Pasadena City Council Member and Public Safety Committee Member Steve Madison and the Southern California ACLU’s Senior Staff Attorney Peter Bibring will debate a proposal for increased civilian oversight of the Pasadena Police Department on Tuesday, July 22, at 7-9 pm at the Pasadena Public Central Library. Bibring will argue for increased civilian oversight and Madison will argue against it.
The debate, organized by the progressive grass-roots organization ACT, will be moderated by ACT’s co-chair and former Assemblymember Anthony Portantino. Co-sponsoring organizations are All Saint’s Church, the NAACP, the Pasadena-Foothill Chapter of the ACLU, the Pasadena-Foothill Democratic Club, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, the Pasadena Latino Forum, and the Coalition for Increased Civilian Oversight of Pasadena Police.
The proposition Madison and Bibring will debate is the following: “Pasadena Police Department (“PD”) civilian oversight should increase by engaging a professional Police Auditor who has the power and duty to audit and monitor the PD’s policies, operations, and procedures, and who provides a path for community input on the PD; s/he would be an independent contractor reporting to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee like field representatives reporting to Councilmembers.”
The proposition being debated has been endorsed as a reform plan by the NAACP and Pasadena Foothill Democratic Club and as a general concept by the Coalition for Increased Civilian Oversight of Pasadena Police; ACT’s membership is presently voting on the proposition.
The debate is free and open to the public. The program is not sponsored by the Pasadena Public Library but rather by the sponsoring organizations.