Santa Monica City Council Receives Independent After-Action Report for the Events of May 31, 2020
May 12, 2021 9:21 AM
At its meeting last night, the Santa Monica City Council received the OIR Group’s independent after-action report and evaluation for the events leading to, during, and following May 31, 2020 in the City. OIR Group’s analysis included 44 recommendations to improve the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Police Department’s (SMPD) emergency response.
Council directed SMPD to prepare within 60 days a response to the report through an information item, setting out a plan for implementation of the report’s recommendations, with priorities being leadership, planning, use of force, and officer mental health. Council directed the newly created Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission (PSROC) within 60 days after the issuance of the information item to review the information item and prepare a work plan for consolidating their consideration of other policing issues and setting out additional recommendations for consideration by Council. Council also directed staff, working with the PSROC, to develop a work plan, including oversight by the PSROC, for prioritization, independent evaluation, and public reporting on the status of SMPD’s implementation of the recommendations. Finally, Council gave direction to ensure that usage of body-worn cameras by SMPD personnel is enforced, and to create an opportunity through events like National Night Out to bring the community and SMPD together later this year to make connections and share appreciation for their service.
“OIR Group’s independent analysis is a roadmap to our goal of preventing another May 31. The Council looks forward to SMPD’s report back with a plan for implementation of recommendations and to the work of the Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission in driving the long-term change we need to rebuild public trust and provide public safety for all,” said Mayor Sue Himmelrich. “I also want to thank the officers of SMPD who dedicate themselves to Santa Monica every day.”
OIR Group’s analysis was informed by SMPD documentary and digital evidence; available body worn camera footage; four community listening sessions with residents and business owners; interviews with SMPD officers and City leaders; and the content of a draft SMPD internal after-action report. The 44 recommendations cover policies, training, and best practices for large incident emergency response. Some of the recommendation highlights include the following, with all recommendations listed on page 111 of the report:
- #3: SMPD should develop written protocols to ensure that an operations plan is developed in advance of all potential crowd control situations, establishing expectations for the depth and inclusion as well as a chain of command approval mechanism.
- #8: Create a tracking mechanism for documenting uses of force in the field.
- #16: Training for supervisors on unlawful assembly should emphasize the need to follow Department policy and reach out to event organizers or participants with the goal of gaining voluntary dispersal prior to issuing formal dispersal orders.
- #29: SMPD leadership should work with Area A partners to develop solutions to address the bureaucratic challenges exposed on May 31 and ensure an equitable distribution of National Guard assets in future situations involving civil unrest.
- #32: The City should engage with its community in developing guidelines on whether and how curfews should be deployed, particularly when adjacent to First Amendment protected activity.
- #38: SMPD should remind all officers – in daily briefings, a Department-wide training or a Training Bulletin, and specifically in briefings prior to any protest activity – of the requirement to activate their body-worn camera generally per policy and during crowd control incidents in specific.
“The Police Department accepts all of the recommendations contained in the OIR Group’s After-Action Analysis and continues to be committed to rebuilding trust within all segments of our community,” said Interim Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks. “We certainly understand that our transparency and accountability are crucial to that rebuilding process. We welcome the opportunity to provide an Information Item response setting forth our plan for implementation of the OIR’s recommendations in accord with the Council priorities of leadership, planning, use of force, and the mental health and well-being of our police officers.”
Since May 31, 2020, SMPD has taken a number of steps to learn and improve. Many of these steps are recommendations from OIR Group. Actions taken over the last year, include:
- Establishing a Mobile Field Force (MFF) Cadre of approximately 50 officers specifically trained to deal with civil unrest and large crowds, including over 100 hours of training.
- Increased training across the Department in Incident Command System (ICS) structure, including training all those of Lieutenant rank or above in ICS structure.
- Reinstated its Planning and Intelligence Unit, which now serves as a central point and clearinghouse for all intelligence concerning possible threats to the City, region, and/or State, and is responsible for all planning operations. Within this Unit, SMPD has established an Intel Cadre of sworn and civilian officers, including social media power users.
- Initiated and maintained regular contact with the California Office of Emergency Services as well as mutual aid partners within and external to Los Angeles County to prepare for events that extend broadly across Area A cities and Los Angeles County.
- As part of the development of the City-wide Civil Unrest Annex and Emergency Action Plans, SMPD has coordinated with other departments to ensure, among other things, that SMPD officers are trained to operate Big Blue Bus motor coaches if necessary, that the Public Works Department is prepared to implement developed plans for barricades and freeway closures using City equipment.
- A Public Information Officer will be assigned and available during an emergency event to coordinate with the JIC and to provide continuous information to the community and key stakeholders.
- Reviewed and revised internal policies, including the Department’s use of force policies, to affirm that it is the policy of the Department that all members hold the highest regard for the sanctity of human life and the dignity and liberty of all persons and set forth that officers may use only that amount of force reasonably necessary and proportional based on the circumstances known to or perceived by the officer at the time. Changes include removing all less than lethal hard projective ammunition from patrol officers, who now use foam tipped projectiles, and making more prominent, within the existing use of force policy, obligations to give and capture, via body worn camera or other mechanism, dispersal orders and warnings associated with the deployment of impact munitions and tear gas. Other policy and protocol changes now govern mass arrests and the handling of injuries associated with mass arrests.
The after-action report can be viewed at www.santamonica.gov/may31afteraction.
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Media Contact
Constance Farrell
Communications & Public Information Manager
Constance.Farrell@santamonica.gov