June 3 City Manager Statement

Published on June 03, 2020

I want to thank the young Alamedans who organized today’s protest and to everyone here. Black Lives Matter and we all can and must do better to support everyone in our community and change our bias. 

Last night, many people saw a video online of Alameda police officers recently responding to a call regarding an African American man who was exercising in the street.

After an initial review of the call, I do not believe the actions on the call reflect the values I desire for the Alameda Police Department or represent the values of the Alameda community. Based on an initial review, a full outside investigation is being requested by the Police Chief. I concur with his decision fully. While it has not been determined at this time whether it violated policy upon initial review, it does not represent my values that the Police Department needs to respect and serve our community with trust and without bias.

As we move forward, the Police Chief and myself commit to a thorough review of our Police Department policies. I want to work with the community and department in evolving policies to represent the values of the entire community in how our Officers interact with all individuals regardless of race and especially to ensure that our officers treat people of color equally.

My goal is to create a Department that will be a national leader in meeting the needs of all of our residents in the community.  

Transparency. Training. Fair treatment of all people of all races should occur expeditiously. 

I look for the Chief to work with the Department to create solutions to address disparities that people believe are currently present. 

In my past year as City Manager, Police Chief Rolleri has impressed me with his commitment to the community. I believe he has the right values and is the right person to lead this effort. He has my full support to make policing in Alameda a true partnership. I also believe the Department has many good police officers and we need to work with them to address these biases that currently exist within our culture. I want to make the Department a model nationally for addressing these issues of disparate treatment.

George Floyd should be alive today. So many black lives have been taken nationally that should be alive today. Black Lives Matter.