Monterey County Civil Grand Jury calls the Salinas Police an example of good community policing

 The Monterey County Civil Grand Jury has released a report less than a week after the announcement that they would be conducting an independent audit of the Salinas Police Department.

The Civil Grand Jury includes members from Monterey, Carmel, Marina, Pacific Grove, Salinas and Pebble Beach. The full list of committee members can be viewed on their website. They are authorized to inspect and audit books, records, and financial expenditures.

The audit was kicked off after a local Change.org petition, that has received 338 signatures since its creation on March 31, asked for an independent audit. The concerns were brought to the city by Council members Carla González and Anthony Rocha. Then, the city decided to ask the grand jury to review the concern.

This story largely begins in 2014, when there were four officer-involved shootings in the span of five months, unusual for a department that averaged one per year.

“The deaths of these four men further frayed the fragile trust between the community and the Salinas Police Department and triggered protests against the SPD,” the grand jury wrote in their report, subtitled “From Traditional Policing to Community Policing.”

Ultimately, the jury found that the police department has continued in the process of shifting from to community policing using the Collaborative Reform Initiative: An Assessment of the Salinas Police Department report as a roadmap for their analysis.

The Collaborative Reform Initiative report was done by the Department of Justice in 2015, after then-Police Chief Kelly McMillin sought the help of the DOJ's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to improve the relationship between the SPD and the community. The final report issued 61 findings and 110 recommendations covering six categories: use of force, officer involved shootings, community collaboration, internal and external communications, resource allocation and training.

Soon to be retiring Police Chief Adele Fresé began working on these recommendations when she was hired in November 2016 and according to her, her department has completed 97% of the recommendations as of December 2020.

To come to their assessment this week, the grand jury spoke with SPD personnel and performed internet searches of documents, agendas, meeting minutes, newspaper articles and training materials.

In meeting with SPD, the jury found that assistant chiefs and commanders have formal weekly meetings and executive staff have quarterly meetings with all civilian staff.

“The meetings between the Chief of Police and command staff with the Salinas Police Officers Association are now collaborative and address key issues and concerns of officers,” the grand jury wrote in their report. “The department has developed an employee focus group representing each unit and division within the department that meets monthly with the Chief of Police and executive staff.”

Overall, the grand jury found that they believe the Salinas Police Department is an example of community policing at its best, noting that they were the recipient of the James Q. Wilson Award for Excellence in Community Policing.

Here are some of the reports other findings:

• The Civil Grand Jury believes that by implementing the recommendation of developing programs that engage the community through in-school activities and interactions with their officers, SPD has strengthened the relationship between the police department and the community.
• By incorporating less than lethal intervention strategies into their daily practice after developing a use of force oversight committee, they have enhanced the safety of the community and the officers.
• A procedure that requires officer involved shootings and use of force incidents resulting in death to be referred to the District Attorney’s Office, increased transparency.

The Salinas Police Department is one group that’s content with the findings in the grand jury report, writing in a press release that they are very pleased.

“We would like to recognize and acknowledge the extensive hard work and dedication of every member of the Civil Grand Jury and we thank them for serving on the jury, guaranteeing honest and efficient government in the best interests of all the residents of Monterey County,” the department wrote in the release.

Salinas Californian
By Angelica Cabral
June 1, 2021