First of two parts.
Responding to suggestions at Monday night’s City Council meeting that a citizen oversight board of the Police Dept. would be advisable because of recent national incidents, Chief Scott Bixby scotched the notion.
“I do not think it is necessary in Culver City,” he said. “To try and simplify it, I don’t want to sound cavalier. But if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
What the department is doing out of public view – and in interacting with the public — might change the minds of some oversight supporters.
It is a hefty, impressive roll call.
Speaking of oversight, Mr. Bixby said that certain internal controls can serve as corrective watchdogs for modern policing.
He identified a number of remedies that address common issues,
“We have so many things in place now, and people don’t see them,” he said. “We just finished a class on explicit and implicit biases that everybody has. It is called Fair and Impartial Policing, which is part of a 21st century formula that President Obama has put out there.
“The point is,” said Mr. Bixby, “we put all of our managers through there, including myself.
“We are going through another one called Procedural Justice, which is much the same thing.
“Four of our people who are instructors are at the Museum of Tolerance. Two of them instruct on racial profiling and two instruct on Tools for Tolerance.”
Mr. Bixby’s list kept expanding.
“We are involved with the (King Fahad) mosque,” he said. “We have our (monthly) Neighborhood Watches, our open houses, our Explorer program. We are involved with different civic groups around town, like the Rotary Club and the Exchange Club. We have our School Resource Officer.”
To summarize, Mr. Bixby said that “the majority of what we do is outreach. The minority is what people think we (traditionally) do.”
(To be continued)
Our police and fire are one of the reasons that Culver City is one of the best places to live. It is time to trust our department and stop politically motivated “committees” that serve no real purpose except for politics and drama
I’m not sure that I agree with Ms. Wasserman on this issue. Why is a citizens oversight committee a political effort aimed at drama? Please tell me more. On its face, I see every reason to trust our police department but no reason not to “trust but verify,” especially if an oversight committee results in more transparency. More rather less citizen involvement in policing just seems to make sense in a day and age in which there still exists a so-called “cop culture” that tends to distance police from the community they serve. Tell me more why this is a bad idea.
Chief Bixby isn’t really saying much. As the son of a Police Chief in the 60’s and 70’s I took my share of beatings defending cops so I feel I have paid my dues when it comes to asking the police to listen to my opinion.
RE:
1) if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”: FYI if your not always asking “How am I doing” or if your not always interested in customer feed back then you are not going to know it’s broken until someone starts shooting up your streets.
2) Procedural Justice: Your argument on this subject would be much more convincing if you clarified that the #1 goal of procedural justice is teach police to leave ROBOCOP and the EXMILITARY MENTALITY back on the battle fields of the Middle East where it belongs.
3) The #1 Procedure modern policing needs to learn is COURTESY! Too many police are #BulliesInBlue. FIX THAT and you will go a long way to ensure what you have “Aint broken” .
TWO WRONGS: Two wrongs don’t make a right. Two wrongs equals TWO WRONGS.
Citizen Task Forces are a necessary component of community relations.
If your not open to criticism from your own neighbors (And the customers you serve) then it doesn’t make sense for you people to offer constructive suggestions of any kind into blogs like this…. Because:
What Chief Bixby is really declaring is: “He does not think a citizens oversight committee is necessary in Culver City because HE’S NOT LISTENING TO ANYTHING ANYONE HAS TO SAY in the first place.