The meeting focused on the auditor report review of police military equipment
By YUENJO FAN — city@theaggie.org
On May 5, the Davis Police Accountability Commission met to discuss the police auditor update and an annual review of the Davis Police Department’s military equipment.
The police auditor’s report specifically focused on two recent police incidents. The first involved a teenager who claimed to have been stopped and momentarily detained by police on her way home from the convenience store on suspicion of shoplifting. Following this incident, the mother of the teenager reported her concern that this may have been attributed to racial profiling.
Stephen Connolly, an auditor representative, said that the Davis police consequently opened a formal investigation into the issue.
“We were really impressed with that investigation,” Connolly said. “The allegations of racial profiling and problematic interactions between the police and young people are two very sensitive areas, and this checked both of those boxes. We thought the department was very conscientious about trying to do a thoughtful job of verifying and figuring out what the basis of the young woman’s complaints to her mom had been about.”
Furthermore, the Davis police interviewed the teenager, her mom and a school representative to discuss the incident. Police also looked into on-duty officers at the time and the GPS locations of patrol cars, yet neither fit with the teenager’s claims. Ultimately, Connolly explained how the police could not verify the allegations made by the young woman, though due diligence was done during the investigation.
Commission Chair Dillan Horton brought up his concerns about the difficulties of identifying racial profiling, due to the blurred nature of the issue. He specifically noted past incidents where Davis police had investigated racial profiling but yielded no conclusive evidence.
“It makes me worry about a system that we as a society have created where there is an impossibility to determine a racial motivation, unless it is the most overt, in-your-face kind of version,” Horton said. “I know that’s not a solvable problem for the [auditor], but it’s a continuing concern that I have when there is a review of this type of complaint.”
The second case regarded a call for service following a quarrel between two Davis residents. This issue arose after the caller felt that one of the responding Davis police officers was dismissive of her and did not take her concerns seriously.
“While it fell short of being formal misconduct, we certainly thought there was room for counseling the officer, working with him and sharing her perspective a little bit,” Connolly said.
Following the incident, the police attempted to reach out to the woman for further inquiries, but when she refused to participate, the investigation was dropped. Connolly described the approach as “suboptimal,” with the auditor’s report drawing on three different recommended approaches toward a similar situation in the future.
Moreover, the commission also conducted an annual review of the Davis Police Department’s renewal/usage of inventory deemed as military equipment. Commission Member Mary Bliss pointed out the lack of mentions about police tasers, questioning whether Davis police should keep a closer eye on their usage and stock.
“There’s no policy that I could find on the use of tasers,” Bliss said. “We have three complaints coming up about the use of tasers, […] and there’s a huge safety issue with it. Not that I think we misuse them, but I do think it is an important thing that I would like us to look at more.”
Aside from this, the Police Accountability Commission did not provide any major pushback or critique on the military equipment review. The Davis Police Accountability Commission meets on the first Monday of each month at City Hall. More information can be found on their website.
Written By: Yuenjo Fan — city@theaggie.org
