The Commission on Police Practices is finally headed towards the finish line!

On Monday, October 3, Mid-City CAN, members of Youth Council along with San Diegans for Justice and Women Occupy San Diego delivered public comment during the public hearing for the CPP at the City Administration Building. Agenda Item 165 (Determination of Collective Bargaining Matters Related to Proposed Implementation Ordinance for the Commission on Police Practices and Proposed Amended Interim Standard Operating Procedures) passed with 7 Yeas and 1 Nay (1 absent). The ordinance was at an impasse for seven months because of two issues:

• San Diego Police Officers Association pressed for the city to allow family members of law enforcement officers to join the commission. City Council denied this request.
• Mid-City CAN, our allies, and the community asked that individuals with a felony record should be appointed to the commission since they have served their sentence. Council members did not remove this prohibition.

On November 2022, San Diego voters overwhelmingly approved Measure B which dissolved the police review board and mandated the creation of the CPP. Measure B was authored by Andrea St. Julian, co-chair of San Diegans for Justice. “There is nothing about me or my background that makes me anti-police. In fact, Measure B was about helping everyone be safe, including police officers," said St. Julian during her public comment.

"Today, our City Council invoked the will of the People who overwhelmingly chose to establish the Commission on Police Practices in order to provide San Diegans with the confidence of knowing there will be transparency and accountability when abuses of police power occur. I thank and congratulate Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe and her team for their years of hard work to make San Diego a safer and more just community," Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said in a statement.

Mid-City CAN thanks our Youth Council members Denisse and Jeannette for their amazing support!

Click here to view photos from the hearing.

📷: Ron Sanchez, Mid-City CAN