A debated decision to reduce the size of Redwood City’s police advisory committee prompted a discussion at the council’s Monday meeting on representation and the state of the public’s relationship with police since the committee was created in 2020.
Lackluster recruitment efforts and high turnover rates prompted city staff to recommend the council approve reducing the committee’s number of members from 11 to seven, but Councilmember Chris Sturken raised concern over shrinking a committee that was intended to promote inclusive participation on how the community is policed.
Logistical modifications to the committee were intended to be approved on the consent agenda, which is typically reserved for routine matters that will not be discussed, but Sturken pulled the item for discussion. Sturken felt reducing the number of individuals ultimately reduces the diversity of opinion the committee hopes to reflect.
“It is important to have appointed representation from the community to advise the police chief on department policies,” Sturken said, “Reducing the size of the committee would diminish, in my opinion, that capacity.”
The Police Advisory Committee was created to review Redwood City’s policing policies, its community concerns related to crime and policing practices, and receive a report on personnel complaint processes, according to the staff report. It was the only committee that held 11 seats, and has historically had at least one vacancy. All other city-affiliated committees have five or seven members.
Although Sturken’s opposition to the reduction in members was unsupported, the pulled item resulted in a discussion on the intention of the committee, the current political climate and the goal for a diversity of opinion to reflect residents’ desires.
The council’s governance subcommittee, which includes Mayor Elmer Martínez Saballos, Vice Mayor Kaia Eakin and Councilmember Jeff Gee, recommended the modifications, citing the difficulty to fill all 11 spots and recruit quality members.
“Diversity of opinion is really required, but it is also required that people show up and share that diversity of opinion,” Gee said. “You don’t count if you don’t show up.”
Councilmember Marcella Padilla shared her concern with Gee’s thinking, stating that the intention of the committee is to reflect the concerns of marginalized communities, groups that may not be in the position to volunteer their time to the committee.
“The system isn’t designed for these groups, so I don’t want to do anything that is taking away from that access,” Padilla said. “I think it’s deeper than that and I think this is shortsighted and not the right step.”
The committee was formed after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, said Councilmember Diane Howard, who was the seated mayor at the time. It was created amid “local protests for racial justice and policing reform,” the staff report reads.
The public’s relationship with police has changed since, Howard said, suggesting that today is a “different day” than the peak of police scrutiny five years ago. Padilla disagreed.
In response to this discussion, councilmembers requested that staff return to the governance subcommittee in the future to discuss how the city envisions the committee going forward.
In addition, councilmembers ultimately approved modifying the committee, as recommended by staff and the governance subcommittee, which included reducing the number of members from 11 to seven, stagger member’s four year terms, and appoint members by majority vote of the council.
Councilmember Isabella Chu succinctly rationalized the reduction in members as “small lean teams are effective.”
(1) comment
Perhaps we could find out what this police advisory committee has accomplished, if anything. If the advisory committee hasn’t accomplished anything of note, instead of reducing the number of members, let’s disband the committee. BTW, do committee members get paid?
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