Independent Oversight

information is in a police report – as reporting parties, witnesses, victims, and even arrestees.

In addition to endeavoring to seek feedback from a broader array of individuals in the Vallejo community, VPD should also target input from its criminal justice and social services partners. VPD officers regularly interact with prosecutors, jail supervisors, judges, public defenders, juvenile justice administrators, probation officers, and social workers. Because of those interactions, individuals in these other agencies have significant insight into the performance of individual officers and VPD as an organization. We urge VPD to actively and regularly seek such feedback from these professionals.

RECOMMENDATION 42: VPD should devise additional ways to solicit and encourage feedback from all of its communities regarding the performance of the Department.

RECOMMENDATION 43: VPD should devise a feedback loop for its criminal justice partners (including the District Attorney, Sheriff, Judges, Public Defenders, Juvenile Justice Administrators, Probation Officers, and Social Workers) regarding the performance of its officers and the Department as a whole.

One pillar of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing addressed the importance of oversight and community collaboration and recommended that law enforcement agencies establish civilian oversight mechanisms: “Some form of civilian oversight of law enforcement is important in order to strengthen trust with the community. Every community should define the appropriate form and structure of civilian oversight to meet the needs of that community.” (Recommendation 2.8) This call for formal oversight reflects a growing sentiment in the United States, where the outcomes of individual high-profile incidents in recent years have heightened a sense of division between police and segments of the public. Expanding public involvement – and increasing the extent to which police officers are accountable to entities outside their own agency – is an important way of bridging gaps of distrust, alienation, and misunderstanding.

Jurisdictions throughout the country have addressed their distinctive needs by creating models of oversight that range in name, size, budget, scope of authority, and specific roles. But these different forms of oversight share the same basic goal – finding ways to give the public a greater voice in how the police operate within their communities.

One mechanism that we have seen used successfully is the creation of a Chief’s Advisory Board that meets regularly and provides informal advice to Department leadership. Comprised of a diverse cross-section of the community – including those who historically have been critical of law enforcement as well as traditional supporters – the board can be an important source of information and an effective sounding board on subjects such as public safety strategies, critical policy development, and hiring and promotions. Beyond this type of community-based board, many jurisdictions also have a layer of outside scrutiny and input in various forms of professional oversight. With knowledge of progressive police practices and experience with conducting qualitative audits of sensitive police responsibilities, an independent police monitor or auditor can advise on policy changes, recommend training initiatives, identify trends or issues of concern, work with the agency to create solutions, and report to the public in a substantive way. Effective monitors build collaborative relationships with both the police department and various communities – and serve as a bridge between the two – to enhance transparency, increase accountability, and improve public awareness and involvement.

As President Obama’s Task Force recognized, every community should evaluate its own needs to define to form of oversight that will work best in the context of its particular challenges and concerns. We cannot say which model best suits Vallejo, but given the level of tension between the police and community –indeed, the reason we were engaged to prepare this report – we can say with confidence that the City and the Department will benefit from adopting some form of independent outside review. VPD should welcome this development. A police agency oriented toward giving a greater voice to its community on how best to perform its public safety responsibilities will increase the public’s trust in its performance and operations. RECOMMENDATION 44: VPD should develop a way to obtain feedback and input from its community when contemplating major policy changes or public safety strategies.

RECOMMENDATION 45: VPD should work with City leadership to create a model of independent oversight specifically tailored to meet the needs of Vallejo.