From: Kalicia Pivirotto
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2023 2:27 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: Public comment: Military Equipment & Police Oversight Hello,
I write in extreme opposition to the purchase and use of military-grade equipment by SRPD. Police brutality is a nation-wide epidemic and increasing the arsenal is NOT the answer to changing or addressing the issues of violence and bias in police culture. With 2 former SRPD officers recently being criminally charged for excessive use of force by the DA, this send the wrong message to the community and only reinforces the fear and mistrust of the police. Instead of investing in weapons, these funds should be redirected to community services that actually keep people safe, like mental health services, housing, and education. I urge you to withdraw your approval of the use and purchase of military equipment, and to focus your efforts on sharing alternatives to policing that our community needs, like the attached flier from MV Free, which could be easily adopted in San Rafael if the city really is committed to living up to it's mission.
I also strongly urge you to adopt the People's Plan for police oversight instead of the PAAC it has approved to ensure real, actionable accountability (and advises against increasing SRPD's budget to pay for the needed measures). It's not enough to tell the community that changes can be made to the plan once it's adopted if you truly want to rebuild trust - those are just empty words until you back them up with actions and a commitment to changing the current culture of policing in the SRPD. The plan and side-by-side comparison are attached for reference here.
Please include my email in the public comments of tonight's meeting.
Sincerely,
Kalicia Pivirotto
--
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. - James Baldwin
Research shows…
Mill Valley community members call the police about Black people at nearly 20 times the rate they do about White people.
Based on MVPD call data June – May 2022
In most of these calls, police find no unlawful conduct.
Three things to consider before calling the police:
1 2 3
Consider the
Behavior:
Do I see behavior
that makes me
think somebody is
committing a crime or
endangering someone?
Consider Your
Assumptions:
If a friend or neighbor
were behaving in that
way, would I think
someone should
call the police?
Consider Your
Reaction:
Are police the most
appropriate service
providers for the
situation?
If the answer to any of these questions is “No,” consider other Emergency & Community Service Providers
(listed on reverse)
A person’s race or appearance is NEVER a
good reason to call the police.
A joint message from the MVPD and MVFREE
www.cityofmillvalley.org/Police www.mvfree.org
POLICE & FIRE
Emergencies Dial 911
Non-Emergency Services
Mill Valley Police Department
415-389-4100
Marin County Sheriff’s Office
415-473-7250
Mill Valley/Southern Marin
Fire Protection District
415-388-8182
MENTAL & BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Emergency Services
Mobile Crisis Response Team
8AM-9PM Monday – Friday
1PM-9PM Saturdays
415-473-6392
Psychiatric Emergency Services
After MCRT hours
415-473-6666
Suicide Prevention Lifeline
24 hours
800-273-8255
Linea de Prevención del Suicidio
24 horas
1-888-628-9454
Non-Emergency Services
Mental Health Access and Assessment
1-888-818-1115
Helen Vine Recovery Center
Alcohol and drug withdrawal management
and substance treatment
415-492-0818
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
of Marin County
1PM-3PM Monday – Friday
415-444-0480
Warmline – Peer Support
9AM – Midnight, 7 days
415-459-6330
Warmline – Español
1PM-6PM Lunes – Sábado
415-457-4026
DOMESTIC ABUSE & SEXUAL ASSAULT
Emergencies
Center for Domestic Peace
24 hours English y Español
415-924-6616
Community Violence Solutions
24 hours, 7 days
1-800-670-7273
ANIMAL EMERGENCIES & ABUSE
Domestic Animals
Marin Humane
24 hours
415-883-4621 (press 1 for emergency help)
(lost and found: dogs press 377; cats press 378;
other animals press 379)
Wild Animals
WildCare
Sick, injured or abandoned wildlife
9AM-5PM 7 Days
415-456-7283
Emergencies after 5PM
415-300-6359
Marine Mammals
Marine Mammal Center
Sick, injured or abandoned marine mammals
24 hours
415-289-7325
Mill Valley/Marin County Emergency and Community Service Contact Numbers
San Rafael Police Department (SRPD) & City The People’s Plan San Rafael Resident Participation in Oversight and Accountability Community Advisory & Accountability Committee (CAAC):
advisory only, no power or authority by the residents to make changes only suggestions by a contracted
Independent Auditor reporting (IA) ONLY to Police Chief.
