Santa Barbara Police Department Encourages Participation in CFC Community Survey
Source: Santa Barbara Police Department
The City of Santa Barbara Community Formation Commission (CFC) has developed a draft framework to create a civilian oversight system for the Santa Barbara Police Department and created a survey to collect feedback to be incorporated into their final recommendation to City Council. The police department is encouraging those in the community with direct ties to the City of Santa Barbara to participate in the survey. The CFC has indicated the survey is intended to collect responses from those who “live and work in Santa Barbara.”
“Civilian oversight of law enforcement can be a valuable tool in maintaining a department’s legitimacy. It is important that any civilian oversight of the men and women of the SBPD is commensurate with the needs of our department and community here in the City of Santa Barbara. Voices from our entire community need to be heard. We strongly encourage everyone who lives and works in Santa Barbara to complete this survey,” stated Interim Police Chief Barney Melekian.
The survey, which is anonymous, will be available until 11:59 pm on March 22, 2022. The CFC will offer paper surveys upon request for those without access to the internet. The links to the survey can be found below.
English-Language Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SantaBarbaraCFC
Spanish-Language Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SantaBarbaraCFCSpanish
About the Community Formation Commission:
The Santa Barbara City Council has established the Community Formation Commission (CFC) to guide the creation of a civilian police review system. The CFC has explored different civilian police review systems, existing and new police accountability systems, and the specific needs of Santa Barbara’s many communities. The CFC has also reviewed the Santa Barbara Police Department’s existing standards and protocols. Following the examination of these issues within the context of Santa Barbara’s specific needs and systems, the CFC will make recommendations to the City Council for the creation of a civilian oversight system in Santa Barbara. To learn more, go to www.santabarbaraca.gov.
5 Comments
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Mar 16, 2022 10:52 AMMy main concern with this civilian oversight system for the Santa Barbara Police Department is that it will be setup with political activists. Police involved matters and incidents are extremely complicated matters this civilian oversight system needs people who understand the law and evidence.
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Mar 16, 2022 03:58 PMfully agree...and someone with a few years behind them....folks with experience in life (no 20 something knowitalls), folks that understand law, and those that seek to make positively reinforced changes.
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Mar 16, 2022 10:46 PMBut "activist" is the definition of people who get involved with their community. I think you're worried about activists of a certain type. So you may need to get involved too!
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Mar 17, 2022 04:34 AMI've read their recommendations and think that while police oversight is a worthy objective and merited, this proposal goes too far in several areas and is insulting to our local police who are generally of a high standard. I also think that given how difficult it is to recruit and retain officers, it could be a disincentive to recruit and retain. police should have some representation on the proposed commission and not be excluded. how can the CFC claim it wants to improve police/community relations and then specifically exclude anyone with law enforcement background from participating? Read the proposal. I did.
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Mar 17, 2022 06:28 AMWhy is it in the draft proposal that "No member of the Board shall have ever worked as a sworn law enforcement officer." and yet those with such experience are not dismissed from jury duty? Someone who has been through LE training can bring an informed perspective to a group that otherwise has no experience in policing other than perhaps a sheltered ride-along afternoon.