22 REVISED
Date: September 22, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Councilwoman Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, Eighth District
Subject: Request for a Comprehensive Presentation on Police Oversight Recommendations and Departmental Implementation
RECOMMENDATION
Direct the City Manager to work with the Director of the Office of Police Oversight and the Long Beach Police Department’s Chief of Police to provide a joint, comprehensive presentation regarding the 2024 Office of Police Oversight (OPO) Annual Report, the 2025 Complaint Investigation Review, the resulting recommendations, and the current, tangible status of the Long Beach Police Department’s (LBPD) implementation.
DISCUSSION
Our residents, our small business owners, and our families have been forced to witness federal immigration enforcement operations that bear no resemblance to lawful, accountable policing. Masked federal agents in unmarked vehicles have appeared in our neighborhoods, at our schools, near our places of worship, and outside our workplaces, refusing to identify themselves and refusing to answer to any authority accountable to the people they encounter. The predictable result is widespread fear and anxiety across the very communities whose lives they upend. The City of Long Beach categorically rejects this approach. It represents a deliberate erosion of the constitutional protections to which every person within our jurisdiction is entitled, and it stands in direct opposition to the model of policing this City has spent years working to build.
Long Beach has charted a fundamentally different course, and the contrast could not be starker. The Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) operates under a guiding community policing philosophy, which often incorporates “Education, Engagement, and Enforcement,” a sequence that intentionally recognizes relationship-building and
Honorable Mayor and City Council
September 22, 2026
prevention in public safety. The success of our city, the safety of our residents, and the resilience of our economy rest directly on the foundation of safety the LBPD provides as our trusted local law enforcement partners. They are accountable to the Mayor, City Council, and everyone they serve. They are present and visible in the life of this community: in our schools, at our community meetings, and in the neighborhoods of our most vulnerable residents. That willingness to be seen, to be questioned, and to answer for their work is the precise antithesis of federal overreach.
Most importantly, LBPD has demonstrated, time and again, a willingness to lead, setting a standard of accountability that other local and regional agencies can aspire to and showing a consistent commitment to self-reflection, accepting independent review, and improving. That willingness to invite scrutiny, to receive recommendations from civilian oversight, and to publicly account for the Department's response is the precise antithesis of federal overreach. It is also the foundation of the public trust that allows LBPD officers to do their jobs effectively. For our local model to truly become and remain the regional gold standard, however, that willingness must be matched by an equal commitment to transparency. Bringing this oversight review directly before the full City Council, rather than confining the conversation to a single commission meeting or an internal exchange of memoranda, is the most powerful instrument of sunshine available to us. It places the work, the data, and the disagreements squarely in the public record, in full view of the residents whose trust this work is designed to earn. It proves, in the most concrete terms possible, that our local department operates in the light.
That commitment to operating in the light is precisely what makes the present moment the right moment to elevate this conversation to the full Council. Over the course of 2025, the Office of Police Oversight generated two substantial bodies of work, each of which deserves the public’s sustained attention and represents a shared commitment among the City, the Department, and the community.
First, on April 23, 2025, the Chief of Police transmitted the LBPD’s formal response to the six recommendations contained in the 2024 OPO Annual Report 1. Those recommendations were substantive and consequential, and addressed matters ranging from the establishment of a dedicated Family Liaison Officer position to serve as a compassionate, ongoing point of contact for the families of individuals seriously injured or killed during police operations2, to the standardization of handcuffing inspection and 1 Memorandum from Wally Hebeish, Chief of Police, to Francine Kerridge, Director, Office of Police Oversight, Office of Police Oversight Annual Report Recommendations (Apr. 23, 2025) (responding to the six recommendations issued by the Police Oversight Commission as part of the 2024 OPO Annual Report on March 27, 2025; LBPD response stated as “agrees” for Recommendations #1, #2, #4, #5, and #6, and “agrees with some portions” for Recommendation #3)
2 Apr. 23, 2025 Memo, Recommendation #1 (Family Liaison Officer): LBPD response — “The Police Department agrees with this recommendation,” with implementation contingent on evaluation of available funding options, resource allocations, and best practices for full or partial implementation.
Honorable Mayor and City Council
September 22, 2026
documentation protocols whenever force is used 5. The Department agreed with all six recommendations. That agreement is a meaningful and welcome statement of values.
What has remained less visible to the public, however, is a clear, time-bound implementation plan for each accepted recommendation. Nine to eleven months later, the residents of this City should be updated on the dispositions, challenges or concerns, and the status of implementation today.
Second, the Office of Police Oversight published its 2025 Complaint Investigation Review on October 15, 2025; a methodical, independent audit of 100 closed Internal Affairs investigations encompassing 799 alleged policy violations, including 51 allegations of excessive use of force across 26 separate use-of-force investigations 6. The Review’s findings are simultaneously affirming and instructive: the OPO concluded that 92 percent of LBPD administrative investigations were thorough, agreed with the Department’s disposition in 89 percent of the alleged violations, and identified opportunities for meaningful improvement. Most notably, the average investigation took 295.7 days to close, and 55 percent of the investigations reviewed could likely have been resolved through a preliminary investigation or a focused review of body-worn camera footage 7.
The Review yielded twelve additional recommendations directed to the Chief of Police.
