South Lake Tahoe, CA…The establishment of the Police Advisory Commission was initially brought forth to City Council on July 14, 2020 to discuss the need for a police citizen review committee. The City Council directed staff to gather community input on the formation of such committee and bring back a recommendation in 6-12 months. Further discussion occurred on December 15, 2020 and types of models and civilian oversight were discussed. On Tuesday, May 18th this item was brought back for Council consideration and presented to City Council by the Chief of Police, David Stevenson.

At the City Council Meeting, Chief Stevenson discussed the importance of the Police Advisory Commission along with outlining the duties of the commission. As stated in the meeting, the purpose of the commission is to increase police transparency and accountability, increase community communication, and build public trust. The Police Advisory Commission will be responsible for reviewing and making recommendations on Police Department policy, transparency reports, and the officer personnel complaint report. Furthermore, they will work on developing strategies and partnerships for local recruitment to reflect the community we serve and will collaborate on Police/community events which have an emphasis on cultural competency, diversity, and bias training.

The Police Advisory Commission will be made of five members with at least two members of the City’s Multicultural Alliance. In addition, the Police Advisory Commission will include the Chief of Police as a permanent liaison to the commission. As a liaison, the Chief of Police will attend commission meetings and provide information, answer questions, collaborate with, and follow-up as requested by the commission.

Once the application process is finalized and ready for recruitment, the City Clerk will announce when the application process will be open for the Police Advisory Committee.
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