Title
Community-Led Committee on Police Reform & Racial Justice Draft Recommendation to Review Traffic and Parking Citation Fines (Discussion Item)
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Transportation Commission
BACKGROUND
The Committee on Police Reform and Racial Equity (the “Committee”) is a community-led group developing recommendations for changes to policing and methods to address systemic racism in Alameda. At the direction of the City Council, in August 2020 the City Manager appointed four community members to the Steering Committee to lead this work: Christine Chilcott, Al Mance, Cheryl Taylor, and Jolene Wright. The Steering Committee then selected 60 people to serve on five Subcommittees addressing the following topics:
• Unbundling Services Currently Delivered by the Police Department
• A Review of Laws that Criminalize Survival
• A Review of Police Department Policies and Practices
• Systemic and Community Racism/Anti-Racism
• Police Department Accountability and Oversight
The Steering Committee states, “we are committed to the idea of reforming aspects of the way in which policing is done in the City of Alameda, and we hope to do so in a collaborative way. We understand that policing is important to our community and we respect APD’s commitment to the safety and security of our community but we believe that the manner of policing can be improved so that all of the people in our community as well as all who visit our community feel safe, secure and respected.”
After months of research and work, the Subcommittees have completed their draft recommendations. From January 21-Feburary 17 the Committee will work with the City to seek feedback and perspectives from the broader Alameda community. This will include a public forum, online survey, mailing, flyer, social media posts, op-eds, and informal conversations with friends and neighbors. After the public engagement period, the Committee will present their final recommendations to the City Council. Information is available at: www.alamedaca.gov/policing <http://www.alamedaca.gov/policing>.
The purpose of this report is to forward the Committee’s draft recommendation related to transportation (a recommendation to review traffic and parking citation fines), and to provide an opportunity for public comment. It is also in response to Transportation Commissioners’ requests for further information about the Committee. The primary way that the Alameda Police Department (APD) relates to transportation is through traffic and parking enforcement, and Committee’s work intersects with the Vision Zero Task Force’s efforts to define the role of traffic enforcement in Vision Zero.
DISCUSSION
Public Engagement
From January 21-February 17, Committee members will work with City staff to engage Alameda community members, including those who live, work, visit, or worship here. They aim to share the Committee process and recommendations with the public; request feedback on draft recommendations; and hear about community experiences with police. They will engage the public via public forums, an online survey, mailing, flyer, social media posts, opinion editorials, and informal conversations with friends and neighbors. When the public engagement period is over, the Committee plans to present their recommendations and public feedback findings to the City Council on March 16.
Public events include:
• January 6: Presentation to the Civil Service Board
• January 22: Public Forum
• January 27: Presentation to the Transportation Commission
• January 28: Presentation to the Social Service Human Relations Board
• February 2 or 9: Presentation to Tuesdays @ 2 Town Hall with Alameda Business Leaders
• February 10: Presentation to the Commission on Persons with Disabilities
• TBD: Additional public meetings as scheduling allows
• March 16: City Council - present final recommendations
All information, including recommendations, event details, and the public survey, will be available here starting January 21: www.alamedaca.gov/policing <http://www.alamedaca.gov/policing>.
Data and Information
Many Committee members undertook substantial research to develop their draft recommendations. At members’ request, the City provided eighty (80) information files to the Committee. While most of the data and information came from APD, other departments providing information included Fire, Economic Development, Human Resources, and the City Attorney’s Office.
The Committee also collaborated with City staff to host a three-night APD speaker series. APD staff presented information about the Department’s policies, practices, data, budget, and more, followed by a Q&A with Committee members. Members of the public were invited to watch via livestream and the series was recorded for viewing after the events.
Recommendations for Policy and Program Changes
Full draft recommendations from the five Subcommittees will be available on January 21 at the project webpage: www.alamedaca.gov/policing <http://www.alamedaca.gov/policing>. The excerpt below pertains to traffic and parking enforcement.
Excerpt from the Preliminary Recommendations of the Subcommittee on Laws that Decriminalize Survival
A. Fines, Fees, and Revenue Generation
The American criminal justice system has developed an increased reliance on the usage of monetary sanctions (fines, fees, restitution, cash bail, traffic ordinances, and others). This has disproportionately affected indigent communities and people of color, who find themselves stuck in “cycles of poverty and punishment”. Locally, Alameda police enforce traffic and vehicle citations in a way that disproportionately target BIPOC and low-income individuals.
As a whole, the state of California has been on the cutting edge of policy reform around the issues of fines and fees. In 2016, the city of San Francisco became the first in the nation to launch the Financial Justice Project, a government-based program to assess and reform the levying of fines and fees throughout the county. The project has served as a model for cities across California, and we look to the goals of the Financial Justice Project as a template for which the city of Alameda can base its reforms upon. The passage of AB 1869 in September 2020 (which eliminated a multitude of administrative fines and fees imposed in the California justice system) also signifies that Californians are growing increasingly concerned about the entanglement between poverty, debt, and the criminal justice system. As the state legislature found, “Because these fees are often assigned to people who simply cannot afford to pay them, they make poor people, their families, and their communities poorer.” (AB 1869, Sec. 1(g)).
We hope to use our time in this committee to continue this momentum towards progress by exploring possibilities that the City of Alameda can take. We envision, for one, the creation of a Fines and Fees task force with the city, composed of community members, members of law enforcement, and legislative body members. We also hope to further explore the possibility of reforms that allow low-income individuals to pay off traffic fines and citations and to create an income verification database for all city agencies to utilize, and to encourage the City to evaluate the effects of private parking, tow, and traffic fines and fees on BIPOC/low-income residents of Alameda. Our goal reflects those of the San Francisco Office of the Treasurer and other financial advocacy communities: we seek to “alleviate the administrative burden for government entities and for courts,” thereby easing financial and social burdens for all.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This is a budget-neutral informational item on draft recommendations for changes to policies and practices. Budget implications of the recommendations will be assessed and reviewed separately before changes are adopted.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The Alameda Police Department Policy Manual contains APD policies.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
There are no identifiable environmental impacts associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Discuss the Community-Led Committee on Police Reform & Racial Justice Draft Recommendation to Review Traffic and Parking Citation Fines.
Respectfully submitted,
Eric Levitt, City Manager
By,
Christine Chilcott, Al Mance, Cheryl Taylor, and Jolene Wright
Steering Committee, Committee on Police Reform and Racial Justice
And
Lisa Foster, Transportation Planner