San Diego’s Measure B: Another Attempt at Oversight of Police

Law enforcement, in all of its manifestations, is not serving us well. It seems as though just about any agency with a budget has been slapping badges on people to protect its interests. 

As the social safety net has shrunk, the roles police play have broadened. Their role as enforcers of societal norms has expanded to include health issues. A history of being expected to enforce racist institutional standards dating back to slavery continues to play an oversized role in how policing is experienced by far too many humans.

An insular culture exists in police workplaces, resistant to change not only in the sense of leadership inertia. Outsiders are increasingly viewed as adversaries who would bring harm to the beings existing in the law enforcement bubble. 

This separation encourages a sense of living by a different set of rules for those in the field, and it comes with a high price tag. Suicide by officers (there are conflicting studies about its prevalence) is driven by exposure to trauma, alcohol use, availability of firearms and the strains of shift work. Post-traumatic stress disorder among police officers is five times more prevalent than in the general population.

There is research suggesting a much higher rate of domestic abuse in families including a law enforcement officer. It’s difficult to research, since victims in those families are discouraged from reporting their abuse by the “protect your own” mentality in that field. A California study found that even those officers who are charged in domestic abuse cases have a high probability of being allowed to “plead down” charges affecting their ability to remain employed. 

As a nation we’ve become more aware of police violence targeting people of color over the past decade. That awareness has done little to change the mindset of far too many of those who we give badges and guns to “protect and serve.” Unfortunately, too many police organizations have allied themselves with authoritarian political forces, so the gap is likely to widen as our current crises continue.

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Read a little history of the SDPD and you’ll discover what a rough and tumble town San Diego was in the late 19th century. Law enforcement’s focus was driven by reaction to events and the ever changing expectations of the city’s upper classes. 

Sgt. Frank Walter Northern had an unforgettable first night on the job (in 1890, I think): 17 arrests, six fistfights and two shootouts. 

The downtown district known as the Stingaree was reportedly home to prostitution, gambling, opium dens, and all sorts of unruly behavior. Chief Keno Wilson took it upon himself to clean up the district with raids, jailings, and invitations to leave the city. His reward was getting fired, as it turned out city leaders had hidden financial interests in the vice dens. 

African American Detective Reginald Townsend was more effective in stemming activities in the district, using health code violations to finish the clean up. He, too, was fired as part of a 1919 purge that left the department as an all white, all male force.

The SDPD’s long running battle (1905-1917) with the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) involved extrajudicial kidnappings carried out by vigilantes with the implied consent of local authorities. The IWW’s penchant for organizing Mexicans and others considered to be not worthy was the catalyst; their tactic was street corner speeches, now known in history books as the Free Speech Fight.   

As fast as the police could arrest Wobblies, more kept coming to San Diego. The jails were overflowing, and IWW organizers refused bail. Eventually, pens were constructed along Pacific Highway and those arrested were caged like cattle. 

Civil unrest in the 1930s and 1960s, a mass murder in San Ysidro, America's first major school shooting, and the worst aviation disaster in US history are all part of the SDPD story. The department’s Red Squad  --and I speak from direct experience-- played fast and loose with the law during the 1960s and 1970s.

The department has historically operated with two standards, one for the white, middle class-and-up population; another for people of color, the LGBTQ community, and the visibly impoverished.

This continues in the 21st century, as data now shows traffic stops, searches and interrogations are disproportionately aimed at “others.” The department’s role as the city’s front line responders to the homeless population is just another example of their usefulness as agents of protection for entitled citizens.

There is a broader discussion that needs to occur here, one that starts with the police not having responsibility for “cleaning up” all those things considered unpleasant by those of us who are privileged. Getting civilian oversight is just one step in what should be a rethinking of how our social systems function.

In the 1980’s, community activists succeeded in getting a measure before voters establishing an independent investigative civilian agency to oversee complaints about the SDPD. Knowing that the public was concerned about the activities of police in communities, opponents came up with a competing measure establishing a Community Review Board dependent on the department for investigatory data. 

With the Police Officers Association vocally opposed to independent oversight, the weaker measure prevailed by about 800 votes.

Police interaction and overreaction with the Occupy movement a decade ago brought about a renewed effort to bring about civilian control of oversight. Long after the demonstrations on the streets of San Diego subsided, a determined group of women activists (Women Occupy) continued to advocate for real change.

A series of scandals rocked the SDPD over the past decade, resulting in a Justice Department report, mandating changes in policies and procedures. The City of San Diego paid out millions of dollars in settlements to people wronged at the hands of officers.

Leadership at the SDPD promised changes and transparency. The progress made was incremental if at all. The department has consistently blown through its own estimates for overtime costs over the past decade, indicating either a lack of fiscal discipline or an attempt to disguise the true costs of policing. 

