Here’s what Modesto Police Review Board did at first meeting. And what chief thinks of it

Modesto’s new Community Police Review Board did not take up specific complaints at its first meeting. It did get a sense that officers have a hard job and that transparency matters.

The nine-member volunteer panel will advise a law firm hired last month to monitor police procedures. This will include matters such as officer-involved shootings, vehicle pursuits with injuries, and hiring and training.

Member Brad Hawn, a former city councilman, was elected chairman at the Thursday evening meeting. Under the bylaws, he will be asked to show up at “critical incidents” at any hour. They can involve people who die while in police custody from causes other than shooting.

One of the attorneys also will respond to the incident, but that might take several hours, because most of them are based in Los Angeles.

Police Chief Brandon Gillespie told the board he welcomes the oversight.

“We’re always looking for ways to get better,” he said. “We’re not a perfect organization. I’m not a perfect person. Having the input from the community on things related to policing is important to me.”

The oversight plan grew out of the city’s Forward Together initiative, launched in 2021. It looked at how to prevent shootings by officers and at how to get help for mentally unstable people encountered by police, among other issues.

The law firm is the OIR Group, which has a $451,000 contract over five years with Modesto. It specializes in this kind of work, with about 30 local government clients around California.

The firm will not do its own investigations of complaints against Modesto officers, Principal Michael Gennaco told the board. Rather, it will assess how the department followed its own procedures for officer discipline.

The firm will produce public reports at least once a year, with as much detail as laws on officer privacy allow. It could suggest ways to improve police procedures in general.

The board will meet on the third Thursday of each month, at 5 p.m. on the second floor of Tenth Street Place. Meetings will be open to the public.

Individual members can spend the next several weeks learning more about the department. They can ride along with patrol officers, or try their hand at a simulator of life-or-death shooting scenarios. On Aug. 1, they can take part in National Night Out, where police get to know residents at picnics and other informal settings.

Those serving on board have wide-ranging backgrounds

The board is diverse in age, gender, ethnic background and occupation. Applicants had to be registered to vote in Modesto and could not work for the city or in law enforcement anywhere.

Hawn is a civil engineer already involved in efforts against homelessness. He urged fellow members to spread the word about the police board.

The vice chair is Nico Solorio, emergency rental assistance manager for City Ministry Network. He will respond to critical incidents if Hawn is not available.

Member Kenneth Bryant is a retired battalion chief for the Modesto Fire Department. He said the board needs to assure residents that it will be independent.

“If they don’t trust what we’re doing, if they think we’re just an adjunct of the Police Department or the city, I don’t think that’s going to result in building a lot of trust,” Bryant said.

Members have staggered four- and five-year terms

The other members are:

• Latricia Beasley Day, community organizer for Faith in the Valley

• Wendy Byrd, president of the NAACP Modesto/Stanislaus
  
  

• Trish Christensen, president and CEO of the Modesto Chamber of Commerce
  
  

• Frank Damrell III, director of government relations for Peer & Co. and aide to former state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani
  
  

• Austin Grant, emergency preparedness analyst for the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, active with the NAACP and other groups
  
  

• Nancy Smith, retired attorney, including California Rural Legal Assistance and the county Public Defender’s Office.
  
  

Five of the nine served on the Forward Together panel: Byrd, Christensen, Grant, Hawn and Solorio.

The new board has staggered terms. They will run through 2027 for Beasley Day, Bryant, Damrell, Grant and Solorio. The others will serve through 2028.

Mom of man killed by officer urges board to listen

Forward Together emerged amid protests over the 2020 shooting death of Trevor Seever by Officer Joseph Lamantia. Seever’s family reached a $7.5 million settlement with the city in April. Lamantia was fired and has been charged with voluntary manslaughter.

Seever’s mother, Darlene Ruiz, has been watching the new oversight system come together. On Thursday, she urged the board to hear from other families affected by police shootings.

“It is immensely healing to be able to tell a committee that’s supposed to be helping us to bridge the trust and transparency,” she said.

Before Lamantia’s arrest, Seever’s family had protested often to the City Council. It happened during the public-comment period required at all local government meetings in California.

More recently, the council has heard from survivors of Paul Chavez Jr., killed in a police shooting last July. Officer Sam Muncy was later cleared by the District Attorney’s Office. The family has sued the city over the death.

No one from the Chavez family was at Thursday’s police board meeting. In May, widow Brittoni Estrella told the council she did not think the oversight process will help.

Here’s some of what OIR attorneys may do

OIR’s other clients include the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and police in Santa Cruz, West Sacramento, Santa Rosa, Palo Alto, Anaheim and Burbank.

This geographical range could mean that an attorney is within reasonable driving distance of a Modesto incident, Gennaco said. Once here, that person could obtain video from officers’ cameras, recordings of radio traffic, and other fresh information.

Gennaco said he had his first private meeting with police management earlier Thursday. They discussed the June 3 shooting and wounding of Gordon Massey by Officer Raihil Sharma. Massey is accused of firing toward the officer and has been jailed on an attempted murder charge. An internal investigation is under way regarding Sharma’s actions.

Gennaco co-founded OIR Group in 2001 after working in the civil rights section of the U.S. Department of Justice. His prosecutions around the nation included excessive force by officers.

Gennaco said police are unique among professions in having the legal right to detain fellow residents, using force if necessary.

“That authority is awesome,” he said. “We don’t give that to anyone else. ... And along with that authority comes responsibility.”