The Commission on Police Practices, the San Diego Police Department’s oversight board, moved a step closer Wednesday to obtaining a fuller scope of authority it has lacked since the board was approved by voters in 2020.
Since the commission was established, it has been operating without permanent operating procedures, which would grant the board the ability to conduct independent investigations with subpoena power into alleged police misconduct and police shootings, and recommend discipline for officers.
The board has been operating under interim procedures, which allow the commission to review complaints and internal police investigations and recommend policy changes.
On Wednesday, the city’s Public Safety Committee — composed of four council — voted to send a draft of the permanent operating procedures to the full City Council, which will vote on whether to begin the “meet and confer” collective bargaining process with the San Diego Police Officers Association.
In a statement to the Union-Tribune, commission Chair Doug Case called the vote “a major step” for the board.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Case said at Wednesday’s meeting.
Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, chair of the Public Safety Committee, said that the draft looked “good overall as a body for procedures” despite raising some questions about the timeframes the department was expected to adhere to during certain processes, among other minor issues.
Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, however, expressed major concerns over the procedures, raising issues with the expectations of the department to cooperate with the commission and the ability of commissioners to properly investigate cases.
Campbell called one chapter of the procedures, regarding disciplinary reviews, “horrific” and in need of repair. Campbell did not offer specific criticisms of the policies presented in the chapter.
Campbell also raised concerns about language in the procedures that state the department “must” perform certain actions such as providing investigatory files.
“Throughout this, I see ‘The police must do this. The police must do that,’” Campbell said.
As von Wilpert noted, voters approved the commission under Measure B with the mandate that the department cooperate with investigations.
“In the text of Measure B, which is what the people voted on, it states, ‘The police department must make available its records relating to any matter under investigation, review or evaluation by the Commission,’” von Wilpert said.
“There’s no choice on this,” von Wilpert said. “The voters asked for this, and so the Police Department will cooperate, and they have been cooperating.”
Case said the commission used the rules governing San Diego County’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board, which provides oversight of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, as a model for some of its operating procedures.
While the P is moving forward on its abilities, it remains without a permanent executive director following the departure of Paul Parker at the end of last year.
Earlier this year, von Wilpert had directed the commission to consider shrinking its size of 25 board . The commission declined to consider doing so.
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated when voters approved the formation of the Commission on Police Practices.
