Two years after it was created, the city’s Public Safety Board is in limbo.
Starting in June, the city will hold a series of workshops and meetings with the community, police union and other stakeholders to get input about the future direction the committee should take. The first community meeting will be held 6:30 p.m. June 8 at the Downtown Community Center.
City staff members expect to make a recommendation to the City Council sometime in late summer or early fall. The board, which met quarterly, held its last meeting in February.
The Public Safety Board was created as a pilot program in 2014 after two fatal officer-involved shootings in 2012 led to days of protests in downtown.
Working with an external auditor, the seven members of the civilian review board (two of the original nine resigned) were responsible for monitoring and overseeing the Anaheim Police Department and Anaheim Fire and Rescue, including looking at staffing levels, budgets, officer-involved shootings and use of force. The board reported to the city manager.
But critics have said without subpoena power or access to some sensitive documents to fully investigate police matters, the board had no teeth. It had made no formal recommendations.
City officials said some considerations on the table would be to allow the committee to review and comment on recommendations from the Police Department’s major incident review process or conduct further investigations.
Mayor Tom Tait said the board needs to be more independent and credible. He’s in favor of continuing it and improving it.
“All of the stakeholders – the public advocates, police union, and others – need to come up with something that is workable,” he said. “It’s complicated, but in a general sense we need to increase the authority of the board.”