HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-10-26 City Council Agendas (3)
City of Palo Alto (ID # 11689)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Study Session Meeting Date: 10/26/2020
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Summary Title: Update on City of Palo Alto's Race and Equity Work
Title: Update and Discussion on the City of Palo Alto's Race and Equity Work
Including Discussion of a Mission Statement, Reorganization of Committee
Structure, and Other Items
From: City Manager
Lead Department: City Manager
Recommendation
Staff recommends that Council receive an update on the City’s Race and Equity efforts and
discuss next steps.
Background
In early June 2020, the City Council adopted a Resolution affirming that Black lives matter and
committed to address systemic racism and bias and approved a Race & Equity Framework and
action plan. The City Council also approved a series of actions including reviewing policing
practices, making changes to use-of-force policies to reduce the potential for violence, and
engaging the community in ongoing, thoughtful dialogue and leadership. The Mayor also
established several Council Ad Hoc committees to help further the City’s race and equity
priorities and work.
Since that time staff and the City Council ad hoc committees have brought updates to the full
City Council related to the City’s race and equity efforts. The most recent report and City
Council discussion was on September 28, 2020 (CMR #11604).
At the September 28 meeting, the City Council spoke to the Independent Police Auditor and
staff shared an updated framework that addresses a way to focus the City’s race and equity
work in the coming months and beyond.
Discussion
As shared in the presentation for the September 28, 2020 meeting (Meeting Presentation), the
Citywide Diversity and Inclusion Ad Hoc Committee prepared a draft mission statement to serve
as the basis for the continued work around diversity and inclusion for the City of Palo Alto. That
draft mission statement is:
CITY OF
PALO
ALTO
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The City of Palo Alto is committed to creating a respectful, fair, and professional
workplace and city. We will identify inequities and prejudices, welcome diverse
perspectives, and use a collaborative approach to create an environment that works for
everyone.
Based on the foundation expressed in the mission statement, the following framework was
introduced at the September 28 City Council meeting and it summarizes the work completed to
date including community engagement and data collection related to the ad hoc work. The
framework outlines the steps ahead which include identifying the gaps or areas of
improvement and provides some policy direction based on the gaps identified.
The practice areas identified based on the work done to-date from the ad hocs are as follows
(with the lead department in parentheses):
Policing Practices:
1. Public contact data collection and trend analysis (PD)
2. Officer deployment priorities and practices for non-violent calls (PD)
3. Officer conduct investigations and transparency (PD/CAO)
4. Discipline and accountability (PD)
Citywide Practices:
1. Hiring and promotions including board/commission appointments (CM/HR)
2. Board/commission engagement with race and equity issues (Council)
3. Continuous learning and improvement (CM/HR)
4. Norms and expectations of conduct (CM)
RACE & EQUITY PROCESS MOVING FORWARD
Framework:
Sequence of
work ahead
Community Engagement & Learning
report out
-Gain community input
-Seek to understand
people's experiences
with PAPD
-Community learning
sessions
Data Collection
-Review Policy Manual 1-Identify processes &
-Review data: uses ~f I policies where current
force & calls for service I practice could be
-Request & review any I improved
other data 1-Identify areas desired
Review legislation I for changes
1-Community feedback
I
I-
TODAY
Policy Direction
-Based on gaps and
Ad Hoc suggestions,
Council to provide
policy direction on
improvement areas
-Staff to recommend
most effective
implementation tools
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(PD=Police Department; CAO=City Attorney’s Office; HR=Human Resources Department; and CM=City Manager’s Office)
The practice areas are being discussed in the ad hocs as follows:
• Police Policy Manual, Data, and Hiring Ad Hoc: Discussing Policing Practices 1-2
• Police Transparency and Accountability Ad Hoc: Discussing Policing Practices 3-4
• Citywide Diversity and Inclusion Ad Hoc: Discussing Citywide Practices 1-4
As further explained in the Findings subsection below, the work of the Alternative Models Ad
Hoc has been used as a base recommendation for the work related to Policing Practice 2.
For each of the practice areas, staff will work with the ad hocs to fill in a template with the
background information, current practices, areas of concern (gaps identified), and
considerations (policy direction) for the full City Council related to those areas of concern.
This Council update is a study session to gain feedback and suggestions from the Council,
including potential ad hoc suggestions related to the policing practice areas. The draft
document with gaps identified and policy considerations as discussed with the ad hocs is
included as Attachment A. Staff plans to return to City Council in November with an action item
incorporating City Council feedback to consider action on any of the following:
1. Adoption of the draft race and equity mission statement
2. Action on new policies or policy changes related to the gaps City Council identifies
within the Policing Practices areas
3. Assignment of the ad hoc work beyond 2020
Findings from the Alternative Models Ad Hoc:
The Public Safety Alternative Models Ad Hoc committee convened throughout the summer to
look at emerging public safety practices and assess if the City of Palo Alto should further pursue
any of these models. Through research and conversation, the ad hoc learned about and
discussed consolidated public safety departments that combine Police and Fire functions into a
single department. As the ad hoc and the full City Council discussed, the unique nature of Palo
Alto’s public safety services – especially medical transport through the Fire Department as
opposed to through the County’s ambulance contract – does not lend itself to easily
consolidating public safety line level staff.
