Mayor Darrell Steinberg proposes independent review, restructuring of police

Sacramento (Monday, June 15) Mayor Darrell Steinberg Monday called for the creation of an Inspector General in the City to independently investigate officer-involved shootings and the use of force that results in serious bodily injury or death, and to make public recommendations on officer discipline and terminations.

He also proposed a fundamental change in the duties of Sacramento police officers so that they would no longer be required to respond to calls that don’t actually involve a crime. Those duties would be shifted over the course of 24 months to a new City corps of non-law enforcement responders. The funding currently allocated within the police department to answer these calls would be shifted to this new unit. The amount of funding to be shifted would be determined over the next 60 days after a detailed evaluation of the number and percentage of calls currently unrelated to the commission of crimes.

In order to accomplish this systemic and fundamental shift effectively, it would take place over 24 months. To demonstrate the importance of immediate change, the mayor proposed appropriating $5 million from the existing City general fund to establish the new non-law enforcement responder unit.

The reform proposal released Monday results from extensive talks over the past few weeks between the mayor’s office, community members, Council members, senior City staff and Police Chief Daniel Hahn.

“Establishing independent review and redefining the role of officers is absolutely necessary to building a city that treats every one of its residents with the respect and care they deserve,” Mayor Steinberg said. “This is the first of many steps we will pursue in the coming months to address the systemic racism that persists in far too many parts of our civic life.”

City Manager Howard Chan said, “The changes the Mayor and City Council are calling for – the creation of the independent Inspector General position, the clear delineation of duties for police officers, the new layers of accountability and oversight – are important and significant. It is incumbent upon all public servants to listen earnestly and intently to the communities they serve, to embrace new and better ways of doing things and to transform words into meaningful actions.”

The Inspector General would work within the City’s Office of Public Safety Accountability and would have full independence and the authority to investigate use of force incidents, including the ability to interview witnesses. The Inspector General would make findings on whether department policies were violated and whether officers should be disciplined. The Inspector General would present these findings to the City Council, the public and the Police Commission.

The Inspector General’s findings would have to be made public before the City Manager made any final decisions on officer termination or discipline.

To create a second layer of accountability, the Sacramento Community Police Review Commission would be empowered to take the Inspector General’s findings and make its own public recommendation on officer discipline or termination.

The mayor’s proposal would greatly strengthen the Office of Public Safety Accountability, or OPSA, which was established by the Mayor and Council in 1999 to monitor the handling of citizen complaints by the Sacramento Police Department.

The second portion of Mayor Steinberg’s reform package focuses on shifting responsibility for calls not related to an actual crime to a new corps of mental health and social work specialists. These could include calls involving mental health crises or having to do with people experiencing homelessness, among other issues. Domestic violence calls would still be handled by police.

Mayor Steinberg said he would bring a resolution to the City Council to shift all the funds currently going to the police department to pay for response to non-criminal calls to a new, non-law enforcement City department by July 2022.

“We’ve been hearing people call for ‘defunding the police,’ but I think instead of starting the conversation by focusing on money, it’s more productive to talk about the function of the police and let the money follow the function,” Mayor Steinberg said. “Today the police are our default first responders for every kind of crisis and risky situation. We put them in positions that are often dangerous for them and for our community. We need to fundamentally change what we ask police to do.”

Echoing a similar call made last week by Council colleagues Allen Warren, Rick Jennings, Eric Guerra and Larry Carr, Mayor Steinberg also asked that the City Council review and consider recommendations made by the Sacramento Community Police Review Commission and by the state Department of Justice in its review of the department following the fatal shooting of Stephon Clark.

Mayor Steinberg also has asked the police department and OPSA Director Latesha Watson to review the Eightcantwait.org model recommendations for police policies and procedures and report back to the City Council on whether Sacramento complies with all eight policies, and if not, what needs to be changed.

In addition, Mayor Steinberg Monday endorsed AB 1506 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty of Sacramento, which would create an independent review unit within the state Attorney General’s office to review use-of-force cases and pursue criminal charges. Mayor Steinberg will also bring the bill to the City Council for endorsement by the full body and work to get it passed in the Legislature.

The mayor’s reform proposal would build on numerous changes adopted by the Sacramento Police Department over the past three years, including the limitation of foot pursuits, requiring the use of bodycams and mandating the release of video within 30 days in officer-involved shootings and fatal use-of-force incidents.

On June 6, Chief Daniel Hahn said the department would suspend the use of carotid artery restraint holds, the only remaining neck hold that had been permitted. Mayor Steinberg supports the statewide ban on carotid restraint holds contained in AB 1195.

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