Civilian oversight commissions allow the public to have a say on police training, policies and procedures, speakers said Monday at a forum on the possible creation of a police commission in Napa.
But no such commission will be created without political pressure, a Napa attorney said.
“If it’s not demanded, it’s not going to happen,” Vincent Spohn, a longtime civil rights attorney in Napa, told about 50 people at the Napa City-County Library.
Spohn was one of the panelists the Napa Green Party invited to share ideas on the creation of a possible independent police commission in the wake of two police shootings in 2010.
Other speakers included:
• Jayson Wechter, a member of the San Francisco’s Office of Citizen Complaints, a panel that investigates police complaints;
• George Perezvelez, a longtime activist in Berkeley and a member of the city of Berkeley Police Review Commission;
• David Wee, program supervisor of Berkeley’s mobile crisis response team that has helped police deal with mental health crises since the late 1970s.
Wechter and Perezvelez explained the role of civilian oversight panels, which Perezvelez said helped prevent lawsuits. Wechter, who noted that while all personnel matters are confidential, commissions can look over training, staffing, equipment, and strategy of local law enforcement. Wee, whose team works 11 a.m.-11 p.m. seven days a week said he and his staff help police review available options during incidents.
Like Spohn, Perezvelez said the public has to ask for a commission if it wants one.
“Political power only exists if you exercise it,” Perezvelez said.
Chester Carter, a longtime Napa resident, was among those who voiced support for a police commission in Napa, calling it “long overdue.”
But Rachael Clark of Napa, wasn’t sure about the idea, pointing to failed efforts to create a police commission 13 years ago. But she highlighted how drastically the Napa Police Department has changed since the 1990s.
“Our officers are members of our community,” she said, adding they live and volunteer in the city. “They have a vested interest in our community. They’re here to serve and protect.”
But Clark, 42, who is not a Green Party member, said she still wants the dialogue to continue.
Green Party members organized the meetings in the aftermath of two fatal shooting incidents involving local police.
On Nov. 28, a Napa Police officer shot Alta Heights resident Richard Poccia near his house on Meek Avenue. The Napa County Sheriff’s Department investigated the shooting, a statement Green Party members and others have questioned. In its preliminary report, the Napa County Sheriff’s Department reported that Poccia, 60, was shot when he reached for a knife in his waistband. Authorities had received reports that Poccia was suicidal, was armed and proficient in martial arts.
The sheriff’s office completed its investigation of the shooting and forwarded it to the Napa County district attorney’s office for review. The details of the sheriff’s report have not been made public. Poccia’s family, which has asked for an independent investigation, recently filed a claim against the city, a step required before a civil suit can be filed. Poccia’s family say police overreacted that day.
In another shooting incident in June, drug agents shot and killed a man suspected of growing marijuana near Lake Berryessa after officers said they saw a handgun. In August, the district attorney’s office found that the drug agents were justified when they shot the man, Jose Luis Chavez Martinez, who authorities said was armed and running for cover.
Napa Police Chief Richard Melton recently said that a police commission in Napa is unnecessary.
Melton, who has dealt with a police advisory committee when he was police chief in Farmington, N.M., said the commission would duplicate the work of the Napa County grand jury, a panel established under California law.
“I think the process is there, the mechanism is already there to look into critical incidents, and I don’t see a reason to duplicate that effort,” Melton said recently.
After the meeting, Spohn said grand juries are not going to assist someone who needs immediate help.
Sean Dodd, a co-coordinator for Napa Green Party, said other public events will be scheduled on the issue.
“We were very pleased by the healthy showing of public interest in establishing a police review commission,” he said in an e-mail. “There seemed to be general support for dialoguing with our city government on this issue, and we now look forward to having other groups and members of the community join us in bringing some concrete proposals to the city council.”
Posted in Local on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 11:20 am Updated: 10:43 am.
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