Modesto City Council approves community review board, auditor for Police Department
The Modesto City Council on Tuesday night approved forming a Community Police Review Board as it adopted recommendations from its Forward Together police oversight committee. The council also authorized city staff to solicit firms to serve as an independent police auditor.
Council members approved an ordinance creating the board and its bylaws. The board will have nine members who serve four-year terms, and preference will be provided to “residents representing diverse ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, professional experience, organizational affiliations and neighborhoods/districts in Modesto,” according to the bylaws.
The review board will hold monthly public meetings “to promote community engagement and to afford the public regular opportunity to provide feedback and receive updates,” the bylaws state.
The board also will submit annual reports to the city manager and City Council about its activities and any recommendations from its review of information related to officer-involved shootings, use-of-force complaints and other matters. The city manager will address the recommendations with the police chief or council.
Council members approved the scope of work for the independent auditor and authorized staff to issue what is called a request for proposals to firms with the expertise to do this work.
The work includes reviewing and reporting on all closed investigations involving the use of deadly force, in-custody deaths and bias-based policing complaints, as well as a random selection of one third of citizens complaints and one quarter of all use-of-force reviews.
The scope of work states the auditor can respond to officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths “in real time to monitor and advise the city in the investigation.”
A city report states the auditor will produce reports that appraise the Police Department’s processes, practices and procedures and offer recommendations.
The auditor’s reports will not include critical incidents that are the subject of pending or potential litigation until after the litigation has been resolved. And the auditor will serve as a police practices adviser to the Community Police Review Board.
Council members voted 7-0 on all of these items.
Deputy City Manager Allison Van Guilder told council members that city staff has an ambitious timeline of the council appointing oversight board members in March and approving a contract for an independent auditor in April. The oversight board would hold its first meeting in May after undergoing training.
Family decries shooting by officer
But before council members took up this matter, they heard the anger, anguish and rage from several family members and friends of Paul Chavez, the intoxicated Modesto man fatally shot July 14 by Modesto officer Sam Muncy in the front yard of a home.
Chavez, 30, was holding the ball of a trailer hitch at his side as officers told him several times to put it down or he would be Tased. Chavez was Tased but pulled the prongs out and continued to walk toward officers. Muncy shot Chavez twice about six seconds later.
Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager issued a news release Dec. 5 stating the use of force was justified and charges would not be filed. Police Chief Brandon Gillespie said in an interview a department review determined the shooting was within department policy.
Chavez’s family and friends have said he was drunk, did not pose a threat and have demanded Muncy be fired and prosecuted. They have repeatedly spoken before the City Council.
Mayor Sue Zwahlen later in the meeting acknowledged the pain and grief that Chavez’s loved ones are experiencing.
The council formed Forward Together in June 2021 in response to national and local calls for police reform. The 27-member committee included members from law enforcement, civil rights, labor, business, mental health and other groups.
In June of this year, Forward Together issued its final report and recommendations related to improving the Police Department’s accountability, policies and practices, and alternate response models.
Key parts of accountability
Forming an oversight board and hiring an independent police auditor are the key components of the accountability recommendations.
City staff has said the other recommendations will take shape through the work of the oversight board and auditor, though the Police Department already has implemented some of them. That includes having mental health clinicians ride with patrol officers to respond to calls involving people in crisis, such as a distraught man threatening to harm himself.
Several Forward Together members spoke in favor of the Community Police Oversight Board and independent police auditor but some said fine-tuning was needed to improve this effort.
For instance, Forward Together member and retired attorney Solange Altman said the auditor should issue reports to the oversight board quarterly, not annually.
She said the reports should include critical incidents that are subject to litigation. As an attorney, she said, she knows there are limits on what can be said while litigation is ongoing, but reporting what can be disclosed — such as an upcoming settlement conference or trial date — is critical.
“It helps the community understand the process,” Altman said. “Justice is slow. Government is slow. If they understand something is in the works, that would help build trust.”
Altman said she also wants the oversight board to have a more active role in coming up with solutions to issues that community members raise.
But Forward Together members greatly appreciated that council members had embraced their work to improve relations between the police and community. Thomas Helme, who represented the local chapter of the ACLU on the committee, told council members that 10 years ago, he did not think the city would ever be where it is today regarding police reform.
The Community Police Oversight Board’s nine members will serve without pay during their four-year terms. Members need to have lived in Modesto for at least a year, be registered to vote, pass a background check and not work for the city or in law enforcement. Former and retired Modesto Police Department employees cannot serve on the committee.
Conviction not a bar
Van Guilder, the deputy city manager, told council members that having a criminal conviction does not necessarily bar someone from serving on the oversight board. The city would look at what that person had done since the conviction as part of evaluating the application.
The city will launch a public education campaign about the oversight panel and auditor this month. Community Police Oversight Board applications will be available online and at Tenth Street Place, the city-county government center in downtown, in January.
The city manager would review applications in February to determine eligibility, according to a PowerPoint presentation at the council meeting. In March, the City Council would appoint applicants that its Appointments Committee had interviewed and recommended.
City staff is expected to bring a contract to the council in April for an independent police auditor. A city report estimates the annual cost for that service at $100,000 to $150,000. The contract would be for three years, with the option for two additional years.
Gillespie, the police chief, said in an interview that attorneys typically provide independent police auditor services but retired police chiefs also serve as auditors.
Council members thanked the Forward Together committee members for their hard work and thanked the men and women of the Police Department for their work.
This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 11:45 PM.
