At Pasadena’s State of the City Speech on Jan. 17, CICOPP/POP (The Coalition for Increased Civilian Oversight of Pasadena Police/Pasadenans Organizing for Progress) plan to urge Pasadena’s Police Department to reform their Use of Force (UOF) policy in collaboration with citizen’s groups proposing policy reforms and best practices.
CICOPP/POP plans to call upon the City to establish an updated Use of Force (UOF) policy in light of the shooting of Chris Ballew, an armed man who ran from Pasadena officer, in Nov. 2017. According to CICOPP/POP, they believe that the Department has a long history of using violent force.
Chief Perez said he is implementing new de-escalation practices such as conducting reviews of use of force incidents within a month of occurrence, and he’s now releasing body camera footage of such incidents within 45 days.
Vincent de Stefano of CICOPP questioned the use of force by Pasadena police. He asked, “Why has it been over a year since the outrageous beating by PPD officers of Chris Ballew at a traffic stop for tinted windows, and CICOPP’s demand for a new policy mandating de-escalation in interactions with the public that may lead to violence, and still no policy change?”
CICOPP/POP sent a letter in May of 2018 to the City Council and PPD outlining lapses in the Department’s UOF policies and proposing best practices proposals to remedy them.
Stefano, however, still had questions about their policy. “Why does current UOF policy give no clear guidance to officers about when they may use force?” He added, “Policy sets the standards and should be the first reform the Department makes for public safety.”
