Proposed Commission On Police Practices Gains Support

Speaker 1: 00:00 As part of the city of San Diego's response to questions about police use of force during protests and routine arrests. Mayor Kevin Faulkner has thrown his support behind a proposed November ballot measure that would create a commission on police practices. Advocates have struggled for years to get a strong, independent review commission in place to investigate complaints against police misconduct and influence policy. The measure of still needs to get approval from the city council to be placed on the ballot. Joining me is Andrea st. Julien she's attorney and co-chair of San Diego for justice, the group behind the proposed ballot measure. And Andrea, welcome to the program. Thank you efforts to get a similar measure on the ballot have failed in recent years. And now mayor Faulkner says, he's on board here. He is at a press conference earlier this week, Speaker 2: 00:52 moving forward. It will be on the ballot. We've been having a lot of very good productive discussions with our police officer's association. And I look forward to giving it my full support. Speaker 1: 01:02 The city of San Diego currently has a community review board on police practices. So Andrea, how would this commission differ from the board? Speaker 3: 01:11 It's going to be quite different from the board. The first thing to note is that it is going to be a commission rather than a board, and that's more than just a name change. So with the commission, a commission can be truly independent. A board is merely an advisory body to the mayor. And when you have a board that is an advisory body, the current charter member amendment requires that the city attorney be the attorney for that board problem with that is the city attorney is also the attorney for the police department. So, um, that is, um, an important distinction. Another, the other distinctions are that the current review board is merely a review board. It looks at what the police department has done in terms of investigating complaints. The new commission is independent. It has the duty and the power to do independent investigations. It has the power to subpoena witnesses, gather evidence and make its own independent decisions. And of course it's going to have its own independent attorney. So those are some of the key differences between the current board and what will we hope will be the future commission? Speaker 1: 02:24 Why is it important that this new commission have its own attorney? Speaker 3: 02:29 It's important that the commission habits own attorney, because we don't want to have any conflicts. How can a city attorney who is charged with the duty of protecting the police at the same time, appropriately advise a body whose job it is to root out any wrongdoing. That's a real conflict. The city attorney plays an incredibly important role in the life of the current CRB. And people feel very uncomfortable with that. Um, people don't feel that they're, that they can trust what's going on with the CRB, because how can they trust that the city attorney can at one at the same time protect the police department. And at the same time properly advise a CRB on doing its duty of rooting out wrongdoing. Speaker 1: 03:23 Now, the precedent of the San Diego police officer's association said yesterday on this program that the union has okayed. The police review measured to go on the ballot and they are not in opposition. This is our big change from the opposition they had when this was originally proposed. In fact, the POA was apparently part of the effort to keep the similar measure off the ballot two years ago. So what do you think is different now? Speaker 3: 03:48 Yes. I let's be very clear. The, the, uh, police officers association has opposed this charter amendment, no matter how hard we worked to be fair and get input from the police officers association for the last six or seven years, they have fought it tooth and nail, and I'm happy to see that they have decided to look at it more favorably. I think obviously, and it has been an evolution for the past few months. They have not publicly opposed it, but they have opposed it in the meet and confer process that's that's taking place right now. So, uh, I can only say that they have now come to understand how much the public really wants robust community led oversight of police actions. Speaker 1: 04:45 Law enforcement has traditionally been wary of review boards, feeling that their every move will be scrutinized by people who don't know anything about police work. So how do you avoid that Speaker 3: 04:56 several ways? One, I want to step back and say it is woven into our culture to have citizen oversight of all professions. I, as an attorney, you know, any anyone that I work with can make a complaint against me, and then there's going to be a review of what I've done the same way with physicians, any professionals, particularly those who deal in life and death matter are subject to review. And particularly a community led review. So as a professional, the best professionals, police officers, shouldn't be exempted from that. Uh, so getting back to the point of, okay, well they need professionals really looking at what their con conduct and looking at their conduct. I would say that the commission totally answers that question. The current review board is made up purely of community members. There are no professionals that advise that board law enforcement under the new commission, the commission has the power. And in fact, the duty to bring on professional investigators, most of whom will be ex ex police officers. If, if they follow the path at many other, um, uh, community led oversight organizations have undertaken. So the commission is going to give them the expertise in law enforcement that they need. So that's, that's a win for everybody. Speaker 1: 06:25 Now, as you watch people take to the streets across the country in recent days, how do you see this proposal addressing issues, being raised by protesters like institutional racism and police violence? Speaker 3: 06:38 I think it's absolutely crucial. It is. It is crucial. You can put laws, you can put regulations and policies into place, but if you don't have a method of making sure those policies are followed, the policies are meaningless. And that's what a robust commission does. It finally gives a citizen led body, the tools it needs to really scrutinize whether police officers and the police department are following its own policies and the laws. So it's absolutely crucial. Speaker 1: 07:16 I've been speaking with Andrea Saint julienne. She's an attorney and co-chair of San Diego for justice. And that's the group behind the proposed ballot measure. Andrea, thank you very much. Thank you. Speaker 4: 07:39 [inaudible].