Proposed Ordinance for Citizen Oversight of Police Misconduct Section 1. The citizens of Inglewood enact this ordinance to advance and promote the following public policies: To guarantee equal protection of the law to all (Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article One, Section 7 of the California Constitution); To guarantee due process of the law to all (Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article One, Section 7 of the California Constitution); To enforce the right of the people to safety (Article One, Section 1 of the California Constitution); To enforce the right of the people to privacy (Article One, Section 1 of the California Constitution); To enforce the public policies of the State of California to freedom of information balanced by privacy concerns as enumerated in the Information Practices Act and the California Public Records Act; To protect the rights of peace officers and their collective bargaining representatives exercising their rights under the public policies enumerated in Section 923 of the California Labor Code. Section 2. A Citizen - Police Oversight Commission shall be elected as follows: Four members shall be elected in the same manner and at the same time as members of the Inglewood City Council as specified in the Inglewood Municipal Code; One member shall be selected by the collective bargaining agent, if any, representing officers of the Inglewood police department who are peace officers in any manner the collective bargaining agent determines in accordance with its constitution and/or bylaws; if peace officers of the Inglewood police department are not represented by a collective bargaining agent, then each peace officer who has been employed by the department for not less than 30 days prior to a date set for election by municipal ordinance shall be eligible to vote for a representative to the commission in a manner to be determined by municipal ordinance; the term of said commission member shall be the same as the term for any other member of the commission. Section 3. The authority and duties of the Citizen - Police Oversight Commission shall be as follows: To receive, and in its discretion to administer and investigate, complaints from the public at large involving allegations of police misconduct; To receive, and in its discretion to administer and investigate, complaints from peace officers employed by Inglewood regarding the administration and supervision of the Inglewood Police Department; To receive, and in its discretion investigate tort claims involving police misconduct or misconduct concerning the administration and supervision of the Inglewood Police Department; To receive a copy of all tort claims filed with the City Clerk, of all complaints filed with the Inglewood Police Department, of all lawsuits in state or federal courts served upon the City of Inglewood, and all grievances filed by officers against other officers or supervisory personnel of the Inglewood Police Department which shall be provided to the Commission within thirty (30) calendar days; To utilize the services of the Inglewood Police Department and/or to hire (as employees or as independent contractors as needed) Private Investigators licensed by the Bureau of Security & Investigative Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs to investigate complaints as specified in subsections (a) and (b), above; To hire or contract for the services of polygraphers, questioned documents examiners, fingerprint experts, eyewitness identification experts, and other forensic experts as needed to assist with investigations of complaints as specified in subsections (a) and (b), above; To hold hearings to determine whether any police officer or any civilian suspect assigned to the police department has violated any laws or rules or regulations relating to the police department; To subpoena and require the attendance of witnesses, and the production of books and papers pertinent to the investigation and to administer oaths to such witnesses to the extent permissible by law; To thereafter make recommendations concerning allegations regarding police misconduct, including but not limited to recommendations for settlement or litigation of tort claims, lawsuits, and employee grievances to the City Administrative Officer and/or to the City Council; To refer such matters that the Commission concludes are violations of law to the District Attorney of the County of Los Angeles, to the Attorney General of the State of California, and/or to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and/or United States Department of Justice for prosecution; To make available to the public and to the news media any materials which fall under the purview of the California Public Records Act in consultation with the Inglewood City Attorney and to consult independent legal counsel for a second opinion if deemed necessary to protect the right of the public to information necessary to the functioning of a free and open society. Section 4. In making decisions regarding the hiring or contracting of investigative personnel and auxiliary assistants, the Commission shall consult: The collective bargaining representative for the Inglewood Police Department; The Los Angeles County Criminal Defense Investigators Association; The District Directors and District Governors of the California Association of Licensed Investigators residing within the County of Los Angeles; The collective bargaining representatives for investigators employed by the Office of the County Public Defender and the Office of the Alternate Public Defender; Any other association or union which in the discretion of the Commission would be necessary and proper to making hiring/contracting decisions to determine the competence, background, training, certification, reputation, education, and experience of auxiliary forensic experts. Section 5. The People of Inglewood declare that it is the public policy to conduct investigations and to protect the rights of the public to the greatest extent possible. This public policy is inconsistent with the sociological phenomena known as the "Code of Silence" observed by many peace officers. To mitigate the results of the "Code of Silence" to the greatest extent possible, polygraph evidence shall be admissible and considered by the Commission in performing its duties when the polygraph is utilized as an investigative tool under the following conditions: The polygraph is freely and voluntarily taken The polygraph is administered by a Private Investigator Licensed by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs The polygrapher is certified by the American Polygraph Association and the National Polygraph Association No officer employed by the Inglewood Police Department shall be required to take a polygraph or to do any act prohibited by the Peace Officers Bill of Rights. Section 6. The hearing process of the Commission shall be open to the public to the extent legally possible and insofar as it does not conflict with state or federal laws or the California Constitutional Right to Privacy (Article One, Section 1). The records of the Commission shall be available to the public to the greatest extent permitted by the California Public Records Act and the California Information Practices Act. Section 7. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of the ordinance. The City Council of the City of Inglewood, California hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance, and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases are declared unconstitutional.