The ad hoc also learned about alternative response programs like Eugene, Oregon’s CAHOOTS
and Denver, Colorado’s STAR response team programs. Each of those programs provide non-
police resources, such as social workers, to be dispatched to certain non-violent calls-for-
service. These programs offer an additional resource that may be able to better address the
underlying cause of some calls-for-service.
In addition, staff continues to pursue participating in the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team
(PERT) program through the County of Santa Clara which would pair a licensed mental health
clinician with a law enforcement officer to provide expert mental health assistance on some
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calls-for-service. Recent staff participation includes engaging in the County’s hiring process and
interviewing clinician candidates.
These findings and recommendations have been incorporated into the discussion of Policing
Practice Area #2 and thus the work of the Alternative Models Ad Hoc committee has been
completed.
Work in 2021 to Continue Progress:
When the City Council voted in June 2020 to establish ad hoc committees to further explore
different aspects of the City’s race and equity work, the Council stated that the ad hoc
committees would be temporary. As the ad hoc work progresses, the question has emerged of
how the work will continue beyond the actions taken in the coming months of 2020. Some
ideas offered have been the following:
Assignment of the Citywide Practices work to the standing City Council Policy and Services
Committee. This recommendation came from the Citywide Diversity and Inclusion Ad Hoc
committee in recognition that the Citywide Diversity and Inclusion work is ongoing and will be
incorporated into citywide functions and operations going beyond just this year. The Diversity
and Inclusion Ad Hoc committee has been working on a timeline which could be used as a
starting place for the City Council Policy and Services Committee to continue to work on in
2021. The City Council could also consider having the Policy and Services Committee also work
on the Policing Practices.
Alternative ideas include assignment of the Policing Practices to a blue-ribbon commission on
policing, a City Council Committee of the Whole, or a City Council public safety committee. If
the City Council pursued a blue-ribbon commission on policing, the City Council would need to
determine the specific composition and structure of such a group.
To prepare for the November race and equity update which will be an action item, staff will
need to get feedback on options of interest to the City Council on these items. Staff will bring
back supporting information to the November race and equity check in.
Additional Race & Equity Work
In addition to the ongoing work within each of the ad hoc committees, there has been progress
on other City Council race and equity priorities. The following are updates since the September
28 staff update:
• The Human Relations Commission (HRC) is working on crafting the Black and Brown
history and current community in Palo Alto report with the expectation that it will come
to the City Council in January. In the meantime, the HRC will discuss a draft report at
their November 12 HRC meeting.
• The HRC also approved mediators for the Palo Alto mediation program. In their
selection process, they ensured that that program had diversity in its mediator ranks
and that mediators were very aware of issues of inclusion, implicit/explicit bias in the
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work that they do with the community.
• The Public Art Commission continues to evaluate opportunities to incorporate more
diversity into their work for the year, including exploring permanent race, equity and
inclusion focused public art as part of their annual workplan.
• The City Council discussed 8 Can’t Wait, and the Palo Alto Police Department revisions
to use of force policy changes. A staff report is set for Council consideration at their
November 2, 2020 meeting.
• The Policy and Services Committee discussed the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at their October 13, 2020 meeting
(CMR #11568) and scheduled a follow up discussion at their November 10, 2020
meeting.
Stakeholder Engagement
Engaging the community at large to provide feedback for the City’s Race and Equity strategy
has been a priority throughout this process as shown in the Framework. The City continues to
engage the community through a series of Race and Equity conversations. Updates on the City’s
efforts can be found on the Race and Equity webpage on the City website
(www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity).
Resource Impact
There is no fiscal impact to report at this time. Significant staffing resources have been
dedicated to this work and future resource impacts are dependent on the actions and direction
approved by the City Council.
Environmental Impact
This is not a project under Section 21065 for purposes of the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA).
Attachments:
• Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
October 26, 2020 www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
AD HOC COMMITTEES
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
•
CITY OF
PALO ALTO
www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
The framework (shown on next slide as a refresher) is linked to 8 practice areas (shown on
slide 4). The practice areas will each be broken down according to the following template:
-Background
-Current Practices
-Areas of Concern
-City Council Options to Consider
This draft document provides a draft of the last two bullet points (in bold) for each of the
policing practices areas as a report out of the Policy/Data/Hiring Ad Hoc and the
Transparency and Accountability Ad Hoc discussions.
