Who gets to police the police? In Richmond, it’s a loaded question

Political divisions have often left Richmond’s Community Police Review Commission fighting over appointments and struggling to fulfill its mission.

RICHMOND — Who should be allowed to police the police?

Political divisions behind that question have often left Richmond’s Community Police Review Commission (CPRC) fighting over appointments and struggling to fulfill its mission of investigating local police officers when they are accused of use-of-force abuses, racism, sexual harassment or assault.

The latest controversy arose last month, when the Richmond City Council appointed Rachel Lorber, a public defender for Contra Costa County, to an open seat on the CPRC.

While Lorber’s supporters argue that her legal experience will bring valuable insight into policing, some residents — including Ben Therriault, president of the Richmond Police Officers Association, and current CPRC Commissioner Oscar Garcia — argue that her appointment could pose a conflict of interest, potentially leading to leaks of confidential information and subsequent lawsuits against Richmond.

“A public defender has ethical and legal obligations to their office and client, as they should — they play an important part of the criminal justice system,” Therriault said in an interview. “But there are things that may be done or learned about in a police commission investigation that could put her at odds with her role and responsibilities to her clients. That’s a potential problem, and it’s really shocking to me that people don’t see that.”

He said the POA is currently weighing its legal options, including filing complaints with the California State Bar and the Contra Costa County public defender’s office. Therriault insists the group’s concerns are not politically motivated, despite a history of tension between Richmond police and the current progressive majority on the city council.

Additionally, a CPRC commissioner inappropriately shared confidential information outside of closed session in the early 2000s, which pushed the union to file a lawsuit against Richmond.

However, other residents and city hall staff agreed with Lorber that her work experience would provide a valuable perspective on police accountability. Shiva Mishek, chief of staff for Mayor Eduardo Martinez, said the CPRC overlap is similar to how tenants, landlords and real estate attorneys often serve on Richmond’s Rent Board because of their individual expertise.

“We’re seeking out people to weigh in on police matters with lived experience, contact with the criminal justice system and awareness of how policing works in any way,” Mishek said, adding that the CPRC acts as an advisory body, meaning its members do not have any authority to directly supervise, discipline or remove police officers. “I think you could really stretch the argument that (commissioners) have some sort of bias against either the justice system and the police or, on the other side of things, are too abolitionist. The personal is political here.”

Current members of the Richmond CPRC include a small business owner, environmental engineer, medical research consultant, youth case manager, math instructor and a brewing company manager.

Similar to how the city councilmembers make statements of conflict of interest before every meeting, City Attorney Dave Aleshire said any commissioner, including Lorber, would be required to do the same if issues arose, if not also remove herself from those specific discussions.

“(Being a public defender is) not an automatic bar,” Aleshire said. “But it would be if we had a particular case that involved that particular deputy.”

The Richmond City Council ultimately appointed Lorber to the 9-seat commission in a 5-0-1 vote. Councilmember Cesar Zepeda abstained, and Councilmember Sohelia Bana was absent.

“I am serving as a Richmond resident and someone who cares about our city and its members,” Lorber said in an email. “If any specific conflict arises, either from my work in the public defender’s office or any other circumstances, I trust that I will be able to identify it and recuse myself, as I trust any member of the commission would.”

But during the CPRC’s April 5 meeting, Garcia repeated his concerns about Lorber’s appointment. While the public defender’s office has only filed one complaint to the commission, he expressed concern that their work, generally, is to cast doubts on police officer accounts and charges against their clients.

“I’ve been in conversation with Rob Bonta, so he’s doing an extra due diligence to make sure there’s no issues with Lorber being on this body,” Mishek said. “We don’t want to do anything to undermine this commission, which is a highly politicized body.”

Eligibility to serve on the CPRC is open to anyone who is a Richmond resident, as long as they do not represent any outside financial interests and sign an oath of allegiance form vowing to reconcile contradictory viewpoints. Active police officers, however, are not allowed to sit on the commission and weigh in on personnel matters of their colleagues.

While public defenders have served on similar commissions across the Bay Area, one in Oakland transferred employment to another county around the time of his appointment, and another in San Francisco was already retired. It’s unclear if others have been commissioners in the same county where they are employed, like Lorber.

However, a 2001 report from the U.S. Department of Justice on implementing citizen review of police notably said that public defenders, defense attorneys and others with backgrounds in criminal justice were often allowed to serve.

The discussion about public defenders on the CRPC is only the latest clash regarding Richmond’s CPRC commissioners.

In 2019, one of Butt’s proposed appointments — software developer Catherine Montalbo — was rejected based on claims that she had made racist and biased posts on social media.

Later that year, a city council meeting erupted into a shouting match after former Mayor Tom Butt abruptly called off a vote on his appointments to the CPRC, rather than have them separated from decisions about other commissions. Richmond’s Charter gives the mayor the sole authority to appoint persons to boards and commissions, but three votes of City Council members, in addition to the mayor, must approve.

The subsequent vacancies reduced the commission to meeting only once with at least five months in 2019—leaving a handful of complaints against RPD officers uninvestigated during that time.

Butt told the San Francisco Chronicle at the time that his rationale for the one, all-or-nothing vote was simple: “Frankly, that is the leverage I have to get the appointments I want.”