The Sacramento City Council unanimously approved the nomination of 11 people to serve on the city’s new Community Police Commission at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“Our vision is to make Sacramento the safest big city in California and a national model of community policing in the 21st century,” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson in a statement.
The new commission will utilize the experience and knowledge of Sacramento residents to ensure bias-free policing and to monitor the Officer Next Door initiative, Johnson said.
The new commission is based on a model developed by the Department of Justice. Cities including Seattle and Cleveland are also creating commissions.
The goal of the new commission is to make recommendations to city leaders, and strengthen the trust between citizens and police officers.
“We need to bridge the gaps between law enforcement and the community and this commission will be an important forum,” said Basim Elkarra, newly appointed Sacramento Community Police Commissioner, civil rights leader and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “Sacramento is a tight-knit, solution-oriented city that is ready to tackle our challenges through community engagement, transparency and confidence building measures.”
Eleven nominees were selected from 54 applications. The commission members approved by the city council include:
- Les Simmons
- Dr. Ernest Uwazie
- Betty Williams
- Basim Elkarra
- Cathy Thao
- Rosalyn Van Buren
- Bill Knowlton
- Mariana Sabeniano
- Clifton Roberts
- Rick Jones
- Timothy Davis
The commission is part of Sacramento’s Officer Next Door initiative, which also includes adding 15 new police officers each fiscal year, a body camera pilot program and a gang prevention task force.
The commission will meet at least eight times a year. They do not have the authority to investigate individual cases or subpoena witnesses.