The City Council shut
down a request by Councilman John Kennedy to look at the possibility of
establishing a citizen oversight committee for the Police Department.
Kennedy has been
pushing the issue since last month’s Public Safety Committee meeting, citing
numerous requests from constituents for additional police oversight following
several allegations of misconduct in the department.
“There is nothing to
fear in having a comprehensive report or study done,” Kennedy said.
But his fellow
council members argued Monday that the issue has already been debated and put
to rest.
“Yes it’s a
democracy, but even in a democracy there has to be a time when you move on,”
Councilman Steve Madison said. “Honestly, John, this reminds me of what is
going on in Washington right now. This idea that we can just keep talking about
the same thing when there is clearly not the votes to do it is not well taken
in my view.”
Monday’s agenda item
was only to decide whether to place an action item on a future agenda, but the
council held a full discussion on the issue that stretched toward midnight. No
member of the public stayed to hear the discussion, and Police Chief Phillip
Sanchez was not present at the meeting.
Kennedy continued to
insist that he himself had not yet made up his mind on the issue and merely
wanted more information, but others on the council said they already know
enough to make the decision that an additional oversight committee on top of
the four-member Public Safety Committee was not necessary.
“I’ve had experience
with such bodies and I don’t believe there is truly the value added that some
people believe,” Councilman Victor Gordo said, “I have found that some
individuals appointed to these bodies that aren’t accountable to the voters or
elected body use the position to either be critical of an individual like a police
chief or insert politics into the public safety dialogue and I think that’s
inappropriate.”
Joe Brown, the former
Pasadena NAACP president who spoke in favor of the public oversight committee
at a previous meeting, said he was “dissatisfied” with the council’s response
to Kennedy’s request.
“To me, it is a slap
in the face to the citizenry here in the city of Pasadena,” Brown said.
“Everybody deserves to be heard and everybody deserves to know whether or not
that may be in the best interest of the community.”
In the end, Kennedy
said he did not agree with his colleagues’ comments but had to accept the
council’s decision to not discuss the issue further.
“I think part of any
council member is to be armed with the facts and it seems to me that the council
is still wanting of the facts without a true desire to have the facts,” Kennedy
said. “As one council member shared with me form the beginning, there is no
appetite for (public police oversight) and obviously there is no appetite for
even an independent, comprehensive report on the subject. So in some respects
for the moment it’s end of story.”
