Modesto must adopt civilian oversight of police

The heartbreaking murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day weekend has ignited a national conversation that promises to finally address the intertwined problems of police brutality, mass incarceration and structural racism, as well as the economic inequality that undergirds those injustices.

Activists and elected leaders at the state and national levels are now pushing to make real, meaningful solutions to the entrenched problem of people of color dying disproportionately at the hands of law enforcement. But when it comes to policing, state or national changes will be meaningless without local accountability.

In Modesto, as in many cities, one of the biggest hurdles to accountability is that the police department is solely responsible for investigating its own officers. Our neighbors in Stockton are mindfully addressing this situation by creating a police review board. It’s long past time that we, too, let common sense prevail and make establishing a robust civilian review commission an urgent priority.

To build and maintain a fair, impartial and effective police review process, we strongly recommend these guiding principles which are modeled on similar successful efforts in other California cities:

• Modesto elected leaders and other stakeholders must be committed to appointing commissioners who understand the impact police violence has on our communities. This must be reflected in the makeup of the actual body of the commission, the process of appointing voting members, and public outreach and engagement efforts. Current or former law enforcement officers must be excluded to ensure impartiality.
• The complaint process must be overseen by an Independent Police Auditor (IPA) and must prioritize the needs of the complainant. Many Modesto residents are hesitant to make complaints for fear of retaliation. To ensure an open community dialogue on the problems, complaints must be heard without endangering the complainant.
  
  
• The IPA, in concert with the commission, must be able to initiate investigations and make public reports on their findings. The power to engage in fact-finding and the transparency of public reporting will be essential to the IPA and commission as they formulate and consider policy recommendations in response to instances of misconduct.
  
  
• The commission must be given mandate to investigate systemic problems and explore alternatives to existing practices. It is becoming clear that police violence often happens during interactions that could have been resolved with non-police intervention. The review body should be empowered to work with the community to develop alternatives to policing that could include mental health crisis response and outreach to the unhoused to improve public safety for everyone in the community. These alternatives could reduce some of the burdens placed upon the police and free up officers to deal with more appropriate public safety problems. This course would also reduce law enforcement expenses associated with incidents that could be handled by other trained personnel.
  
  

Police officers are public officials; it is a matter of public concern whether they are acting in the public interest, particularly when they have the unique state-sanctioned ability to use force on other people.

The next George Floyd or Breonna Taylor could be a resident of our city. We should not wait until we become a national story before taking positive action toward change. We urge the Modesto City Council to adopt these principles and take a bold step toward creating a future of accountability and racial justice.