Santa Monica Establishes 15-Member Public Safety Reform Advisory Committee
July 10, 2020 12:15 PM
Interim City Manager Lane Dilg has announced the selection of 15 members of Santa Monica’s Public Safety Reform Advisory Committee. The committee is made up of individuals who are residents of or have a close working knowledge of Santa Monica. They will lead a community input process, vet reform proposals, and ultimately make recommendations on public safety reform for both use of force and invest/divest strategies.
“Each of the appointees is committed to ensuring that the City follows best practices for creating a community in which all feel and are safe,” Interim City Manager Dilg said. “Together, they bring relevant knowledge and expertise as advocates for racial justice, residents, business owners, law enforcement officers with a commitment to public safety reform, mental health providers, and social services providers.”
The committee members are:
Angela Scott
Committee for Racial Justice
Darrell Goode
President, NAACP Santa Monica / Venice Branch
Darnell Crumpler
Santa Monica Police Department
Erika Aklufi
Santa Monica Police Department
George Brown
Co-Author, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ New Era of Public Safety Report
Liz Cruz
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Marc Morgenstern
Former Library Board Member
Ocean Park Association President
Michael Shotton
Resident
Nathaniel Trives
Former Mayor
Ralinda Harvey Smith
Resident
Rasika Flores
Case Manager, Youth Resource Center, St. Joseph’s
Rebecca Lantry
Vice President, NAACP Santa Monica / Venice Branch
Robbie Jones
Coalition for Police Reform
Committee for Racial Justice
Shuli Lotan
Mental Health Counseling Coordinator, SMMUSD
Wally Marks
Past Chair, Santa Monica Bayside District Corporation
Working together with City staff, the committee will first facilitate a community input process, and review local, regional, and national proposals advocating for changes to policing and the ways that cities conceive of and allocate funds to achieve public safety. Following this information gathering process, the committee will make recommendations to the Interim City Manager regarding (1) reforms to Santa Monica Police Department use of force policies to ensure that best practices are in place and followed, and (2) changes that should be made to the City’s budget, informed by calls for divest and invest strategies, to better achieve public safety and wellbeing for all in our community.
The committee is one way the City of Santa Monica is working with community members to address issues of racial justice, equity, and inclusion in Santa Monica. Santa Monica’s Black community leaders have come together to create a Black Agenda for Santa Monica to assist the City in owning its history and recognizing and addressing existing barriers by adopting an informed, proactive platform of forthright, sustained, and credible actions.
To learn more about equity and inclusion projects in Santa Monica and to get involved, visit santamonica.gov/equity. You can also sign up for email updates through the SaMoNews community newsletter at www.santamonica.gov/newsletter.
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Media Contact
Constance Farrell
Communications & Public Information Manager
Constance.Farrell@santamonica.gov