Editorial: San Rafael’s police advisory group is on right path

The membership of San Rafael’s new police advisory committee is as important as its creation.

The City Council has formed the city Police Accountability and Advisory Committee. The decision comes on the heels of the July 2022 incident where a Latino man was seriously injured during his arrest.

The two officers involved in the arrest are no longer on the police force, but they are facing charges of assault under the color of authority and making false statements in a crime report. Both have pleaded not guilty.

The outcry and protests over the arrest, fueled by a video of the incident, led the council to form a citizens committee to provide more community oversight over the city’s police force.

In most of Marin’s towns, that job is one of the roles of elected council members.

But the San Rafael council has wisely opened the door to more community involvement in the work of the police department.

A key part of its success in providing constructive community oversight and broadening public input will be the members the council name to the committee.

Also key to its success will be the police administration’s and officers’ willingness to foster that involvement.

The council has done a good job of making sure the panel has a membership that is broad-based and balanced.

That former county district attorney, Paula Kamena, a longtime San Rafael resident, has stepped forward and is willing to serve on the committee is a big plus. She knows the law, the role and responsibilities of law enforcement and her community. The council also named members with ties to the Canal neighborhood and its Latino residents; the local business community; Community Action of Marin, which provides services to the homeless and needy, city neighborhood associations and the LGBTQ community.

The mix is diverse and inclusive in its connections, demographics and experience.

This is not the first time the city has formed a citizens police panel.

During the 1970s, a panel – with limited powers – was formed and served for several years before, at the then-police chief’s urging, was quietly dissolved.

Novato has had a city Police Advisory and Review Board since 1992. It reviews citizens complaints referred to it by the city manager. It is also a public venue where people can raise concerns.

Tiburon and the county are also considering forming police boards.

While San Rafael’s recent incident has intensified the call for more public oversight of  the department, its agenda shouldn’t be limited to a venue for airing and reviewing complaints or second-guessing departmental decisions and officers’ actions.

The panel should provide a greater level of community review of department policies and serve a collaborative role raising reasonable questions about recent crime patterns and challenges facing the department and its officers.

It should promote communication between the community and the police department, as well as foster greater public awareness about the department’s focuses, priorities and work.

There’s no reason why the panel can’t raise questions that advance community awareness about issues the officers of their police force are facing every day.

The San Rafael City Council, in its selection of a balanced group of citizens to launch the new police advisory committee, has gotten it off to a promising start.