DRAFT TEMPLATE FOR PRACTICE AREAS
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
•
CITY OF
PALO ALTO
www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
Framework:
Sequence of
work ahead
REFRESHER: RACE & EQUITY FRAMEWORK
Community Engagement & Learning
-HRC 8cantwait and
report out
-Gain community input
-Seek to understand
people’s experiences
with PAPD
-Community learning
sessions
Data Collection
-Learn workflow
-Review Policy Manual
-Review data: uses of
force & calls for service
-Request & review any
other data
Review legislation
Gaps Identification
-Identify processes &
policies where current
practice could be
improved
-Identify areas desired
for changes
-Community feedback
Policy Direction
-Based on gaps and
Ad Hoc suggestions,
Council to provide
policy direction on
improvement areas
-Staff to recommend
most effective
implementation tools
TODAY
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices t PALO ALTO
www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
Policing Practices and Citywide Practices (Lead Department)
•Policing Practices
1.Public contact data collection and trend analysis (PD)
2.Officer deployment priorities and practices for non-violent calls (PD)
3.Officer conduct investigations and transparency (PD/CAO)
4.Discipline and accountability (PD)
•Citywide Practices:
1.Hiring and promotions, including board/commission appointments (CM/HR)
2.Board/commission engagement with race and equity issues (Council)
3.Continuous learning and improvement (CM/HR)
4.Norms and expectations of conduct (CM)
REFRESHER: RACE & EQUITY PRACTICE AREAS
Timeline:
Initial
Direction
by End of 2020
Timeline:
Extends into
2021
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
•
CITY OF
PALO ALTO
www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
Policing Practices and Citywide Practices:
Policing Practice #1: Public contact data collection and trend analysis
Potential Areas of Concern to Address:
•Department-focused activities & priorities: Where is Patrol time spent on what kind of activities?
•Do officer contacts disproportionately affect people of color? Does increased contact lead to
additional use of force?
City Council Options to Consider:
•Providing policy direction on the prioritization of types of enforcement activity
•Resourcing to ensure data is available and accurate (staff and software)
•Ensuring personally identifiable info-redacted contact data is available on the Open Data Portal
•Accelerating collection of contact demographics and pursuing statistical/research studies with
some regular frequency reporting of the data
DRAFT TEMPLATE FOR POLICING AREAS
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
•
CITY OF
PALO ALTO
www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
Policing Practices and Citywide Practices:
Policing Practice #2: Officer deployment priorities and practices for non-violent calls (PD)
Potential Areas of Concern to Address:
•Alternative options for responding to mental health, social issues,and low-level crimes:
•How do we respond to welfare checks and nuisance calls?
•How do we align our response to calls for service with the nature of the call itself; how are
those response options funded?
•Other community and regional resources or collaborations?
•Dispatch
•Can/does the script create angst/tension/escalation for officer response?
•Are there additional tools we can offer related to dispatch?
•Education about the dispatch script and the internal audit process
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
DRAFT TEMPLATE FOR POLICING AREAS
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
•
CITY OF
PALO ALTO
www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
Policing Practices and Citywide Practices:
Policing Practice #2: Officer deployment priorities and practices for non-violent calls (PD)
City Council Options to Consider:
•Role for dispatch -Additional training for dispatchers
•Shift in resources such as medical type resource
•Pursuing a PERT/CAHOOTS model (with these programs or a regional partnership)which could
assist with mental health cases that PD would normally respond to
•Increased role for CSOs especially for non-violent calls, especially welfare checks and taking
reports
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
DRAFT TEMPLATE FOR POLICING AREAS
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
•
CITY OF
PALO ALTO
www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
Policing Practices and Citywide Practices
Policing Practice #3:Officer conduct investigations and transparency
Potential Areas of Concern to Address:
•Current use of force reporting and IPA review are limited to complaints and taser use
•What other options for transparency might there be? And when does the public get recordings
and other case information?
City Council Options to Consider:
•Support expanded role for District Attorney or Attorney General in case review
•Develop policy on timing and circumstances of records release (e.g., upon conclusion of
administrative interview, materials can be released)
•Expanded IPA reporting to be on all use of force cases involving great bodily injury
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
DRAFT TEMPLATE FOR POLICING AREAS
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
•
CITY OF
PALO ALTO
www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
Policing Practices and Citywide Practices
Policing Practice #4: Discipline and accountability (PD)
Potential Areas of Concern to Address:
•Public disclosure of allegations & sustained findings
•Informal Investigation Reports –internal
•Number of IPA/OIR presentations per year
•External webpage
•Considerations of what is made public
•2022 PAPOA Negotiations –areas of interest?
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
DRAFT TEMPLATE FOR POLICING AREAS
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
•
CITY OF
PALO ALTO
www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
Policing Practices and Citywide Practices
Policing Practice #4: Discipline and accountability (PD)
City Council Options to Consider:
•Holistic and comprehensive annual report on Revised Use of Force Investigation which includes
de-escalation
•Annual review and report out of policy manual changes to City Council
•Ensure Policy Manual posted online remains current on annual basis
•Annual report to package existing reports related to discipline together
•Advocate at state level for changes to POST, POBOR, and other (Decertification of individual
officers)
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
DRAFT TEMPLATE FOR POLICING AREAS
Attachment A: Draft for Discussion-Template for Policing Practices
•
CITY OF
PALO ALTO