Police-Community Relations Committee Again Reviewing Complaints

The Police-Community Relations Committee is again reviewing complaints against police officers, although it remains split over whether the process should be done in public or in executive session.

The committee’s decision to review two complaints on Tuesday follows a decision to review two other complaints in March. The actions come as the Public Safety Committee considers how to resolve the dispute regarding the procedure on complaints. The Public Safety Committee proposed a solution to the City Council last month, but it was returned for further review.

At its March 5 meeting, the PCR Committee voted 6-2 with two abstentions to review two complaints in public. On Tuesday, members voted 4-3 with two abstentions to review another two complaints.

Chairman Wayne Vendetto, who has opposed the idea of public review, said he has asked city councilors to hasten a decision on the process to avoid deadlocks such as the one that prevented review of complaints for two months. However, he said he was opposed to reviewing complaints prior to a Council decision.

“If the Council was adamant, they would have said, ‘You will not go into executive session,’” he said.

Committee member Kris Wraight said it did not make sense to hold off on reviewing complaints in public since the committee was able to do so in March. Committee member Erica Richardson also said she would support a continued public process.

“If you want to be open and up front with the community, why would you cover up the name?” she said.

Opponents of public hearings say no such process is involved in complaints against other municipal employees and that the method has the potential to be wrongly used to embarrass officers. Supporters say officers are under more scrutiny due to the powers entrusted to them, including the use of deadly force, and that public hearings are a way to ensure accountability.

Committee member Marie Gravell said she was frustrated with the stalemate on the issue.

“I am so sick of coming to these meetings and hitting a wall, I’m telling you. It’s ridiculous,” she said.

Gravell also said she was dismayed with the attitudes of committee members, saying she thought some have been disrespectful when debating the issue.

“We’re all here for one reason, and we’re not going to move ahead if we’ve got attitudes and personality conflicts,” she said.

One function of the committee, which meets monthly, is to review complaints against police officers to determine whether the department made an adequate investigation into the allegations. The committee also takes part in organizing community events, including an Easter egg hunt at Ocean Beach Park over the weekend.

At their January meeting, the committee voted to table complaints until the City Council had addressed concerns regarding the review process. At the committee’s February meeting, the first one for three new members appointed to the committee, there was a 6-4 vote to review the complaints with the officers’ names redacted. Mayor Daryl Finizio, a supporter of the public hearing of complaints, said these were in the public record and read the names. Other votes to hear the complaints publicly or continue to table them failed.

At a Public Safety Committee meeting in February, Councilor John Maynard proposed revising the PCR Committee duties to have members review complaints before the chief signs off on them, an action which puts complaints in the public record. The proposal passed but was returned to the Public Safety Committee in March, with Maynard saying the action had been taken too quickly and a more complete review was required.

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