Why is the Oceanside City Manager Handcuffing the Search for a New Police Chief?
Take Action Today: Click here to sign our petition to Oceanside City Manager Deanna Lorson
Read: Click here to read the Coast News Op-Ed by Rev Coker, Dr Webb, and Father Ratajczak
PRESS RELEASE:
Oceanside churches are calling upon Oceanside City Manager Deanna Lorson to conduct a nationwide search for the next chief of police that is transparent and with meaningful community input.
Ms. Lorson recently shared her intention to limit the search to internal candidates, assemble what may turn out to be anonymous advisory panels, and hire a new chief by early October, leaving little time to discover community aspirations for the next chief and the direction of the police department. This stands in stark contrast with the nationwide search that led to the hire of the present Chief of Police, Frank McCoy, who is retiring next month.
Limiting the search to internal candidates means that only a few applicants will be considered during a time where much of the public is calling for a reimagination of policing to root out racism, eliminate excessive use of force, and make the best use of police resources. The Oceanside Police Department struggles with mistrust among many residents. In 2018, St. John Church and The Oceanside Sanctuary Church partnered with the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego to gauge community trust of local police. Oceanside’s residents of color consistently reported that they, or someone they knew, had negative encounters with police.
Dr. Kadri J. Webb, Senior Pastor of St. John, asked: “How can residents be confident that the best person, one with the vision and courage to meet the challenges of the day, will be hired if the search is limited to a few internal applicants? Why the aggressive timeline? Has someone already been secretly chosen for the job because that person will maintain the status quo?”
Rev. Jason A. Coker, Lead Pastor of The Oceanside Sanctuary, stated: “When we personally met with Chief McCoy about the findings of the Kroc Institute in 2018, he flatly dismissed them and did little to follow up on these concerns. Oceanside needs a chief who is courageous enough to admit department shortcomings, who has experience addressing racial justice concerns, and who is committed to changing OPD culture to produce more humanizing police interactions with people of color.”
Additionally, Ms. Lorson said she will form advisory panels of experts and community members to share with her their opinions of the applicants. However, she has yet to commit to making the names of the people she appoints available to the public before the new chief is selected. Dr. Webb asked: “If Ms. Lorson’s advisors are anonymous, how can we be sure they’re not connected to people, such as city council members, who might be politicizing her decision. After all, the city council has the power to fire her.”
St. John, Oceanside Sanctuary, and St. Thomas More Catholic Church are calling upon Ms. Lorson to:
Open this position to external applicants, so Oceanside has the best chance to hire the best person for the job;
Create online public workshops for residents to share their concerns, values, and priorities for the hiring of the next chief;
Make the identity of all persons advising Ms. Lorson transparent before the selection of a new chief so residents know who is influencing this critical decision.
Pastor Coker says that “Our concerns are ultimately moral, not political. As the Jewish prophet Jeremiah wrote, ‘They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.’ Ignoring our collective wounds is the surest path to the deeper infection of abusive power.”
St. John Church, The Oceanside Sanctuary, St. Thomas More, and two other Oceanside churches are members of the San Diego Organizing Project, a nonprofit network of congregations that work to advance social and environmental justice. Together, the Oceanside churches count over 13,000 residents as members.