City Council advances police reform and racial equity recommendations

Published on March 19, 2021

Alameda City Council approves advancing police reform and racial equity recommendations from Community-Led Committees

At its March 16, 2021 meeting, the Alameda City Council unanimously approved moving forward on a series of police reform and racial equity recommendations from Community-Led Committees appointed in August 2020 by the City Manager.

Following a presentation and public comment, the City Council directed staff to return to the City Council with options on various items, including the following recommendations:

• Develop options to shift certain responsibility for responding to mental health crises from the Police Department to non-police agencies;
• Evaluate options for the development of a Citizens’ Police Accountability Commission;
• Initiate a public education “Who to Call” campaign that clarifies which City and/or County agencies to call for various non-emergency occurrences in Alameda;
• Suspend the Alameda Police Department (APD) social media account pending the development of a social media policy;
• Consider options for enhancing notification to City leaders about potentially high-importance police interactions;
• Return to the City Council with “Block by Block” program options;
• Support the business community in their continuing efforts to increase equity and inclusion;
• Arrange for sworn APD staff to participate in bi-annual mental health and de-escalation training;
• Continue to hire APD officers to the 88 authorized positions in the budget;
• Create or update a Code of Conduct for sworn officers reflective of community values; and
• Consider hiring a full-time Crime Analyst position.

Some of the other items that were discussed and will return to the City Council for consideration include a safety-oriented traffic enforcement policy, options to support a universal basic income, and incentives to reduce catalytic converter theft.

The City would like to thank the Community-Led Steering Committee and five Subcommittees for their work. The recommendations above are a culmination of 60 people working for more than 6 months and 3000 hours to make Alameda safer, more welcoming, and supportive for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to live, work, and play -- and be ever-vigilant that we practice the principle of "everyone belongs here.”

Thank you to members of the public for their feedback, to the Alameda Police Department, and to everyone involved in this important effort. We will continue to post updates at www.alamedaca.gov/policing.