(From Press Release) – As a candidate for the county’s highest office of law enforcement District Attorney hopeful Dean Johansson expressed strong support of the decision by Davis City Council to pursue implementation of robust civilian oversight of police. His complete statement at bottom.
On Tuesday, April 10, Davis City Council Chambers were filled for discussions of two recently released and long-awaited reports, including Interim Independent Police Auditor Michael Genacco’s review of McGregor Scott’s report on last year’s Picnic Day incident (which itself could not be released wholesale due to privacy laws governing police officers’ personnel files) and the report by two consultants hired by the City of Davis, Barbara Attard and Kathryn Olson, detailing their recommendations for a system of police oversight for the City of Davis.
Genacco’s report identified a series of missteps by Davis police related to the Picnic Day incident, including the involved officers’ ill-advised and overly aggressive decision to drive an unmarked police vehicle into the assembled crowd (a decision which, the report concludes, precipitated the resulting conflict) and the Department’s release of inaccurate information about the incident in a press release and failure to retract this information and apologize for the inaccuracies in a timely manner. Many community members were disappointed that the complaints against the involved police officers for racial profiling and excessive use of force were not sustained.
The consultants, who did not analyze the Picnic Day incident but gathered information from community stakeholders about policing in Davis, recommended that Davis implement a two-pronged system of police oversight, including an Independent Police Auditor and a community-led board. The City Council voted to accept the overall recommendations, and asked staff to prepare a report for further discussion in (May/June?) addressing the specifics of what this system will look like and how it will be implemented.
Dean Johansson released the following statement:
“I am encouraged by efforts of the City of Davis, including the Davis Police Department, to reckon with past harms, including the events that took place nearly a year ago on Picnic Day, and by the high level of community involvement in the process of pushing for accountability for this regrettable incident and for oversight of the police. Corrections to power imbalances do not occur without community pressure and the courage of community members in speaking up about these issues gives me hope.
“I would also like to point out that while the release of the Genacco report is an important step toward accountability for the actions of the Davis Police, there remains a lack of accountability for the DA’s handling of the case. The independent investigation of this incident calls into question the very basis of the current DA’s criminal charges against the five people involved, and I think that he owes the community an explanation for his decision to pursue felony charges against these young people, if not a public apology and dismissal of all charges.
“I am a strong proponent of community oversight of law enforcement, and as District Attorney, I would encourage the implementation of community oversight of all local law enforcement agencies, including the District Attorney’s office.”
