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Richmond council and police chief align, diverge on civil grand jury report

RICHMOND — Divisive. That was the word used by multiple Richmond councilmembers as they discussed a civil grand jury report that examined police staffing levels and the city’s investment into an alternative police program.

A 10-page report by the Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury, a 19-member body tasked with reviewing how local governments can be improved, was published in April. The report argued Richmond should both improve its police staffing and officer working conditions while also investing into its community crisis response program, dubbed Reach Out with Compassion and Kindness (ROCK).

In a response letter drafted by city staff with consultation from Mayor Eduardo Martinez, and featuring separate responses from Police Chief Bisa French, the city and chief largely aligned in their responses to the 16 findings and seven recommendations outlined in the report.

A key issue is whether a 2021 decision to reallocate $3 million from the police budget, pulled from vacant positions, to the ROCK program has contributed to the recruitment, vacancy and overtime issues in the department. The city disagrees or partially disagrees while the chief agrees.

Councilmembers approved a response letter, which is due Aug. 2, on Tuesday in a 6-1 vote. Councilmember Sue Wilson was the lone no vote because she said she felt the letter did not object strongly enough or more thoroughly refute some of the assertions made in the civil grand jury report.

Wilson, who called the report “undemocratic” because it was written by an unelected body, took issue with what she saw as the civil grand jury’s attempt to characterize funding reallocation as the sole issue behind struggles in the police department.

Those issues, Wilson noted, are being felt across the nation and have been for years. She argued cases of excessive police force have created a negative view of officers which is more likely the reason behind why the officer pool has shrunk.

“The whole report is out of touch in that it frames public safety in a way that implicitly favors police hiring over community based solutions and alternative response programs, which are also absolutely necessary in our current world,” Wilson said.

Martinez and councilmembers Claudia Jimenez and Doria Robinson also lambasted the report for more “critical context” as to why the council reallocated the funds, the positive work that’s occurred since doing so – including reducing gun violence through the Office of Neighborhood Safety – and that many of the issues cited in the report existed before the reallocation was approved.

“This was not about defunding the police. It was about investing in the right tools for the right situations,” Jimenez said.

Meanwhile, Councilmember Jamelia Brown said the civil grand jury report underscored a clear need to invest more into the police department.

“It just sounds like the officers that are missing are causing a ripple effect and we’re paying more, significantly more, than the money we reallocated,” Brown said, noting the city has spent $10 million on police overtime in two years.

Brown and Councilmember Soheila Bana said the city should listen to suggestions from their police chief.

Like their colleagues, Bana, Brown and Vice Mayor Cesar Zepeda also said they’d like to see more context in the city’s response. They specifically wanted to add a list of police department units French listed as now defunct due to the police shortage.

City Manager Shasa Curl and LaShonda White, deputy city manager of Community Services, said staff tried their best to draft a letter that accurately reflected the city’s records and could act as a starting point for the council to further adjust if needed.

Incorporating the unique perspectives of each seven of the councilmembers would be nearly impossible, White said, and was very challenging given the “abundantly clear diverging perspectives” among leadership, Curl said.

Councilmembers ultimately agreed to approve staff’s drafted response while also reaffirming their commitment to improving working conditions for the police department. Robinson, who made the motion to approve the proposal, rejected attempts to add more context to the letter but did agree to adding a link to the Tuesday discussion.

“Let’s fix the problem and not continue to make political theater. Let’s do some work,” Robinson said. “We’re trying to figure out a problem. We need to spend our energy fixing the problem.”

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