CCMIN 09072021 - Laserfiche WebLink

the Crime Prevention Officer to continue proactively reaching out to different groups in the community and would like emphasis on building relationships with the non-English speaking community through bilingual officers. She expressed support for National Night Out as an important event for building trust and community. She would like to see a program that builds relationships with youth who are not interested in a law enforcement career and for those youth who are interested in a law enforcement career, how they pursue those goals in Pleasanton. Councilmember Balch believes the City Council should continue to support police officers to ensure they are prepared to answer any call and have all the equipment they need to do their job proficiently. This includes implicit bias training and race relation training so they can continue to build trust with the community. He stressed the importance of supporting the mental health of the City's police officers because they need to be grounded to make comprehensive decisions to benefit the community. He reported he was able to go to PPD's webpage and download the use of force policy and was happy to see the site is transparent. He is happy to see the Police Chiefs Advisory Board getting underway and the Crisis Response Program coming in January. He believes it is critical to reach out to the Youth Commission and have a body that brings broad public and private school groups together regarding SROs. Councilmember Balch referenced Councilmember Arkin's request earlier regarding the information on sustained violations or complaints. He cited examples of how the data may be presented and believes the information is important for the City Council in its oversight role to identify trends and work with police staff to address those issues. He expressed appreciation for the command staff and the City Manager looking into the request. He thanked PPD for their work. Councilmember Arkin advised she is happy to see the Crisis Response Program starting next year, the Police Chief's Advisory Board being finalized, and SRO discussions beginning. She expressed support for PPD and knows they have a very hard job. She advised the City Council is the policy-making body and noted the oversight role including transparency and accountability is within its purview. She noted in light of recent legal matters, a regular policy review is needed and would like it to return at the next update in March or earlier if possible. In response to Councilmember Testa, Chief Swing confirmed the 2020 Annual Report is not online yet and is working to obtain an update from the vendor. He explained the bi-annual report will not be in lieu of the annual report. In reference to Councilmember Testa's previous inquiry, he advised there is a critical incident link located on the PPD website. Councilmember Testa expressed support for the report and noted it helped her connect the dots when looking at some of the different programs. She requested staff further explore how to obtain the information for civilian independent oversight. She noted best practices indicate a civilian independent oversight should not be a political body. She believes there should be independent oversight that has a law enforcement perspective and the professional background to do justice to the department and officers. She requested the City Attorney provide her in writing the reasoning why Pleasanton legally cannot be provided information like Palo Alto's website. She requested the City Council investigate what independent oversight or an auditor might look like and noted it is very modestly priced. She expressed excitement for the Crisis Response Program and concurred with conducting policy reviews. She requested a discussion about roles and responsibilities of oversight be held. Mayor Brown advised Pleasanton's officers have always ranked extremely high on City surveys. She believes Police Chief Swing and City Manager Fialho are a big part of the oversight. She thanked Chief Swing for meeting with John and Rose Bauer and taking a sincere and honest interest in what they had to say. She expressed confidence in the Police Chief's Advisory Board and looks forward to hearing updates in the next report. She is proud that Pleasanton has a Crisis Intervention Team and stated the City Manager and City Council have invested deeply in the City Council Minutes Page 11 of 16 September 7, 2021