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Orozco, Norma <br /> From: Maria Valencia <mariaevalencia@ymail.com> <br /> Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2022 11:14 AM <br /> To: eComment <br /> Subject: Public Comment on Agenda Item 38: Police Oversight Ad Hoc Committee <br /> Informational Report <br /> Council Member City Council, <br /> To: Mayor Sarmiento and the Santa Ana City Council, <br /> I believe the City Council Ad Hoc Committee's majority recommendation for a hybrid <br /> investigation-focused and auditor/monitor-focused model and the outlined oversight functions <br /> provides the infrastructure for a meaningful and effective police oversight model. <br /> One of the core tenets of effective police oversight is independence. The police department is <br /> currently the only agency responsible for investigating excessive and deadly force and <br /> civilian-complaints against officers. An independent investigative-auditor/monitor model will <br /> enable a civilian-led inquiry and findings into deadly use of force and misconduct allegations <br /> separate from the police department's investigation and findings. Civilian-led oversight of law <br /> enforcement ensures that those who are subject to the power of the police department lend <br /> their expertise to shaping it, and empowers residents to correct injustices that they and their <br /> neighbors suffer at the hands of police. <br /> In order to be effective, the Board/Commission must not only be independent, but it must also <br /> have the authority to receive, investigate, and make findings of fact regarding all incidents <br /> and practices of the Police Department. <br /> To ensure the full and prompt implementation of such a model, I urge the Mayor and City <br /> Council to take action on Agenda Item 38. 1 urge the Council to direct staff to prepare an <br /> ordinance to establish the oversight model to be considered by City Council before the end of <br /> the 2021-22 Fiscal Year as well as charter amendments that enshrine police oversight in the <br /> city's charter and strengthen its powers. Several City surveys to residents of Santa Ana have <br /> indicated that police oversight has broad support and the effort to establish a strong oversight <br /> model must not be delayed further. <br /> 5 <br />