November 7, 2012 - Minutes

Members present:
Kathy Black, La Casa de las Madres
JaMel Perkins, Partners Ending Domestic Violence
Dr. Antonio Ramirez, POCOVI
Dion Roberts, Mary Elizabeth Inn
Andrea Shorter, Commission on the Status of Women
Ken Theisen, Bay Area Legal Aid
Beverly Upton, Domestic Violence Consortium
Dr. Emily Murase, Department on the Status of Women

Other Attendees/Speakers:
Rebecca Prozan and Jean Roland, Office of the District Attorney; Lt. Michelle Jean and Susan Giffin, Police Department; Lisa Hoffman, Department of Emergency Management; Robin Brasso, Democratic Women in Action; Carol Sacco, Nancy Rock, and Stacey Hoang (Department staff).

I. CALL TO ORDER/AGENDA CHANGES
Chair Andrea Shorter called the meeting to order at 9:10 am. The Oversight Panel approved the agenda with no changes. [Perkins/Theisen/ALL]

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Minutes from the February 1 and August 1, 2012 meetings, and the August 20, 2012 special meeting were approved. [Theisen/Perkins/ALL]

III. REPORTS
A. Department Updates
1. Police Department, Special Victims Unit, Lt. Michelle Jean
Lt. Michelle Jean reported that everyone in the Special Victims Unit has been crossed trained. They are working out the transition and hope to gain 2-4 more inspectors in the next few months, and will have 4 instead of 2 inspectors on call 24/7.

The discussion focused on training. There are 18 people dedicated to domestic violence, but not all have gone through the certified training yet. Six are slated to retire in 2013, so unit leadership is focused on a transition plan. The Unit has a total of 60 people including civilians.

2. District Attorney’s Office, Rebecca Prozan
Rebecca Prozan provided the Panel with a copy of the District Attorney’s letter to the Sheriff, and a copy of the Sheriff’s response.

Panel members recognized District Attorney George Gascon for his leadership. The discussion focused on Panel Members’ concerns about potential conflicts of interest that can arise in domestic violence cases and programs handled by the Sheriff’s Department. Currently, a Deputy Sheriff is being under investigation for domestic violence, and the hearing officer who will determine whether the officer keeps his job would be the Sheriff. The Panel expressed support for the October 10, 2012 request for the Sheriff to recuse himself from domestic violence cases.

3. Department on the Status of Women, FY 2011-2012 and Violence Against Women Grants Program Annual Report, Stacey Hoang
Stacey Hoang, Fiscal & Development Manager, provided an overview of the Department on the Status of Women’s fiscal year 2011-2012 highlights and summarized outcomes of its Violence Against Women Prevention and Intervention Grants Program. During last fiscal year, the Department granted out $2.8 million to 31 programs that served 29,434 unduplicated individuals and provided 40,908 hours of supportive services.

Panel Member Ken Theisen pointed out that the statistics only reflect the outcome of what the Department granted, and that the actual number of people served by the agencies is much higher than reported.

4. Police Department, Susan Giffin
Susan Giffin started her presentation by reviewing what was shared to the Panel back in May 2011, including the lack of electronic record keeping and the recommendation to have an online searchable data warehouse. Since then, 200 staff were interviewed to determine the Department’s priorities: implement a proper technology team, create an online Data Warehouse, create a technology help desk, equip officers with proper tools, shift focus from Crime Management to Crime Prevention, and improve operations.

Ms. Giffin walked the Panel through elements of the online Crime Data Warehouse, a state of the art web-based portal to search data. While several elements are still in development, the system is up and running, including the Predictive Policing and Mapping functions, and the Most Wanted Crime Bulletins. Ms. Giffin shared a success story that showed officers were able to arrest a rapist using information from the Crime Data Warehouse.

Ms. Giffin concluded by presenting a revised plan to move forward: technical support services, predictive policing, mobile technology for officers, automate crime reporting, community engagement, and improve operations.

Panel members asked whether CLETS (California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System) restraining orders are attached to records. Lisa Hoffman from the Department of Emergency Management responded that officers get a full description of restraining orders.

B. Committee on Housing for Survivors of Domestic Violence
The Committee is scheduled to meet on November 12. An update will be provided at the next meeting.

C. JUS.T.I.S. Governance Council
Dr. Murase reported on the August 23, September 20, and October 25 meetings. The domestic violence data is available, and the Department will meet with JUS.T.I.S. staff to go over reporting needs and formatting. The next JUSTIS meeting is scheduled for November 29, 2012.

D. Family Violence Council
Beverly Upton reported that the 2011 Comprehensive Report on Family Violence is ready to be distributed to the Council at the next meeting on November 28. The meeting highlight will also include a presentation from one of the Council’s Tri-Chairs who developed a mobile application for law enforcement.

E. Batterer Accountability
Ms. Upton is part of a team working with the Adult Probation Department to evaluate all Batterers Intervention Programs.

F. Current Issues in Domestic Violence (including adjudicated cases)
Dr. Murase shared with the panel a factsheet that the Department on the Status of Women’s Policy Director wrote on the Violence Against Women Act, and recommended that the Panel support reauthorization of the Act. Panel Member Andrea Shorter recommended that the Department look into whether the LGBT and the immigrant provisions are included before supporting it.

IV. OLD BUSINESS
A. Officer Involved Domestic Violence Policy
Ms. Upton reported that the draft policy will be outlined during the joint meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Police Commission on December 5, 2012. A draft policy should be available for the Panel’s review by the next meeting.

B. Workplace Policy on Domestic Violence
Dr. Murase stated that the Department has been working with Supervisor Eric Mar’s office to work on a Workplace Policy on Domestic Violence resolution.

V. NEW BUSINESS
A. Board of Supervisors Proceedings

B. How to mark the 10-Year Anniversary of the J&C Oversight Panel
Dr. Emily Murase explained that the eraser was to recognize the 10 Year Anniversary of the Justice & Courage Oversight Panel, and the symbolic elimination of domestic violence homicides in 2012.

C. 2013 Quarterly Meetings
The Panel approved the 2013 meeting dates of February 6, May 1, August 7, and November 6. [Shorter/Theisen/ALL]

A discussion about the Human Services Agency providing a grant to a program that did not meet the State’s standards and guidelines on domestic violence was brought forth.

VI. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mary Elizabeth Inn is hosting its annual Speaker Series on November 15 at the World Affairs Council and invited the panel to attend.

Robin Brasso thanks Ms. Giffin for her work and hoped that the Violence Against Women Act is reauthorized.

VII. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 11:05 am. [Shorter/Theisen/ALL]