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Fire and Police Commission adopts 2025 work plan; staff outlines outreach and oversight priorities
Summary
The Fire and Police Commission received its annual community-oversight report from Barbara Anderson and adopted a 2025'26 work plan to present to City Council on March 18. The report summarized outreach, bilingual complaint forms, recruitment metrics, and priority topics including e-bike safety and crisis intervention training.
Barbara Anderson, senior assistant to the city administrator, presented the Fire and Police Commission's second annual report on community oversight and the commission's proposed 2025 work plan at the Feb. 27 meeting.
Anderson told commissioners the ordinance that reshaped police oversight requires an annual report and a work plan for City Council. She said the commission has updated complaint and commendation forms to include Spanish and English, completed commissioner orientation and ride-alongs, and worked with an independent police monitor, Hassan Aden of the Aden Group, on implementation and site visits.
Anderson outlined community engagement activity in 2024, including a Westside Community Center meeting on e-bike safety, a session with Santa Barbara City College's Rising Scholars program, a meeting at the Faro Center on transition services for people impacted by the criminal justice system, and public outreach tied to CERT and community academy graduates. She said the city's City News & Brief newsletter reaches about 27,000 recipients with a roughly 58% open rate, press-release subscribers number about 3,000 with 22 media contacts, and 383 people are subscribed specifically to commission agendas.
On social media and communications the commissioners discussed whether to create a distinct commission social presence. Anderson said the city has considered dedicated accounts but emphasized the need for a content calendar and consistent output before launching a separate social channel. She noted an existing landing URL created during the ordinance process: SantaBarbaraCA.gov/communityoversight.
The commission voted to adopt the 2025'26 work plan; the motion was made and seconded and the chair called the vote. "Motion to adopt the 2025 commission work plan passes," the clerk announced. Anderson said the annual report and the work plan will be presented to City Council on March 18.
Commissioners raised questions about the e-bike ordinance (which Anderson said had been approved by City Council and would return for a second reading before taking effect after 30 days), distribution of materials to community partners, and how the commission will continue to publicize meetings and recruit engagement. Anderson said staff will continue to refine commission policies and procedures and will carry remaining items from last year into 2025, including review of complaint processes, use-of-force reviews and the commission's role in public statements for high-profile incidents.
The commission adopted the work plan by motion; the meeting record does not name the mover or seconder on the motion recorded on the transcript.
The commission also approved routine minutes for the Jan. 23, 2025 meeting earlier in the agenda; that motion was recorded as passing.
