On Tuesday, the Carlsbad City Council approved the creation of a Community-Police Engagement Commission to help strengthen and maintain an excellent relationship between the Carlsbad Police Department and the community. The idea came after a series of public meetings in 2020 and 2021 exploring ways to ensure a high level of trust between law enforcement and community members.

• A leading consultant in police practices developed recommendations based in the public’s input.
• Based on those recommendations, in June 2022 the City Council directed staff to develop an ordinance to create a police-engagement commission and provided guidelines for how the commission would be structured.

Because the commission’s creation involves updating the city’s municipal code, the City Council had to take two actions:  introduce an ordinance, which happened at the Dec. 6 City Council meeting, and adopt the ordinance, which happened at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Makeup of the commission

• The commission will have five members with no special interests. (For instance, they can’t be current police officers or city employees.)
• Its primary duty will be strengthening communication and engagement with the community.
• The commission will meet four times a year and present annual workplans to the City Council.
• The mayor and City Council members will each appoint a commission member, preferably from each City Council district.
• Commission members will serve four-year terms, staggered to coincide with the mayor or council member who appointed them.
• Because the commission is brand new, the initial terms will be modified to align with City Council terms:
  • The Mayor and City Council members from District 1 and District 3 will each appoint a commission member for a term to run from March 2023 to December 2026.
  • City Council members from District 2 and District 4 will each appoint a commission member for a term to run from March 2023 to December 2024.

Role of the commission
The commission’s role will include the following:

• Promote productive communication between the Carlsbad Police Department and the community.
• Provie a forum where police leadership can talk about police initiatives, challenges, public safety data and high-interest incidents in the community.
• Educate the community and get feedback about policing standards and expectations.
• Create more community access to public safety information.
• Recommend changes or improvements to Carlsbad Police Department policies, procedures or training.
• Review new or proposed police programs to evaluate how they might impact disenfranchised and marginalized communities

Commission training
After they are appointed, commission members will receive training on:

• The authority and responsibilities associated with their role as a commission member
• City policies and legal requirements governing commission meetings
• Carlsbad Police Department policies, procedures, and practices

As soon as possible, they’ll also attend or observe:

• Police officer use of force training, including defensive tactics and scenario-based training
• Police officer implicit bias training
• Police officer training related to interaction with people in mental health crisis
• At least two ride-alongs with the Carlsbad Police Department, one of which should be with the Homeless Outreach Team
• A presentation from the city’s Homeless Services Coordinator

Next steps
Now that the final reading of the ordinance has been approved by the City Council, the city will post a notice for applications. State law requires the notice be posted for 30 days. Once the application period closes and the applications are reviewed, the City Council will appoint the commissioners. This is tentatively scheduled for March 21, 2023.

Read the staff report.