Cannot carry out oversight mandate. City Council is not involved.
Community Oversight Commission (COC):
has power and authority by the residents
to build trust and make changes through
recommendations directly to City Council
CAAC started and ended by City Council *Future elected
members may choose to end CCAC* City responsible to ensure COC permanent CAAC somewhat improves public transparency but does
not improve accountability of SRPD.
COC improves public transparency and
accountability of SRPD.
CAAC has no power to review or investigate complaints
from the public or police misconduct, other than those
prepared by a contracted IA after the SRPD investigation has been concluded.
COC has power to review or investigate
complaints from the public or police
misconduct and brings in community
input.
CAAC membership: Doesn’t prioritize people from the
community most impacted because membership is chosen
through city council member interviews. The balance is
incorrectly weighted between white neighborhoods (more
representatives) and the Canal (less representatives).
COC membership: Prioritizes people from
the most-impacted communities through
non bias recommendation, self-selection,
and chosen by City Council
Independent Police Auditor (IPA) VS. Independent Police Monitor Hybrid (IPM-H) IPA can only review police investigations and complaints made by the public.
IPM-H investigates complaints made by
the public
No complaints are reviewed unless IPA submits a report to the City Council after complaints to SRPD are concluded to determine patterns of misconduct. Committee has no
access, including Chair.
IPM-H report includes complaints received
directly from the public
IPA has no independent power to audit SRPD
IPM-H has independent power to audit
the police department to address system
wide culture, policies, and procedures.
IPA only audits the police department when asked by City staff.
IPM-H auditsthe police department when
asked by the Community Oversight
Commission or City staff.
IPA has no power to initiate independent investigations.
IPM-H has the power to initiate
independent investigations. Can also do
so at the request of the Community
Oversight Commission or City staff.
Funding for oversight staff comes from City of San Rafael’s budget, providing even more money for SRPD.
Funding for oversight staff comes from the
existing San Rafael Police Dept. budget,
and does not increase the SRPD budget.
The People’s Plan -Concept Document
May 11, 2023
Recommendations for Community Oversight
of the San Rafael Police Department (SRPD)
Introduction and Rationale
Civilian oversight of law enforcement agencies is not new, it has existed across the United States of America since the 1950s and was the focus of many discussions through the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The death of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and shooting death of Michael Brown in 2014 followed by publicly released videos of other high-profile police rough-ups, beatings, shootings, and deaths of US residents of color pushed civilian oversight and police accountability into the national spotlight. The videos of police mistreatment, injury and deaths of so many residents of color in the last decade fueled local momentum across California to examine existing relationships between communities of color and the departments that police them, and led the California state legislature to develop laws, for example AB1506, AB846, AB1185, and SB2 that hold police accountable for their behavior and treatment of the people they serve.
While civilian oversight exposes the lack of trust communities of color and allies have for the police, it is also a main component of ensuring positive change and increased public safety for every member of the community. A community oversight Commission can transform organizational culture within police departments through their partnerships and collaborative nature with impacted communities as well as create mechanisms for local accountability of police departments. Civilian oversight also helps police departments ensure that the quality of their services aligns on paper and in the daily lives of every community member they serve.
The City of San Rafael and the Chief of San Rafael Police Department (SRPD) have stated their commitment to establishing a permanent independent community oversight structure for the city and its residents, with the goal of cultivating trust, transparency, and accountability that in turn provides a level of legitimacy that internal accountability and existing review mechanisms cannot. To carry this out, a community engagement process was initiated to gather community input on the need for a framework, structure, and authority for such an oversight mechanism.
The People’s Plan -Concept Document
May 11, 2023
Recommendations
• Structured, civilian oversight will assist the City of San Rafael with duties such as:
reviewing completed misconduct and use of force investigations, • objectively analyzing ways to improve the operations of the SRPD, • auditing and addressing systemic issues within the police department, • providing an accessible entry point for resident complaints, and • serving as a locus of public information gathering and sharing through community hearings
all with the goal of upholding constitutional policing; improving law enforcement practices, procedures, and training; reducing legal liability and the possibility of state or federal intervention; removing existing bias within SRPD police culture, and improving transparency, accountability and trust between residents and SRPD.
