Does Bias Infiltrate Solano County Law Enforcement?*

- The Solano County Civil Grand Jury found that local law enforcement City Attomey Gregory W. Stepanicich agencies comply with the statutory requirements when providing training. 707-428-7419 However, bias training is only required and conducted every five years. Local law ... City Clerk enforcement administrations agreed there is too much time between training Karen L. Rees 707-428-7384 sessions. ... City Treasurer CITY'S RESPONSE: Arvinda Krishnan 707-428-7036 The City disagrees in part with this finding. The Fairfield Police Department DEPARTMENTS (FPD) conducts bias training at least every two years for all sworn peace City Manager's Office officers. The FPD conducted in-house training for all officers on the topics 707-428-7400 of racial profiling, crisis intervention techniques, racial and cultural Community Development 707-428-7461 diversity, tactical communication, and de-escalation tactics five times since Fall 2016. The training occurs during pre-scheduled formalized advanced Finance 707-428-7036 officer (A/O) training. The department conducts formalized bias and diversity training at two-year intervals, at a minimum. Fire 707-428-7375 Housing Services

- Most law enforcement administrations identified lack of adequate funding as an impairment to providing additional and/or more frequent training. CITY'S RESPONSE: The City disagrees in part with this finding. The FPD has sufficient funds to provide more frequent training. <b>RECOMMENDATION 2a - Law enforcement administrations seek increased funding</b> for diversity and bias training. CITY'S RESPONSE: The recommendation has been implemented. The City has sufficient funding for diversity and bias training. This is accomplished via the FPD training budget, which funds A/O training. <b>RECOMMENDATION 2b</b> - Collaborate with other local law enforcement agencies in providing diversity and bias training. CITY'S RESPONSE: The recommendation has been implemented. The FPD has trained other surrounding agencies on bias and diversity during A/O. The department seeks training from outside sources as evidenced by two officers attending a "Principled Policing" instructor course in 2021 to increase the number of subject matter experts in the department as well as to increase the quality and perspective of training in bias and diversity.

- More under-represented people need to be represented in decision making roles. <b>CITY'S RESPONSE:</b> The City agrees with this finding.

- California Penal Code section 13651(a) states: "Every police department, sheriff's office, or other entity that employs peace officers shall review the job description that is used in the recruitment and hiring of those peace officers and shall make changes that emphasize community-based policing, familiarization between law enforcement and community residents, and collaborative problem solving, while de-emphasizing the paramilitary aspects of the job." All administrators mentioned the general population's lack of trust of law enforcement officers. CITY'S RESPONSE: The City agrees with this finding. <b>RECOMMENDATION 4a</b> - Ensure that training de-emphasizes a paramilitary approach to policing. CITY'S RESPONSE: The City has already implemented this recommendation. The FPD trains officers regularly on crisis intervention techniques and de-escalation. Current FPD crowd control training also includes information on protecting First Amendment assemblies, de-escalation, demilitarization, and acting in accordance with the Governor's recommendations on protest response. Police officers on regular patrol do not wear tactical uniforms. Letter to Judge Stashyn Re: City of Fairfield Response to 2020-2021 Solano County Grand Jury Report Entitled "Does Bias Infiltrate Solano County Law Enforcement?" September 9, 2021 Both formal training, such as A/O, as well as informal training (briefing training) emphasize problem solving, critical decision making, de-escalation, and applying appropriate tactics. All sworn peace officers attended an eight hour Crisis Intervention Techniques (CIT) training in 2019. Additionally, 26 officers have received advanced CIT training ranging between 16 and 40 hours. FPD officers currently utilize non-sworn mobile crisis teams when appropriate to respond to calls involving people in mental distress. De-escalation and multi-officer response are routine procedures for FPD officers. <b>RECOMMENDATION</b> 4b - Use a collaborative approach with community organizations to problem solve. CITY'S RESPONSE: The FPD The City has already implemented this recommendation. collaborates with the community on issues related to problem solving, bias, and diversity. This includes meeting with organizations, including but not limited to, the NAACP, African-American churches, the Black Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs non-profit organization, Neighborhood Watch Groups, and other community organizations. From January 2020 to August 2021 the department attended and collaborated with the community on numerous occasions: 35 Neighborhood Watch events, twelve in-person community events, seven Business Watch / Heart of Fairfield / Chamber of Commerce meetings, six online community forums, and five in-person community forums. This does not include informal meetings department members have with members of the community, nor does it include the numerous community outreach activities for underprivileged youth hosted and funded by the Police Activities League. Daily, the department's Homeless Intervention Team conducts outreach and attempts to connect houseless people with resources that include drug abuse treatment, counseling, financial aid, medical care, and housing. The Police Department has also started a Latino Forum that is represented by community leaders encompassing all aspects of our Latino community and is overseen by a Latino Sergeant.

- For some law enforcement agencies employee turnover is an issue. Letter to Judge Stashyn Re: City of Fairfield Response to 2020-2021 Solano County Grand Jury Report Entitled "Does Bias Infiltrate Solano County Law Enforcement?" September 9, 2021 <b>CITY'S RESPONSE:</b> The City agrees with this finding.

- There are reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that extremist groups are infiltrating law enforcement agencies. While local law enforcement agencies investigate applicants as part of the vetting process, they rely on employee and citizen complaints to identify current staff social media postings for extremist ideology. CITY'S RESPONSE: The City agrees with this finding. <b>RECOMMENDATION 6a - Solano County law enforcement agencies monitor social</b> media postings by current staff for extremist content. CITY'S RESPONSE: The City has already implemented this recommendation. The FPD will continue to respond to outside party and/or community member complaints related to its employees' social media accounts while also remaining administratively responsible to policy violations that are personally observed by FPD employees. The FPD will continue pre-hire screening for signs of violent extremism. In addition, the City notes that Labor Code § 980 limits the actions the FPD can take with respect to employees' social media accounts.1