REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Adopt a Resolution in Support of the Commit to Action Initiative
Report
BACKGROUND
On June 4, 2020, Mayor Lisa M. Gillmor signed on to former President Barack Obama's Commit to Action initiative (Initiative), which aims to ensure safer policing and increased trust between communities and law enforcement. The same day, the Mayor, Police Chief, City Manager, and City Attorney authored a Community Letter (Attachment 1) regarding Racial Injustice.
The Initiative calls for commitment to action on evaluating and reforming common-sense limits on police use of force policies and calls on Mayors to commit to certain actions listed below in the Discussion section of this report.
Mayor Gillmor and Police Chief Nikolai also released a video message outlining their commitment to this Initiative on June 5, 2020. In 90 days, the Obama Foundation will release a report listing all the cities that have responded to the Initiative and their progress.
DISCUSSION
A Resolution in support of the Commit to Action Initiative (Resolution) has been prepared for Council consideration (Attachment 2). This Resolution affirms the City of Santa Clara's commitment to the following four actions:
(1) Review police use of force policies;
(2) Engage communities by including a diverse range of input, experiences, and stories in the review;
(3) Report the findings of the review to the community and seek feedback; and
(4) Reform the community's police use of force policies as outlined in the Initiative.
Adoption of this resolution is one step toward safer policing and increased trust between communities and law enforcement.
In addition to committing to this Initiative, the Police Department has begun some preliminary work towards beginning the conversation around this topic, including:
* Implementation of Lexipol Policy Manual, an industry standard among California law enforcement agencies. Lexipol policies are based on Constitutional law and a "best p...
Click here for full text