pages: CityCouncil/2021-02-02.pdf, 24
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CityCouncil | 2021-02-02 | 24 | criminal activity cannot occur from an Officer; personnel investigations are confidential due to State law; reports have been submitted; urged residents to share information about current Police Officers with City staff for investigation. Vice Mayor Vella inquired whether the tweets from the former APD Officer have been reviewed; whether incidents occurred while on-duty; questioned whether the concerns are being addressed. The City Manager responded the concerns will be looked into; stated that he had not previously heard about the incidents explained. Vice Mayor Vella inquired whether the City Manager is the point of contact for such information to be shared by community members. The City Manager responded in the affirmative; stated that he or the Interim Police Chief can be contacted with information. Vice Mayor Vella stated regarding requests for data, raw numbers without context leads to a number of different conclusions; the way in which events are defined, the context provided and who is involved matters; expressed concern about different ratios in terms of who has historically been stopped in Alameda; stated the data is not definitive and more clarity on trends and the meaning of data will be helpful for all in making decisions; expressed concern about the lack of housing, transitional housing, and the impact of COVID-19; stated the trends are not specific to Alameda, many are National and regional; stressors are compounding and tolls are taken on members of the public due to economic and housing insecurities; 2020 has been an anomaly; questioned how to account for such an anomaly in the data to ensure that response is not just focused on one particular year; expressed support for looking at all underlying issues and overall trends relative to data. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft requested clarification related to the difficulties in job performance; stated there is a search for a new Police Chief; inquired how the City can attract, hire and retain good Officers while working in a challenging environment. The Interim Police Chief responded that he has found APD employees are a good group, which is community-minded and service-oriented; APD is not perfect; however, no department is; Officers want the community to know they care about their job and what they do; the last year has been rough; APD Officers are looking for stability and understanding of what the community is looking for and what to expect going forward; the stability and understanding will be key in moving forward attracting new Officers; there will be a balance between Committee reports, residents, and business owners; Officers feel as though they are in the middle and are unclear. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft stated the Council will consider recommendations from the Steering Committee on March 16th; Council would like to hear from citizens prior to the March 16th meeting; noted a survey is being mailed to all households and needs to be Regular Meeting Alameda City Council 19 February 2, 2021 | CityCouncil/2021-02-02.pdf |