POLICE OVERSIGHT SHIFT UNDER WAY

S.D.’s transition to new commission could take more than 18 months

SAN DIEGO

Even before the San Diego electorate passed Measure B by a 3-1 margin, voting to dissolve the city’s current police review board in favor of a new oversight commission, the work was under way to make the transition a smooth one.

The group leading the way on mapping out the transition — a process that could take up to 18 months, if not longer — is the same one that will be dissolved by the measure: the Community Review Board on Police Practices.

That’s because review board members will become interim commissioners on the new Commission on Police Practices during the transition phase.

Today, the public will have its first chance to weigh in on the transition process, because even though the Measure B charter amendment spelled out many of the new commission’s key functions and roles, the City Council must still pass an ordinance f leshing out exact details of how the commission will operate.

Today’s roundtable discussion, scheduled for 4 p.m., will be hosted by Andrea St. Julian, who drafted the charter amendment that became Measure B, and two members of the Community Review Board. The hosts invited representatives from roughly 100 community organizations to participate in the Zoom forum. The public can watch a livestream of the event on the city’s YouTube page, https://tinyurl.com/ sandiego-youtube, and is encouraged to email questions and comments, which will be addressed during the discussion.

“We really want to find out what the community is looking for out of the new Commission on Police Practices,” St. Julian said.

Patrick Anderson, chair of the review board’s outreach committee and one of the forum’s hosts, said the group will use the event to help identify community concerns and discuss what a future oversight ordinance should look like.

The group hopes to host more such forums in the coming weeks, including at least one to address how commissioners will be cho