December 14, 2024 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Column: The Santa Monica Police Officers Association Calls on the Members of the Public Safety Reform & Oversight Commission to Do Their Jobs

Submitted by the Santa Monica Police Officers Association

On February 2, 2021, Santa Monica City Council adopted an ordinance adding Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 2.50 to establish a Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission (PSROC). The Santa Monica Police Officers Association (SMPOA) worked with city staff on crafting that ordinance and the SMPOA’s member officers have worked to cooperate with and support the commission since its inception. 

When the commission was formed, the SMPOA said, “The members of the Santa Monica Police Officers Association know that now is the time to reimagine our ideas about Public Safety.  We don’t just want to meet this moment, we want to lead it. We want our department to be a model of the kind of meaningful reform that can be achieved through community collaboration.” 

The SMPOA stands by that statement and embraces the kind of meaningful oversight and collaboration that can come from a positive working relationship with the PSROC. 

However, the SMPOA is disappointed by the lack of commitment to public service and disinterest shown by some commissioners in fulfilling their obligations as members of the PSROC. 

Members of the PSROC are required to complete training conducted by the Santa Monica Police Department. This training is meant to give commissioners an understanding of department practices and procedures as well as access to the public safety professionals to whom they are providing oversight, so that they gain a better perspective and understanding as they discharge their important function as commissioners. 

Despite numerous extensions on the deadline to complete this training since 2021, and the SMPD having made every accommodation that has been asked for as it relates to safety and fair access, some commissioners have simply refused to do it. These commissioners have publicly decried the training even after accepting it as a condition of their service. 

As public servants, we are deeply disappointed in this behavior and in the city staff members that have enabled it. Public service is a sacred duty and making a mockery of it to advance a personal agenda is an insult to the community. 

The public deserves accountability. In a democracy, we the people are entitled to it. Accountability relies on transparency. The public needs to know that its elected, appointed, and sworn leaders are held to ethical and professional standards that result from proper training as conditions of accepting their roles in service. Negligence in completing these requirements undermines public accountability and our most basic self-governing principles. 

The members of the SMPOA take the ongoing training we receive on a wide variety of issues including de-escalation, ethics, and implicit bias very seriously. It’s important for us to be the best public servants we can be. The members of the PSROC need to take their training obligations equally seriously so that they can gain the perspective they need and that is required of them to fulfill the promise they made to our community. Those who don’t wish to fulfill their obligations should step aside so that the PSROC can be comprised entirely of citizens committed to public service.

in Opinion
<>Related Posts

SM.a.r.t Column: Climbing The Vertical Learning Curve

December 8, 2024

December 8, 2024

The city is facing a financial crisis, the roots of which stretch back decades but have been made worse by...

SM.a.r.t Column: It’s Time To Inspect Balconies

November 24, 2024

November 24, 2024

About nine years ago, a fifth-floor balcony in a Berkeley apartment building collapsed, tragically killing several students gathered on it...

S.M.a.r.t Column: Your City is Broke

November 18, 2024

November 18, 2024

On December 10, the new City council will be seated fresh from their dominant win in the recent elections. There...

SM.a.r.t Column: Moving Ahead to the Future

November 10, 2024

November 10, 2024

As we write this, the election results are still trickling in. We’ll leave the deep analysis to others, but the...

Opinion: Fact Check: Why Vote Yes on Measure QS

November 1, 2024

November 1, 2024

Despite living in a famously progressive region, Santa Monicans are not immune from the same political misinformation and disinformation that...

SM.a.r.t Column: Lack of Oversight and No Accountability

October 31, 2024

October 31, 2024

S.M.a.r.t. periodically invites guest columnists to write opinion articles on topics of particular interests to our readers. Below is an...

SM.a.r.t Column: “Help! I’ve Fallen, and I …!!”, Cries Santa Monica!

October 25, 2024

October 25, 2024

Maybe fallen, but slipping for sure from being a desirable beachfront community that served all equally, the local residents who...

SM.a.r.t. Column: Vote

October 13, 2024

October 13, 2024

In a polarized country or City every vote counts. Regardless of which side of any issue or candidate you support,...

SM.a.r.t Column: Fact-Checking Election-Season Windbaggery

October 6, 2024

October 6, 2024

Claim: The state is requiring Santa Monica to build 9,000 apartments.Answer: Partially true, partially false. Santa Monica has a pretty...

SM.a.r.t. Column: Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Can Help Save Lives and Revitalize Santa Monica’s Economy

September 29, 2024

September 29, 2024

We wholeheartedly endorse the candidates below for Santa Monica City Council. Their leading campaign platform is for increased safety in...

SM.a.r.t Column: Crime in Santa Monica: A Growing Concern and the Need for Prioritizing Public Safety

September 22, 2024

September 22, 2024

By Michael Jolly Over the past six months, Santa Monica has experienced a concerning rise in crime, sparking heated discussions...

SM.a.r.t Column: Ten New Commandments

September 15, 2024

September 15, 2024

Starting last week,  the elementary school students of Louisiana will all face mandatory postings of the biblical Ten Commandments in...

SM.a.r.t Column: Santa Monica’s Next City Council

September 8, 2024

September 8, 2024

In the next general election, this November 5th, Santa Monica residents will be asked to vote their choices among an...

SM.a.r.t Column: Part II: The Affordability Crisis: Unmasking California’s RHNA Process and Its Role in Gentrification

September 2, 2024

September 2, 2024

Affordability: An Income and Available Asset Gap Issue, Not a Supply Issue (Last week’s article revealed how state mandates became...

SM.a.r.t Column: Part 1: The Affordability Crisis: Unmasking California’s RHNA Process and Its Role in Gentrification

August 26, 2024

August 26, 2024

In the world of economic policy, good intentions often pave the way to unintended consequences. Nowhere is this more evident...