Sacramento, CA (Sept. 12, 2023) Members of the Sacramento City Council Tuesday approved 12 new positions to boost oversight of the Sacramento Police Department and ensure its policies reflect the best national practices for protecting the public.

Six of the new positions will be added in the Office of Public Safety Accountability, two in the City Attorney’s Office and four in the Police Department. The cost of the new positions will be $1 million for this fiscal year and $1.8 million annually going forward, which will come from the City’s General Fund.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the new positions would allow the city to improve oversight. “I think today is real progress,” he said.

Police Chief Kathy Lester presents on her department’s proposal

The new positions in the Police Department will be filled by unsworn professional staff assigned to a new unit called the Internal Compliance Office, which will be overseen by a new Compliance Manager who reports directly to the Chief of Police.

Police Chief Kathy Lester said departments around the country are using such divisions to further the goal of police reform, research and develop policies, and ensure compliance with local, state and federal laws and regulations. She said the office would be able to compile better data and improve public transparency.

“This is kind of a new thing for the City of Sacramento, but many agencies incorporate this type of office,” Lester said, citing Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco as examples.

“It’s about being more proactive, being more modern and really bringing in the best practices,” Lester said.

OPSA Director LaTesha Watson presents her plan for more staff

The Police Department moved to create the new unit following an OPSA audit released in June that made 19 recommendations for training and policy updates related to the Fourth Amendment. As part of Tuesday’s action, the department released timelines for implementing most of the recommendations, including updated policies for searches and traffic stops.

As for the Office of Public Safety Accountability, Director LaTesha Watson said the six new positions she requested will allow the office to fulfill its directive to monitor, track and review all completed misconduct investigations concerning public safety employees of the Sacramento Police and Fire departments. OPSA’s five staff members were able to review just 52 percent of police misconduct investigations in 2021.

Inspector General Dwight White (left) with OPSA Director LaTesha Watson

“What we want to do is improve our public safety delivery services to the Sacramento community,” Watson said. “That’s our entire goal.”

OPSA was established in 1999 to monitor the investigations into citizen complaints filed with the Sacramento Police Department. Its scope was expanded in 2004 to include the Fire Department. Formerly under the supervision of the City Manager, OPSA was moved under the City Council’s supervision in 2017.

At the urging of Mayor Darrell Steinberg, the position of Inspector General was established in 2020 within OPSA to independently review use of force incidents involving members of the Sacramento Police Department. That post is currently held by Dwight White.

The final two positions approved by the Council Tuesday will be in the City Attorney’s Office, which provides legal services to the Police Department and OPSA. City Attorney Susana Alcala-Wood said her office will see its workload increase as a result of the changes approved Tuesday.