The Davis City Council has directed City Manager Dirk Brazil to hire an interim police auditor while the city embarks on a nearly six-month process of revamping its police oversight system.
Davis has been without a police auditor for more than four months since longtime auditor Bob Aaronson left that post. Aaronson had announced earlier in the year that he would not renew his contract when it expired on June 30.
The topic of an interim auditor arose during Tuesday’s council meeting as council members unanimously endorsed a proposal to hire two consultants to help the city craft an updated police oversight model.
“April is quite a ways away,” Councilwoman Rochelle Swanson said, referring to the April 30 deadline that consultants Barbara Attard and Kathryn Olson set to present their findings to the council.
Swanson said she’d like to see the auditor role filled during that time to handle any police complaint investigations that may arise.
“Not only do I think it’s right and we should do it, but I also think it sends the right message to our community, that yes, we are trying to move these things expeditiously but also being thoughtful in how we’re doing it,” Swanson said.
With funding for the position already in place, “my hope is that we can have an interim auditor in place in the next two to four weeks,” Brazil said Thursday.
Meanwhile, Attard and Olson will engage in a multi-phase process for developing a police oversight model for Davis that reflects the community’s size, policing history and needs. Their work will include reviewing the current system and gathering input from a variety of stakeholders. As many as five public forums are planned.
Public demands for stronger police oversight arose earlier this year following a controversial Picnic Day brawl between a crowd of civilians and several plain-clothed Davis police officers.
The incident led to the arrests of five people and conflicting accounts as to which side triggered the Russell Boulevard altercation, which in turn led to an independent investigation of the officers’ actions that remains underway.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048.