In an effort to implement an oversight mechanism that addresses the current issues community members experience with SRPD, while proactively striving to reduce harmful existing systemic issues, we recommend a hybrid oversight mechanism that would incorporate the auditor-monitor focused model with the review-focused model. We further recommend that the proposed community oversight Commission collaborate with the City and Chief of Police in selecting the independent auditor (IA).
Once implemented, the recommendations for a community-based oversight model will ensure the establishment of timely, effective, and accessible oversight of SRPD; and maintain a collaborative relationship between the SRPD and the community of color, poor, unsheltered and most impacted by inequitable policing practices, thereby increasing public safety for all; increase trust, improve transparency and accountability; ensure a public, transparent forum for voicing community concerns about the SRPD; a platform for the SRPD to respond to allegations of misconduct; and reduction in liability lawsuits resulting in settlements paid by the community’s tax dollars.
Community Oversight Commission (COC)
A Community Oversight Commission (COC) is uniquely positioned to build trust between law enforcement and the people they serve because of its ability to provide San Rafael community residents outside of and unaffiliated with SRPD, input into the process.
In addition to having the opportunity to review completed internal investigations of an auditor/monitor, the COC will receive and review civilian complaints from the community and share them with SRPD for investigation. Review-focused models make up approximately 62% of civilian oversight agencies in the United States, and include a mechanism for the The People’s Plan -Concept Document
May 11, 2023
department to share community complaints with their oversight body; remand cases back to the department’s internal affairs unit for further investigation; recommend case dispositions, discipline or revision of departmental policies and procedures with the police chief and city officials; hear appeals from complainants or subject officers; host public forums; and conduct extensive and purposeful community outreach.
The hybrid approach of implementing the review-focused model described above with the auditor/monitor-focused model, responds to the need for building the relationship between SRPD and the community they serve by deepening the one-layered approach of reviewing the police department’s policy and trend analysis traditionally centered in review-focused oversight bodies.
B. Composition and Qualifications for Membership
Four (4) Commission members will be San Rafael residents appointed by the San Rafael City Council to represent each of the four districts they represent. One member will be selected by the Mayor. One (1) at-large member and one (1) alternate will be recommended to the city council by community-based organizations that specifically advocate on behalf of San Rafael residents most impacted by inequitable policing practices, such as: Legal Aid of Marin, Marin Interfaith Council, Congregation Rodef Shalom, Immigrant Rights Team, Immigration Institute of Bay Area, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Marin, and the Family Law and Children’s Center. Nonprofit organization service centers providing county/city funded services are excluded from recommending members to the SRPD COC.
At no time, shall more than one (1) member be someone who has previous law enforcement experience and must meet the following criteria:
1. The member has not worked as a sworn law enforcement officer within the last five years;
2. The member has never been employed as sworn law enforcement in Marin County or any Bay Area counties, defined by the Association of Bay Area Governments to include the following nine counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and San Francisco.
C. Training
The COC shall establish a training curriculum annually and as needed, in collaboration with the Independent Auditor, the SRPD, and the City of San Rafael. This ensures that the Commission possess necessary expertise to carry out the Commission’s mandates, and that it is not expected for members of the appointed Commission come with any particular skills other than their lived experience ensuring inclusivity for all members.
Training may include, but need not be limited to the following:
1. Public Meeting Laws and the California Public Records Act; The People’s Plan -Concept Document
May 11, 2023
2. Ethics;
3. Implicit and Explicit Bias;
4. Sexual Harassment;
5. Cultural Competency;
6. Confidentiality;
7. Rehabilitative and Restorative Justice Principles;
8. Behavioral Health Diversion Implementation Plan;
9. De-escalation/Non-Escalation Techniques and Philosophy;
10. Investigative techniques, data analyst and policy writing;
11. All SRPD operations, policies, practices and procedures, case management;
12. Public Safety Officers’ Bill of Rights Act (POBRA), and other relevant state and local laws including those related to law enforcement personnel actions;
13. Meet and Confer Policy and Process;
14. Ride-a-longs and other equivalent immersive experiences;
15. The criminal justice process (bookings and arrest, interaction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, etc.).
