The LWV of Santa Monica was invited to share our perspective on public safety reform to Santa Monica's Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission at a Community Listening Session on Thursday, September 9, 2021. The Commission's agendas and recorded meeting will be available at https://www.santamonica.gov/public-safety-reform-and-oversight-commission.
LWV Santa Monica President, Natalya Zernitskaya, shared the below comments with the commission and members of the public in attendance:
Good Evening Commissioners and Members of the Public,
My name is Natalya Zernitskaya. I serve as the President of the League of Women Voters of Santa Monica and am grateful for this opportunity to share the League’s perspective on key issues regarding police reform in Santa Monica.
The League of Women Voters of Santa Monica is a non-partisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government. We do not endorse either political parties or candidates running for office but seek to influence public policy through education and advocacy.
Leagues at all levels have been advocates for meaningful police reform legislation. The League of Women Voters of the United States joined a letter with over 400 civil rights organizations last summer to call on Congress to implement needed policing reforms and urge congressional leadership to swiftly rectify the legacy of white supremacy and anti-black racism that has led to police violence against Black people and other people of color across our country.
LWVC support of key legislation. The League of Women Voters of California endorsed Senate Bill 1421 (SB 1421 of 2017-2018), which requires disclosure of records and information related to certain high-profile categories of officer misconduct: officer-involved shootings, certain uses of force, sustained findings of sexual assault, and sustained findings of certain types of dishonesty. In the same legislative year, the California legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law, Assembly Bill 748, which requires release of video and audio recordings of critical incidents. These two laws significantly expanded public access to police misconduct records under the California Public Records Act and can strengthen public trust in law enforcement by improving transparency and accountability, if they are implemented properly.
The role of the criminal justice system is to prevent crime and promote public safety. Current research indicates successful systems focus on pre-trial diversion, rehabilitation and preventing recidivism. Some communities experience excessive force and surveillance by the police. People waste away in prisons serving extreme sentences. The current criminal justice system needs reform to ensure its constitutionality and cost effectiveness. Community participation is essential.
The most effective criminal justice reforms consider the safety and well being of both peace officers and the communities they serve, especially people most impacted. We need to consider the humanity of people who are impacted by our current criminal justice system and we need to examine the support that our public safety officers and personnel require, such as adequate training, clear performance standards, mental health services, and other resources.
We appreciate the City of Santa Monica’s efforts to heal and protect our community by creating the Public Safety Reform & Oversight Commission. The League believes that policing practices should be established by law enforcement with input from the communities that they serve. Community participation is crucial in the development of policing policy. The League supports police accountability via independent citizen oversight of law enforcement and publicly available data on officer conduct.
Transparency and accountability are integral to maintaining the public’s faith in the legitimacy of law enforcement. A breakdown in either transparency or accountability of law enforcement endangers public safety and makes it harder for peace officers to do their jobs.
Santa Monica’s Public Safety Reform & Oversight Commission can perform several functions in our community including:
Providing independent oversight of local policing practices, which ensures transparency and accountability of law enforcement.
Supporting the dissemination of information to the public about policing policies, recruitment, procedures for complaint/commendation, and the rights and responsibilities of citizens and officers in interactions with each other.
Utilizing evidence-based research in supporting sufficient psychological services and counseling to meet stress-related needs of police personnel
Advising on sufficient training to identify individuals with mental health conditions, disabilities, or substance abuse/addiction, so that officers will request support from appropriate medical and mental health professionals, with the goal of diverting those individuals into treatment instead of jail.
Promoting best practices regarding de-escalation and anti-bias trainings.
- It may also serve as an advisory body which utilizes evidence-based research in decision making about law-enforcement programs and policies (including scheduled, periodic audits of program and policy effectiveness).
For example, there have been several recent changes to public-safety related laws in Santa Monica where analysis and feedback from the PSROC may have been helpful in supporting collaborative, rather than adversarial, relationships among the Santa Monica Police Department and the community that they serve and belong to.
The LWV of Santa Monica is concerned about the recent temporary agreement between the City and the Santa Monica Police Officers’ Association that places significant restrictions on the scope of work that the PSROC may engage in.Outside of the specific restrictions contained in the agreement, we are concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding the purpose and process of the City agreeing to these limitations.
The SMPOA’s complaint regarding an alleged unfair practice charge was filed with the Public Employment Relations Board on July 23, 2021 and was noted as a closed-session item with no reportable action taken at the August 24th City Council meeting. The aforementioned agreement was approved by the City Council on August 24, 2021.
There are complex issues at play in employment-related complaints and their resolutions, but when it comes to the intersection of labor relations and progress in the area of public safety reform, additional factors are relevant to the discussion. It is important to consider how the perception of impediments to meaningful reform may result in actual impediments to meaningful reform.
Given the public process surrounding the establishment of the PSROC and its parameters, was the entire discussion appropriate for closed session? The commission was established publicly, as were its parameters. It may have been more appropriate for changes to the commission’s parameters, even temporary changes, to be discussed or at least disclosed in open session since they were established in open session and voted on by the council in open session.
We support Santa Monica’s public safety officers in their desire for their “department to be a model of the kind of meaningful reform that can be achieved through community collaboration.” Community collaboration requires clear and transparent communication among the community.
We support the PSROC’s goal to promote the best practices in community-oriented policing for the fair treatment, safety, and wellbeing of all, in partnership with the Santa Monica Police Department. As well as the goal of providing a body to work with SMPD and experts to develop, recommend, and help implement proposed reforms for handling complaints regarding SMPD conduct, including proposed reforms for the intake, review, and investigation of, and oversight of disciplinary decisions and policies relating to, such complaints.
We look forward to working with the Public Safety Reform & Oversight Commission to realize a Santa Monica that is safe for all.
Thank you.