The Community Review Board established in the late eighties languished; membership of the overseeing body was allowed to whither, the SDPD basically dictated what they were allowed to see, and Mayor Sanders --an ex-chief of police-- didn’t fund the one paid position in the group.

In 2016, Measure G made it to the ballot. It called for renaming the Citizens’ Review Board on Police Practices by changing the word “citizens” to “community,” mandating investigations of all officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths, and transferred oversight from the mayor to the mayor and council members.

It passed with 83% of the vote. 

Researchers from San Diego State University conducted a study of traffic stops by the SDPD, finding evidence of racial bias. Over the course of 2016 and 2017 the research was presented to council members on three occasions, only to have them immediately shelve the report. The political power of the police unions serves to keep elected officials in check even when public sentiment demands change.

A County Grand Jury looked into the operations of the Community Review Board and suggested the city consider endowing the board with power to conduct its own investigations. City officials dismissed the suggestion, saying the Police Department does not have the “authority or the power to intervene in the activities of the board.” (It does, however, completely control the evidence presented to the board.)

It has become increasingly obvious, even before the heightened public awareness in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and others, that the police and too many elected officials were unwilling to intervene in the internal politics and culture of law enforcement in San Diego.

The District Attorney’s office, which would theoretically have oversight of misconduct involving law breaking, has only reluctantly increased its oversight thanks to public pressure.

As the last election campaign for incumbent DA Summer Stephan proved (with its George Soros is coming to eat your babies ads), the (largely) unspoken pact between enforcers and prosecutors stands in the way of reform. This is also true for the City Attorney's office. 

While the County and various agencies around California have responded to the public outcry over untested rape kits, the SDPD has the most untested kits in the state, by far, according to a state audit released earlier this year. SDPD now says those kits have all been sent to a third-party lab for testing, but it doesn’t expect them to all be tested for two years.

The County’s (90%) cleared backlog revealed 36% of those tested found a DNA profile for someone other than the victim.Those results were uploaded to an FBI database where they can be cross-referenced from results from other crimes to potentially identify perpetrators. 

Meanwhile, SDPD kits won’t be helping to solve any crimes. This attitude is indicative of where their priorities aren’t.

In 2018, advocates for independent oversight of the police department thought they were going to get a ballot measure before the electorate. It not-so-mysteriously got waylaid after the needed consultations with the Police Officers Association failed to materialize in time for the City Council to place the measure on the ballot.

Fortunately, Council District 4 elected Monica Montgomery to represent them in the 2018 election. This time around there were timely negotiations; concessions were made and the union agreed not oppose the measure.

San Diegans for Justice is the umbrella organization for a coalition of community grou[ps that wrote, proposed, and will organize support for this ballot measure. It will, I predict, pass overwhelmingly.

There remains one obstacle to making this vision of civilian oversight of the SDPD to come to fruition. Measure B changes the charter, allowing an entity to be created. How this group functions, its scope, budget, and make up are to be decided by the City Council. Look for the devil in those details.

This is one of those deals where winning at the ballot box is just the first step. Vigilance on the part of the community groups who have worked so hard to make this happen is going to be needed. And they can count on me to make a noise if the intentions are to be thwarted by bureaucratic means.

In case I haven’t made it clear, a vote for Measure B should be considered a moral imperative.  

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Measure B - Commission on Police Practices
(City of San Diego ballots)

Measure Ballot Summary: Shall the City Charter be amended to dissolve the Community Review Board on Police Practices and replace it with a Commission on Police Practices, with members appointed by the City Council, its own staff, subpoena power, independent legal counsel, and authority to investigate police officer misconduct, review complaints against officers, and make recommendations on police officer discipline, police policies, and Police Department legal compliance?

Placed on the ballot by a vote of the City Council after years of organizing by social justice advocates.

Voting Threshold required: 50%

Supporters: San Diegans for Justice in Support of Measure B 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Endorsements

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Committees Dedicated to Supporting Measure B

San Diegans for Justice in Support of Measure B - $10,000 (Early filing, more coming)

Frequently asked questions about Measure B.

Articles about Measure B

• San Diego City Approves Ballot Measure to Establish Commission On Police Practices

• San Diego ballot measure would create more rigorous police oversight, accountability

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Opponents: There is no organized opposition to Measure B.

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Next Up: Two ballot measures on education that don't ask for money.

Voter Guide – You’ve Voted for President, what’s next?

I’ll be writing about many ballot measures and candidates between now and the end of September. That work will be condensed into a handy-dandy voter guide just in time for your mail-in ballots to arrive. I’m the guy who coordinated San Diego Free Press’s Voter Guides over the past decade, so this won’t be my first effort. Stay tuned.

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