16. Trauma-informed and healing practices for community complaint intake process
17. Law enforcement oversight, community policing, and constitutional principles of policing;
D. Stipends
It is recommended that the City of San Rafael provide stipends for Commission members’ duties, training, and work.
E. Duties and Authorities
It is recommended that the Civilian Oversight Commission (COC) have the following duties and authorities:
1. Assisting in the hiring, interviewing and ongoing evaluation of the Independent Auditor
2. Establishing and maintaining an accessible two-way complaint process
3. Receive and review completed investigations
4. Review and Generate Policy Recommendations for Chief of Police and City Council
5. Request Data Related to SRPD Pattern or Practice
a. The COC shall have the ability to direct the IA to collect data and/or information relevant to SRPD practices that fulfills the COC’s oversight powers and duties.
The data shall be presented and accessible during public meetings of the COC.
6. Conduct Public Meetings
The People’s Plan -Concept Document
May 11, 2023
7. Collaborate with SRPD
8. Conduct Ongoing Community Outreach and Engagement Efforts
9. Produce Annual Public Reports (multilingual / multicultural in a method for all community members to access)
a. The IA will work with the COC to produce a minimum of one annual report presented publicly to the City and include but not be limited to; • Reviews completed
• Identified patterns and trends
• Recommendations for changes to policies, procedures, and/or training practices;
• Status updates on the implementation of any agreed-upon changes to policies, procedures, or training practices;
• Community engagement activities;
• Crime reports and statistics related to SRPD jurisdiction, including but not limited to RIPA data;
• Data related to the complaints received by the COC and SRPD • Investigation outcomes, if any;
• Identified statistics or measures that may be relevant to SRPD oversight but are currently missing, unreported, or underreported; • Any additional report deemed necessary by the IA in collaboration with the COC
10. Budget Proposal Approval
a. The COC shall work collaboratively with the IA to develop and submit an annual budget to the City Manager
11. Officer-Involved Shootings, Misconduct, and Use of Force Investigations a. The SRPD will provide the COC updates and access to the body worn camera footage for review, of all officer-involved shootings or other use of force investigations.
b. SRPD, the City of San Rafael, and the Civilian Oversight Commission will jointly Inform the public of the status of ongoing investigations as soon as legally permitted.
12. Issuing Subpoenas
The IA may be directed by the COC to the extent permitted by law, to issue subpoenas for the purpose of compelling testimony or receiving relevant documents.
The People’s Plan -Concept Document
May 11, 2023
SRPD Office Liaison
A member of the SRPD serves as a liaison to the COC, acting as a resource and receiving its recommendations for changes to policy, procedures, and training. The liaison will attend COC meetings at the joint invitation of the IA and the COC Chair.
Independent Auditor (IA)
A. Purpose Statement
The Independent Auditor (IA) is a paid position whose mission is to provide all members of the public with effective and independent oversight of the San Rafael Police Department thorough unbiased investigations, reviews, and analysis of SRPD investigations and community complaints. The IA will work collaboratively with the COC to develop and submit recommendations to the police chief and City, and maintain ongoing communication with San Rafael residents and community members.
Community Engagement & Outreach Coordinator (CEOC)
A. Purpose Statement
The Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator (CEOC) is a full time paid position tasked with collaborating with the COC to develop a program of regular outreach and communication with the San Rafael community for the purpose of listening to and communicating with residents and workers, with an emphasis on listening and actively engaging San Rafael’s BIPOC, poor, and unsheltered community members.
The program developed by the CEOC in partnership with the COC will educate the public in San Rafael about the responsibilities and practices of the SRPD.
Additionally, the CEOC will serve as an administrator for the COC, and assist in all related tasks including:
1. Provide staff support to the work of the IA and the COC
2. Assist in the development, implementation, and
communication of the COC’s policies and procedures
3. Act as a communication liaison with members of the COC The People’s Plan -Concept Document
May 11, 2023
4. Assist with accessible reporting and
other communications to the community of San
Rafael/public.