Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/michael-gennaco/)
Beefed-up citizen oversight of the Anaheim Police Department will be considered by the City Council Tuesday. A report by the ACLU found Anaheim to be among the nation’s worst cities for deaths at the hands of police.
Meeting focused on whether the purview of the Office of Independent Review, which is currently limited to the Sheriff’s Department, should also include the District Attorney and other agencies related to law enforcement.
Michael Gennaco’s contract was approved on a split 3-2 vote, with supervisors Shawn Nelson and Michelle Steel opposing.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors was planning to show Office of Independent Review head Steve Connolly the door by the end of this month. But the board is now scheduled to give him another four months.
Three of the four Fullerton police officers primarily involved in the beating death of mentally ill transient Kelly Thomas violated a series of department policies, according to an internal affairs investigation report.
The hearing before three Orange County supervisors occurred just as civilian oversight of the sheriff’s department faces a reboot.
The report was commissioned in the aftermath of fatal police shootings in the summer of 2012 that triggered a downtown riot.
The City Council will spend $1.1 million on body cameras for police officers, a step city officials hope will continue building a fragile trust with residents.
A meeting of minds Wednesday night that included the district attorney, Anaheim’s mayor and Santa Ana’s former police chief revealed no clear path to accountability in shootings by police.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas charged Joseph Wolf with involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force.