STOCKTON, Calif. — When Jasmine Dellafosse helped lead police protests in Stockton last month, she hoped it would encourage change.
And with the announcement of a new police community review board in the city this morning, she is hopeful a difference making moment is here.
"Community members have been asking for transparency and accountability, and I think this city manager's review board will allow members of this committee to really do deep dives into the data," said Dellafosse.
The review board, which will comprise of 25 community members chosen by the city manager, will start in early September.
It will meet quarterly to review police policies and practices, including citizen complaints, police shootings and use of force, traffic stops and more.
"What we're setting up here is really a voluntary, self-monitoring capability and function," said Stockton City Manager Harry Black.
Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones said that it's something that the city needs to move forward with better community policing.
"We feel that as a city, this is something that really should be furthering 21st century policing excellence," Jones said.
There already exists a community advisory board involving the Stockton Police Chief. Some community leaders say why add another board and instead just expand off the existing one.
"Let's do research together and to figure out what's already there so that we're not spending money, wasting resources, starting from scratch where we don't need to," said Pastor Trena Turner, Executive Director of community-based Faith in the Valley.
Bottom line, leaders in the Black community do agree there is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to the police.
"We have not rooted out all the racism, all the racist tendencies, the racist belief thinking and practices that are embedded within policing," said Toni McNeil, organizer for Faith in the Valley.
Dellafosse added "It means redistributing funds that can go to other necessary groups who can answer calls to service that may not need law enforcement."
Follow the conversation on Facebook with Kurt Rivera.
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