Title
Recommendation to Accept an Informational Report on Updates of the Alameda Police Department. (Police 1003110)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2021, community-led Police Reform and Racial Equity Steering Committee Members and members of five Subcommittees developed recommendations to address the future of policing and systemic racism in Alameda. Since that time, the Alameda Police Department (APD) has been working to incorporate these recommendations in line with industry best practices and has implemented additional comprehensive practices to increase organizational accountability. This report provides an overview of APD's accomplishments over the last three years on personnel, policies/training, technology, and operations.
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda (City) hired Chief Nishant Joshi in June 2021, who spent 23 years with the Oakland Police Department and brought vast knowledge on best practices around accountability and public safety. Equally as important, Chief Joshi brought a documented track record on significantly reducing crime through a data driven and intelligence-led approach, leveraging stakeholder relationships, and improving community relations centered on procedural justice.
Immediately after assuming his position, Chief Joshi spent the first three months meeting one-on-one with every APD employee to understand their experiences at APD. At these meetings, Chief Joshi sought to understand where APD was at, and shared his vision of where APD would go. APD is committed to a culture of transparency, accountability, and a procedurally just public safety service. At the same time, APD's operational priorities include traffic, outreach, and crime.
DISCUSSION
Personnel
An initial observation in 2021 about APD was an instability in leadership ranks. At that time, there were several vacant sergeant and lieutenant positions being filled by "acting" roles....
Click here for full text