Complaints filed to the Santa Ana Police Oversight Commission are going to the city’s Police Department for review and investigation, raising questions about just how independent the commission is free to act.
The commission was created in 2022 by the City Council for the purpose of improving transparency and accountability, as well as public confidence in the Santa Ana Police Department.
The commission — its members were finalized late last year and spent the early part of 2024 training up — is responsible for reviewing department policies and procedures, as well as community complaints about alleged police misconduct. An independent oversight director will be responsible for conducting investigations the commissioners chose to pursue after receiving residents’ complaints or use-of-force reports.
However, with no independent director hired by the City Council yet, the commission cannot complete a big part of its mission.
In the meantime, citizen complaints to the commission’s public portal, which launched in March, are in Santa Ana PD’s investigations queue. Police Commander Jorge Lopez told commissioners at their July 11 meeting to “rest assured” that complaints are being worked on.
“So, what is our role then? Maybe I misunderstand our role then,” Commissioner Evangeline Gawronski said at the meeting last week. “I thought that’s what we did. It sounds like you’re doing that. What am I misunderstanding?”
Until the most recent meeting, commissioners had not seen any of the citizen complaints that had already been submitted through the portal because of technical issues, officials said previously.
The commission has started to receive the complaints, either by picking up a physical copy at City Hall or being handed a copy at the commission meetings, but at this point, they can’t do anything aside from read them because there is no director in place yet for the commission.
Commissioner Amalia Mejia said she found it concerning that police representatives were receiving and reviewing complaints filed to the independent commission and said the issue is not only the group’s lack of a director.
“It doesn’t matter whether we have our independent director or not,” Mejia said. “They’re (Santa Ana PD) legally bound to investigate something that they have information on, which is the part that is concerning. It also is concerning that they have access to it. The investigation should be completely independent so that we can actually have evidence. How do we know things aren’t changed?”
When asked about the Police Department’s investigations into received complaints, city spokesperson Paul Eakins said in an email, “The Santa Ana Police Department has, and will continue to, investigate all complaints alleging police misconduct (allegations of violations of law, policy, procedure),” separate from any independent investigations conducted by the independent oversight director.
Mejia said it doesn’t make sense for the commission and the Police Department to be conducting the same work.
Commissioner Carlos Perea said “if it was meant for both entities to do separate investigations parallel to each other,” the effectiveness of the Police Oversight Commission is weakened.
“I do not think the council intended for the Police Oversight Commission to be in a disadvantage in comparison to the internal review by the Police Department,” Perea said. “What I’m mostly concerned about is if the Police Department reaches conclusions through their internal investigations before the Police Oversight Commission, that essentially undermines the investigation that we might do on our end.”
There needs to be checks and balances when it comes to how much power police departments wield, Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez said. The commission’s portal was created as an alternative to Santa Ana PD’s complaint process, with the goal being that resident’s could file a complaint with the idea that an independent entity would review it, he said.
“It is absolutely broken if we’re filing complaints as members of the public to an independent oversight commission, and it’s ending up in the hands of police before it’s ever examined. That is a violation of public trust. It is bad policy,” Hernandez said. “How are you going to file a complaint on an officer independently, expecting there to be privacy, and then for that to end up in the hands of the cops that you’re asking the city to look into?”
Councilmember Benjamin Vazquez said he wants the commission to be able to investigate complaints as soon as possible before cases start piling up on the group.
“I would hope the Police Department will cooperate with the oversight committee completely and not hide or say, ‘We can’t give you information because it’s under an ongoing investigation,’” Vazquez said. “There’s going to have to be oversight on this Police Oversight Commission. We’re going to have to make sure that it’s true to what we asked, that we have complete truth come out, that the public feel safe in what’s happening here, and they have confidence in the Police Oversight Commission, so they can have confidence in their Police Department.”
The City Council is in the process of selecting an independent oversight director, city officials said. The city issued an open request for proposals for the position, and received five, according to Eakins. Mayor Valerie Amezcua confirmed that the city is moving forward with the process of hiring a director. Hernandez and Vazquez both said they didn’t have an update on the hiring process, but said they have provided staff with their opinions on their preferred candidates.
“There are a multitude of applicants, each applicant with their own unique skill sets, with their own unique professional experiences, but we need an independent oversight director who is going to be committed to oversight,” Hernandez said.
Whoever is hired for the role will report directly to the City Council, not to the police chief or city manager, officials previously said.
Perea said it is his understanding the council will send the top three candidates for the director role for the commission’s consideration and to make a recommendation back to the council for a final decision.
Other questions around transparency and the independence of the commission still linger, Perea said. Earlier this month, police officials denied a public records request filed by The Orange County Register to see complaints submitted to the commission. Perea said he’s still looking for clarity around what is public record and who, or what department, gets to make that decision.
“The main issue since I was appointed to the commission has been ensuring that residents have transparency and trust in this commission to do its job of being an independent watchdog of the police. It’s been frustrating having to deal with the way that the commission has not been able to do, fully, its job,” Perea said. “I do feel that it is a disservice to the residents of the city and those who pushed for strong accountability.”
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