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August 25,2023 <br />Mayor Amezcua and City Councilmembers <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana,CA 92701 <br />ecomment@santa-ana.org <br />Via Email <br />RE:Item 14:Approve Master Service Agreement with Lexipol,LLC to Provide Policy <br />Manual Maintenance and Support to the Police Department <br />Dear Mayor Amezcua and City Councilmembers, <br />Chispa urges you to vote NO on Item 14,the proposal to Approve the Master Service <br />Agreement with Lexipol,LLC to Provide Policy Manual Maintenance and Support to the Police <br />Department (Department).Instead we urge you to explore alternatives that involve community <br />driven policies with public feedback.The City should explore options such as allocating <br />additional resources to the City Attorney’s office for in-house police policy maintenance,and <br />collaborate with the newly established City’s Police Oversight Commission (Commission)to <br />oversee and monitor the Department Policies. <br />Last year,the Council unanimously delayed the approval of the proposed contract with Lexipol <br />due to community concerns.City staff committed to come back with alternatives to the <br />company’s services,ones involving public feedback.However,as of now,no further updates or <br />public feedback have been provided to determine alternatives.The City must remain committed <br />to addressing community concerns and ensuring transparency by having the public provide their <br />input in the process. <br />Lexipol is a police lobbying group that subverts state law and best policing practices by selling <br />boilerplate policies to police departments.In 2020,after the California Legislature passed AB <br />392:the necessary standard for police use of deadly force,Lexipol released an unlawful use of <br />force policy that several local law enforcement agencies,including the City’s Department, <br />purchased and adopted.Organizations such as Chispa and ACLU SoCal successfully contested <br />this policy,and worked alongside the City to bring it in compliance with the law.The City <br />Attorney’s office sent a letter to Lexipol that their policy was “legally deficient”and “does not <br />1