San Rafael PAC accepts 2024 annual report after edits; members seek clearer language on youth policing

The Police Advisory and Accountability Committee voted to accept its 2024 annual report after members raised concerns about wording that could be read as committee endorsement of particular policing measures for schools.

Staff presented the draft annual report and said it was prepared according to a city council resolution and the PAC bylaws; the document will be submitted to City Council for formal review. Member Locks and other PAC members said some summary language suggested the PAC “recommended” reintegration of school resource officers and other actions, when the record actually contained a range of individual views. Member Locks urged staff to reflect that diversity of views and not present contested items as unanimous committee recommendations.

To address the concern, the committee moved to accept the annual report with a wording change in the staff materials: replace the term "recommendation" with "topic" in the staff‑report summary tables so that items with divided member views do not read as a PAC consensus. Staff agreed to remove summary charts from the staff report and to align the staff report language with the annual report so City Council will receive consistent wording. The motion to accept the report with that change passed on a roll call (approvals recorded from Member Ong, Member Alvarez, Member Camina, Member Nguyen, Member Ruiz, Chair Toccalahi and Vice Chair de Vidi).

Public commenters, including residents who attended the meeting, said they were concerned that staff summaries sometimes presented committee discussion as unified endorsements and urged clearer attribution of individual member positions. Committee members also suggested additional outreach to solicit youth input about school policing questions that appear in the report. Staff said the final annual report will be transmitted to City Council in February (a tentative date of Feb. 18 was discussed) and that staff will provide corrected staff‑report language and remove the summary charts before the council packet is prepared.

The meeting also included the staff liaison’s complaint summary for 2024: 33 total complaints (2 sustained, 23 exonerated, 6 unfounded, 2 pending). Staff said those two pending matters look likely to be exonerated or unfounded but were not final at the time of the meeting.

The PAC’s acceptance of the annual report completes the committee’s internal approval process; staff will forward the final document and corrected staff materials to City Council for formal consideration.