On January 5, 2026, the Chief of Police transmitted the Department’s formal response to those twelve recommendations 8. The response is, by design, more textured than the response to the prior year’s Annual Report. The Department fully agreed with five recommendations, the formal practice of notifying complainants when their interviews are audio-recorded, and the inclusion of plain-language disposition definitions in closing letters and provided implementation timelines ranging from 30 days to the second quarter of 2026 9. The Department further agreed “in principle” with three recommendations, including those addressing domestic violence investigations, proper tolling of cases under the Peace Officer Bill of Rights, and the proper application of cited case law in the field; in one of these, the OPO’s tolling recommendation, the Department’s implementation plan 5 Apr. 23, 2025 Memo, Recommendation #6 (Handcuffing protocols): LBPD response — “The Police Department agrees with the recommendation,” with implementation to consist of a department-wide memorandum reinforcing training practices and documentation protocols related to handcuffing. 6 Long Beach Office of Police Oversight, Complaint Investigation Review 2025 (Oct. 15, 2025), at 3 (Executive Summary) (reporting OPO’s independent review of 100 closed administrative investigations encompassing 799 alleged policy violations, including 51 allegations of excessive use of force across 26 UOF investigations, and yielding 12 recommendations to the Chief of Police. 7 Complaint Investigation Review 2025, at 3, 8–12 (reporting that 92% of investigations reviewed were thorough (88% for UOF investigations); the mean time to complete an investigation was 295.7 days; OPO agreed with 89% of dispositions; and OPO determined a preliminary investigation or BWC review could have resolved the case in 55% of investigations reviewed). 8 Memorandum from Wally Hebeish, Chief of Police, to Francine Kerridge, Director, Office of Police Oversight, Police Department Response to OPO Recommendations (Jan. 5, 2026) (responding to the twelve recommendations contained in the October 15, 2025 OPO Complaint Investigation Review). 9 Jan. 5, 2026 Memo (LBPD “agrees” — Recommendations #3 (Jail Inmate Protocol; Implementation Plan: Completed); #7 (Internal Affairs Manual; expected Q2 2026); #8 (Notification of Audio-Recorded Interviews; 30–45 days from submission); #10 (Defining Dispositions in Closing Letters; 60 days from submission); and #11 (Complainant Contact and Opening Letters; pilot program already implemented)).
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September 22, 2026
ultimately concludes that the recommendation “will not be implemented” 15. Finally, the Department determined that no change was needed, or that no further action would be taken, with respect to four additional recommendations, including those addressing efficient use of officers at calls, jail critical-incident evidence preservation, the assignment of blanket policy violations to non-involved officers, and the routine collection of HIPAA releases in use-of-force complaints16.
This nuanced spectrum of responses — agreed, agreed in principle, further review, no change needed, no further action — is not a problem. It is, in fact, the entire point of independent civilian oversight. Reasonable disagreement, transparently aired, is far healthier than uniform deference behind closed doors. What the public deserves to understand, and what this Council is well-positioned to ensure, is a full public accounting of where each recommendation stands: the Department's own explanation of the recommendations it has declined or accepted in principle, confirmation of the agreements already reached, and clear implementation information and timelines for the work ahead.
As we reflect on the nine to eleven months since the initial 2025 recommendations were issued, we recognize this as a critical milestone to evaluate our collective progress.
Elevating this discussion to the full City Council is not merely an administrative exercise; it is an opportunity to highlight this vital work so the public can truly understand our shared commitment to continuous self-improvement—as a City, as a Police Department, and as a unified community. To foster this spirit of collaboration and systemic accountability, we request a public exploration of our progress. Specifically, the joint presentation should explicitly detail: an overview of the OPO's findings from both 2025 reports; an update on the 18 total recommendations; the Department's operational insights and its explanation of the recommendations it has respectfully declined or accepted in principle; and a review of the tangible implementation activities undertaken to date for all accepted recommendations.
This matter has been reviewed by Budget Manager Rebecca Bernstorff on September 17, 2026.
FISCAL IMPACT
15 Jan. 5, 2026 Memo (LBPD “agrees in principle” — Recommendations #1 (Domestic Violence/Assault Investigations); #5 (Proper Tolling of Cases under POBR — Implementation Plan states the recommendation “will not be implemented”); and #6 (Improper Citing/Use of Case Laws by Officers)). 16 Jan. 5, 2026 Memo (LBPD declines or determines no change is required — Recommendation #2 (Efficient Use of Officers at Calls; “Further Review and Project Tracking”); Recommendation #4 (Jail Critical Incident Evidence Collection; “no change needed”); Recommendation #9 (Blanket Policy Violations for Non-Involved Officers; “No further action”); and Recommendation #12 (HIPAA Releases for UOF Complaints; “no change needed”)).
Honorable Mayor and City Council
September 22, 2026
This recommendation directs the City Manager to work with the Director of the Office of Police Oversight and the Long Beach Police Department to provide presentation regarding the 2024 Office of Police Oversight (OPO) Annual Report, the 2025 Complaint Investigation Review, the resulting recommendations, and the status of implementation.
This recommendation is expected to have a minimal staffing impact, since the requested presentation would require staff to compile existing information into a cohesive document; however, it will have an impact given current workload and staffing in the Police Department. The recommendation is in alignment with existing City Council priorities.
There is no local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully submitted,
Councilwoman Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, Eighth District