Calls for the Modesto Police Department to provide more data related to officers’ use of force were heard during last week’s Community Police Review Board meeting.
A letter from the Modesto NAACP was read aloud during the meeting, requesting an independent assessment following the disproportionate use of force against Black people brought to light by The Modesto Bee’s previous reporting.
The letter, written by NAACP president and CPRB member Wendy Byrd, asks police auditors to look into MPD’s past policies, practices, procedures and data collection regarding use of force, given the auditor’s unique access to the department’s records.
Stephen Connolly, police auditor for the city of Modesto, said there may be limitations on what OIR Group — the organization contracted by the city to assist with police oversight — can do to help with the NAACP’s request.
This was met with a stern response by review board member Austin Grant. “Is that something that can be a topic before the year is over?” he asked. “Because I’m hearing ‘out of scope of work’ and I’m … not really buying that.”
Grant requested that the department provide additional data by November on use-of-force incidents involving Black residents. He asked that the data be reported this year so it doesn’t get “thrown on the back burner” or forgotten.
In June, The Bee published an article reporting that although Black residents make up 4% of the city’s population, they accounted for nearly 17% of use-of-force incidents involving MPD since 2013.
When Police Chief Brandon Gillespie was interviewed in June, he argued the data was out of context and did not provide enough specifics from which to draw conclusions. He said publication of the data would “leave our community with unjustified feelings of bias.”
At the review board meeting Gillespie expressed a similar sentiment in response to the request for more specific data. “I always caution, we should always be interested in data … but simple comparisons to complex issues is a whole separate thing,” he said.
However, Gillespie said that by November, the department likely will have a resolution as to whether it will conduct an academic study “because it’s a very complex issue.” He added that it will at least start digging by then and have some data to present at the November meeting.
When asked by review board member Kenneth Bryant, Gillespie confirmed that he was interviewed by The Bee in June and supplied data from the department that was the basis of the story.
“I don’t have any reason to believe that data is inaccurate,” Gillespie said.
Limited scope
Auditor Connolly said because of the hybrid partnership between the city and OIR, the latter has a limited scope of what it can and can’t do.
He explained that a contract between the two entities ensures that OIR will focus on things such as critical incidents, allegations of misconduct and creating annual reports on MPD’s internal review processes.
OIR does look into use of force, but Connolly said it doesn’t have the capability to look into the specifics of the NAACP’s request.
The NAACP requested an analysis of police encounters and other data — how it’s used in determining racial biases, racial profiling, context surrounding traffic stops, age groups, race, times and locations of occurrences. This would hopefully provide more context to the disproportionate use of force against Black people by MPD, according to the NAACP’s letter.
The letter also requested presentations be done by MPD to the Community Police Review Board and to the NAACP.
“We were familiar with (The Bee’s) article and certainly familiar with the importance of the issues that the article raised and it’s something that a lot of different law enforcement agencies and communities are struggling with,” Connolly said.
He said having MPD present its Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory data would overlap with some of the requests Byrd made in her letter. Connolly also acknowledged that the issue of disproportionate use of force is complex.
However, the fact the board is interested in not letting it get swept under the rug is a sign it’s performing its essential function, said Connolly.
The CPRB held its first meeting in 2023 and was created out of the city’s Forward Together Initiative, which was launched in 2021. Its initial aim was on how to prevent shootings by officers and how to get help for mentally unstable people encountered by police, but has overseen other issues.
OIR is a Los Angeles-based firm established in 2003 that first provided oversight for the Los Angeles Police Department, before taking other cities and counties on as clients. It acts as a consulting firm to the CPRB and has a five-year, $451,000 contract with Modesto.
The next Community Police Review Board meeting is scheduled for Aug. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at 1010 10th St. in the basement-level chambers.
This story was originally published July 25, 2024 10:51 AM.
Julietta Bisharyan
The Modesto Bee
