Chief's Advisory Panel

Introduction

The Pleasant Hill Police Department is committed to partnering with the community to make the City of Pleasant Hill a safer and better place to live and visit.  In part, this involves providing community access to public safety information and, when appropriate, involving the community in decisions that affect them. Equally important is our commitment to transparency, in building and maintaining trust with our community.    

In order to create an environment where these values can thrive, we are creating a Chief’s Advisory Panel (CAP). The CAP is intended to provide a forum for discussions regarding community/ police concerns and allow for greater transparency and communication with the community. Established under the direction of the Chief of Police, the objective of the Panel will be to act as a resource for the Chief in working with the community to form strategies, develop community policing concepts, increase public awareness, bolster engagement, improve transparency, and identify best practices.

Chiefs Advisory Panel (Image)

CAP Role

The role of the CAP will be to act as a conduit between the police department and the community, providing the Chief of Police with a robust exchange of information and insights valuable in understanding community needs and concerns. The Panel will engage in discussion, assist with occasional research, and provide feedback in the development of ideas and strategies. Ultimately, the Panel will assist the Chief in understanding issues and concerns surrounding community/police relations from a broad spectrum of diverse community viewpoints.

The Panel will focus on contemporary challenges that impact the community and its police. Examples of topics which may be brought to the CAP for review and input include:

  • Police response to individuals suffering a mental health emergency.
  • Homelessness.
  • Use of new technologies.
  • Criminal Activity and Trends.
  • Use of force. 
  • Transparency.
  • Ordinances pertaining to public safety.

The CAP will act solely in an advisory capacity and will not have decision-making authority. The scope of the Panel will not include participation in Departmental disciplinary or personnel actions, legal issues, ongoing criminal or internal investigation or active critical incidents. The panel will not make or dictate Departmental policy and is not a policy-making body.

Expectations

To ensure the effectiveness of the CAP, and to ensure that the Panel is accomplishing its purpose, panel members will be expected to: 

  • Attend regularly scheduled meetings
  • Work collaboratively and engage in honest and productive dialogue
  • Treat one another, the public and staff with dignity and respect
  • Represent the community and not utilize meetings to facilitate personal agendas
  • Facilitate communication back to the community through their respective ties
  • Participate in major police events such as National Night Out
  • Participate in ride-alongs with Pleasant Hill police officers to familiarize themselves with Department operations and issues affecting the community.

Structure

Meetings will be hosted at the police department every other month. If necessary, the Panel can be convened at any time to address specific critical issues. The CAP will be comprised of a maximum of 15 community representatives. Members will be from a diverse cross-section of active community members throughout Pleasant Hill. These members will represent a wide range of interests, perspectives, backgrounds and experience. Interests may include residents, business, labor, education, non-profits, community and faith organizations, youth, civic groups, social services and more. Panel members will be selected from Pleasant Hill residents, business owners/employees or individuals intimately involved in an organization that specifically serves the Pleasant Hill community.

Additional selection criteria will minimally include the following requirements:

  • Ability to pass a background check that ensures no felony convictions or misdemeanor convictions within a year of application.
  • No open litigation or claims against the City of Pleasant Hill.
  • Ability to be impartial and unbiased. 

The term for Panel members is limited to two (2) years to allow for greater participation by all interested parties. In order to ensure perpetual off-cycle rotations of future members, a portion of the inaugural Panel will serve from one to three years. This will prevent an entire Panel from “terming out” at the same time. Term extensions will be considered on an individual basis based on community needs and at the discretion of the Chief of Police. Members may be removed for cause prior to the end of their term at the discretion of the Chief of Police. Additionally, members who fail to attend three regular Panel meetings in a year may be considered to have vacated their position and may be replaced.

The CAP will be a volunteer advisory panel and not an official City commission or legislative body. Consequently, meetings will not be open to the public nor subject to Brown Act regulations. 

Staff support to the CAP will be provided through the Office of the Chief of Police. The Chief will serve as the liaison to the CAP, and a staff member from the Office of the Chief of Police will act as the recording secretary. A member or members of the PHPD senior staff may also be included in CAP meetings as appropriate. Support staff will produce agendas, record meeting minutes and disseminate information to members. Staff will also maintain all records related to the CAP meetings.

Application Process

Members will be selected to serve on the Panel for their professionalism, integrity and commitment to the community. Eligible applicants will be Pleasant Hill residents, business owners or employees or individuals intimately involved in an organization that specifically serves the Pleasant Hill community. Electronic applications can be obtained via the link "Chief's Advisory Panel application," featured just to the right of this page. The initial application deadline for the first board members of the Chief's Advisory Panel was October 12, 2021 at 5:00 PM. 

If you would like to be part of this group in the future, please stay tuned to this page and sign-up with our social media platforms to receive updates and information about the Chief's Advisory Panel. Initial panelists will serve for a term of 1-3 years, so it is anticipated we will re-open the board for new applicants sometime in the fall of 2022.