ordinance reflects staff recommendations as well as the incorporation of Councilmembers’ discussions and comments that were distinct from the initial staff recommendations.
It is recommended that Councilmembers consider the attached proposed ordinance that restates and amends Chapter 2.22 of the Cotati Municipal Code in its entirety and establishes a PoliceCommunity Advisory Committee.
Once the ordinance is in effect, the City will begin recruitment for the committee, draft by-laws and set up the administrative support for a new Brown Act body.
Financial Considerations
As the City Council has directed staff to develop an ordinance for a police advisory group considerably similar to the staff recommendations, staff believe that this can be accommodated within the existing staffing and budget. Nevertheless, even this advisory committee will result in increased staff commitments that will not be available for other city operations or projects.
Expected staff time commitments include managing the advisory group, running meetings, increased data extraction, analysis, formatting, reporting, and presenting. Although the addition of the new records analyst position has greatly helped to streamline the process of mining and charting some limited data and information, the continuous mining of data and the analytics associated with providing enhanced details of such data, particularly if it expands over time, will have greater financial impacts in the future, potentially requiring additionally funded positions or designated funding streams to contract-out to those firms able to achieve more robust data reporting and analysis. Brown Act meetings will further generate additional staff commitments and expenses.
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline sections 15378 and 15061(b) (3).This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline sections 15378 and 15061(b) (3).
Attachments:
Community-Police Advisory Committee Ordinance