Palo Alto Commission Urges Use-Of-Force Restrictions: Report

PALO ALTO, CA — Palo Alto’s Human Relations Commission on Wednesday urged the city to make significant changes to it police use-of-force policies and issued additional recommendations that aim to address racial inequality, Palo Alto Weekly reports.

The commission’s recommendations follow an effort to address concerns about police brutality in the aftermath of the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for approximately nine minutes, the report said.

The commission also wants police to be mindful of how they interact with the public, according to the report.

"It's a fearful thing to be stopped by a police officer for anybody," Commission Chair Kaloma Smith said, according to the report.

"And tone and body language automatically set the atmosphere and that authority can lean in."

Police Chief Bob Jonsen pushed back against some of commission's recommendations during the meeting, the report said.

Jonsen said he was opposed to instituting a ban on shooting at moving vehicles, among other recommendations, the report said.

The City Council will eventually decide whether to implement the recommendations or leave the determination of policy to the Palo Alto Police Department and the police union, the report said.

Assistant Chief Andrew Binder said the department is open to changes, the report said.

"We have to be," Binder said according to the report.

"We ultimately serve our communities. We will maintain our opinions and be guided by case law and Supreme Court decisions and internal policies, but I think you will see how policing and service delivery of policing is going to change and is changing. … There is a huge wave of momentum."

Read more at Palo Alto Weekly