Police policies to be reviewed in committee
Chico Police Department policies will be under review, but only in committee, for some time, Chico policymakers explained this week.
The Chico City Council approved Mayor Ann Schwab’s proposal June 23 for a mayor’s committee to meet multiple times and review and discuss policies of Chico police. The concern for such a proposal came after a full week of Black Lives Matter protests in Chico after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, and the organization Defund Chico PD now meets every Tuesday evening in the City Plaza.
Schwab’s request was altered, however, when several councilors objected to her selection of committee members and Vice Mayor Alex Brown (who proposed her own strategy for action on changes to city policing) was added to the committee.
Schwab cited the My Brother’s Keeper agreement — a community initiative to “address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color” created by then-President Barack Obama in 2014 — she signed as mayor as part of her intention for
the committee as an “audit of police policy.” She said her goal for the committee is to also engage the community “by having the committee and members of public share their input, reviewing training and reporting findings back to community and to the council and
seek feedback.” The council will then look at possible reforms and make recommendations if needed.
Of not having originally been selected for Schwab’s committee, Brown said she felt hers and the mayor’s proposals “conflicted with each other” as her main concerns are to discuss implementing a new California use of force policy and more training for police “publicly and transparently.”
“To be kept out of this committee while it is discussing this policy, I would have no way of being transparent with the community with that process,” Brown said. “I saw the mayor’s proposal evolve over three iterations. Every time it became less about action and more about saying the community isn’t informed enough about what they (Chico police) do.”
While Brown wants to “update” the current use of force policy, Schwab said “I feel very strongly the Chico Police Department’s use of force policies are in line
with state regulations. Our Police Department is being compared to other police departments around the country. … They don’t have the high standards we do.”
Schwab claimed Chico police do not allow a chokehold and suspended the use of the carotid artery hold (a form of chokehold that cuts off blood flow through the carotid arteries to the brain).
The department’s current policy manual states the carotid “control hold” is not “an authorized less lethal technique and should only be utilized during deadly force situations.”
The policy continues that officers “should not intentionally use any technique that restricts blood flow to the head, restricts respiration or which creates a reasonable likelihood that blood flow to the head or respiration would be restricted.”
“I want to compare the (Police Department’s) policy and make sure it is transparent, and if there are recommendations for changes in that, then we need to understand if they’re practical and legal changes,” Schwab said.
Brown admitted she felt skeptical to “move to a committee that may or may not suggest changes.”
There is also concern that a tentative timeline for committee meetings has not yet been established and could take at least six meetings, according to Schwab. The mayor said the committee is necessary so the public “understand what the (police) policy is, and the Police Department needs to hear community concerns … to bridge that gap between some members of the community.”
Although Brown’s request for action is moved to the committee, “I am not going to soften that,” she said. She hopes to make sure every officer is trained in 40 hours of deescalation (officers are currently required to be regularly trained in the use of force policy) with “robust discussion during the budget discussion in October of how to do that over next two years” and changing requirements for implicit bias training so “it should be redone every few years” rather than once.
The council will come back in October to discuss use of the budget for training sessions, using a citizens oversight board as well as the possibility of “realigning” the current police advisory board — “for a more reciprocal base,” as Brown put it.
“There’s a lot of mixed feelings about what that looks like,” she added. After meeting with Interim Police Chief Matt Madden, she said she hopes the police will soon consider locating and designating nonpolice case workers for certain specific roles such as a 24-hour response domestic violence provider and homeless service provider.
The first meeting of the committee has not been set, but Schwab said she plans to have the meeting in July and to “have the community fully engage in these meetings,” whether in a new venue or by live streaming the meeting.