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ckispa September 7, 2023 Mayor Amezcua and City Councilmembers 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Dear Mayor Amezcua and City Councilmembers, We are writing to express our deep frustration and growing concern regarding the significant delays in establishing the much -needed City's Police Oversight Commission (Commission). We urge the City to release the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Independent Director (Director) of the Commission, and to convene the Commission for their first meeting. The City must fulfill its obligation in effectively implementing this essential oversight body. The Council made a vital commitment to improve the transparency and accountability of the City's Police Department (Department) by creating this historic Commission. This marked a commendable step towards addressing the longstanding community demand for police oversight in the wake of ongoing incidents of police violence. Earlier this year, Staff introduced an implementation timeline with the goal of fully staffing and setting meetings for the Commission by July. This deadline has passed; the RFP for the Director has yet even to be released. This delay, coupled with the fact that the Commission has not convened for its first meeting, despite having quorum, is eroding the community's confidence in the City's commitment to implement police oversight and ensure accountability. This year the City's Department continues to make headlines over instances of misconduct, including a delayed investigation of a Child Sexual Assault by an Off -Duty Officer', and the satirical and insensitive "be on the lookout" (BOLO) bulletin' circulated by the police, which made reference to the 2021 killing of Brandon Lopez, the cousin of City Councilmember Jonathan Hernandez. The BOLO has been the subject of an internal affairs investigation for over a year and a half, yet no one has been held accountable. The Department's ongoing, appalling ' Ben Camacho, Santa Ana Police Department Delays Investigation of a Child Sexual Assault by an Off -Duty Officer for More Than Half a Year, Commander Alleges, Knock LA (Jun. 21, 2023),https: //knock -la. com/santa-ana-police-department-delays-investigation-of-a-child-sexual-assault-by-an-off-dut y-officer-for-more-than-half-a-year/ 2 Ben Camacho, Fake BOLO at SAPD Reveals Culture of Harassment, Knock LA (Apr. 4, 2023), https:Hknock-la.com/fake-bolo-at-sapd-reveals-culture-of-harassment/