Commissioners push for change in local police department
Christine Borrmann | 5-26-2010 | Comments |
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Inglewood’s Citizen Police Oversight Commission was established in 2006 to listen to residents’ complaints, investigate alleged police misconduct and quell community concerns about the department. Six years and many meetings later, the commission has little to show for its efforts, and commissioners are pushing for more power to make real change within the police department. “I will be honest, we’re frustrated,” said Commissioner Adrienne Sears. “Some of us are more frustrated than others.”
Councilwoman Judy Dunlap, a long-time advocate of giving the commission greater oversight, said the current model was destined to fail from the beginning.
“The commission was never set up to be able to do anything from the start,” Dunlap said. “It was never set up to be the commission the people wanted.”
The commission was created after a 2002 incident captured on tape showed Inglewood police officers using excessive force on 16-year-old Donovan Jackson. The video showed officers repeatedly punching the boy and throwing him onto the car. It drew attention nationwide and caused an outcry from Inglewood residents, who demanded that the city curb police misconduct.
The city council created the Citizen Police Oversight Commission shortly after the incident to review allegations of misconduct. They also wanted to evaluate investigations conducted internally by the police department and submit recommendations to the chief of police. The commission is made up of 11 members, 10 appointed by the city council and mayor, and one appointed by the police chief. Commissioners are not paid; they volunteer their time to attend monthly meetings.
Most of the commissioners have served since the body was formed. Any citizen may file a complaint to the commission. Then, the internal affairs unit, along with the Inglewood Police Department, conducts an investigation. The commission receives the disposition and analyzes it to make a recommendation. But the city charter explicitly states that the power to discipline officers lies solely with the chief of police. The commission can only make recommendations, and does not have access to internal investigations of the police department unless they are initiated by a resident complaint.
“A civilian oversight agency has to be a bridge between the police department and community in a certain way,” said Marcos Soler, chair of the outreach committee at the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. “It has to make sure that it facilitates the ability of public trust.”
Since the commission was formed, no action has been taken based on any recommendations it has made, and its ability to make recommendations has been limited by its lack of access to key information, according to Commissioner Gilbert Mathieu.
“The community appreciates that the oversight committee is there,” Mathieu said. “But the charter is restrictive as to what parameters we can operate in.”
Commissioner Wayne Spencer said the commission does not have the power it needs to be an effective watchdog of the police department.
“We do not have all the tools,” he said. “We are lacking investigators. We are lacking a [sufficient] budget.”
The commission operates with a $40,000 annual budget, but in order to invest in real authority, the city would have to be willing to commit additional resources to cover the cost of independent investigators, attorney fees and other costs. Commissioners are seeking authority to hire an auditor or inspector general, as well as independent legal counsel who works solely for the commission, rather than one who doubles as an employee of the city. The Commission has asked for access to professional training and deeper involvement in monitoring police conduct on an ongoing basis.
They also have community engagement goals. Commissioners have also requested greater interaction with residents, including roving community meetings and town hall-style, and a community survey to gauge satisfaction with the department.
Unless the commission is granted greater powers, it will remain ineffective, said Michael Falkow, Deputy City Administrator and the city’s advisor to the commission.
“You have got to realize that a commission, if it only has bark, people are not going to listen to it after a while,” he said. “But if it has bite? That’s interesting. Now we want to listen.”
The commission has reached out to the Citizen Police Complaint Commission in Long Beach, which is empowered to conduct independent investigations of the police department, including interviews with witnesses and field investigations.
“There are so many models, I think that it would be hard for me to say what would work in different communities,” said Anita Dempsey, executive director of the Long Beach commission. “I can say that it absolutely helps that we have investigative authority."
Full investigative authority for the police commission in Inglewood would require a change in the city charter, and isn’t likely to come anytime soon, Sears said.
“I don’t know that we would see something like that in our lifetime,” Sears said.
Last November, the City Council acknowledged the ineffectiveness of the commission and created a Blue Ribbon Committee made up of council appointees to make recommendations for its restructuring. But the seven-member committee has yet to meet, pending an appointment by Dunlap.
“We’ve been optimistic for so long that change was coming,” said Sears. “And it hasn’t come yet. So the commission is sort of not really believing anything anymore. We’re from the show-me state now.”
Meanwhile Mathieu said he hopes things will get better down the road.
“I always contribute in any way I can to help the city,” Mathieu said. “It’s a work in progress.”
The Inglewood Police Department also has some work in progress. The Department of Justice is currently undergoing an investigation of the police department. In updated findings delivered to the chief of police last December, the Department of Justice specifically addressed the oversight commission.
“Citizen interviews and news reports revealed allegations of distrust and fear of the IPD [Inglewood Police Department]. A negative perception of the IPD exists in the community,” the report said. “The use of a citizen’s oversight body, if constituted appropriately with requisite authority, review powers and access rights, such commissions have added value to a police department’s mission and credibility with the community it serves.”
The Department of Justice recommended the police department increase communication and make itself more accessible to the commission. But that hasn’t happened.
“The oversight commission is getting overlooked,” said Sgt. J.M. Torres. “Personally I haven’t seen them involved in anything.”
Lack of access undermines any commission’s ability to fulfill its role, according to Marcos Soler of the Civilian Oversight Association.
“One of the problems certainly can be if you have a situation in which the police auditor is not capable of having an entry to the police department,” Soler said. “They are not able to collect the documents themselves. They are not able to interview officers themselves. It’s going to be more difficult for that person to do the work.”
But commissioners are hopeful the relationship with the police department is evolving. With police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks in her third year with the city, Sears said the level of trust is growing. Seabrooks declined repeated requests for an interview for this story.
“I am determined to see this thing through,” Sears said. “You have a strategy, you implement your strategy and you just have to keep forging ahead until you get a crack, a break. So that’s what we’re hoping for.”
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