City Council Creates Ad Hoc Committee To Review SMPD Use Of Force Policy

On Tuesday, the City of San Marcos considered the creation and appointment of an Ad Hoc Council Committee charged with reviewing the Police Department’s Use of Force Policy and provide direction to staff.

During the July 7 work session, Interim Chief of Police Bob Klett provided the council with a presentation detailing many aspects of the policy in response to emails and messages received by council members.

Staff provided the council with a recommendation to create an Ad Hoc Committee for the limited purposes of reviewing the department’s policies and making recommendations to Chief Klett and his advisory panel, which is charged with reviewing and recommending policy changes to the department. 

The council agreed to select committee members from a pool of applicants; applications for the Ad Hoc Committee will be released by the city sometime in the next week and will be due Sept. 30.

 Members of the Chief’s Advisory Panel will not be eligible to serve on the Ad Hoc Committee.

Several council members expressed concerns about the recommendations going through a “middle man” before coming before the council.

Director of Public Safety, Chase Stapp, said the initial plan was for the committee to send their recommendations to the Chief’s Advisory Panel for review as the panel’s core functions was policy recommendations.

“This project directly impacts their charge and wanted them to have involvement and input in that process,” Stapp said.

Bert Lumbreras, City Manager, said it doesn’t make sense to city staff to keep the Chief’s Advisory Panel out of the process while they did not intend for members of the panel to be a part of the committee.

The topic is expected to return to the dais on September 15 once applications begin to come in.