Carlsbad — Members of the City of Carlsbad’s Community Police Engagement Commission reviewed and revised their annual work plan at the Oct. 28 meeting, agreeing to recommend reducing regular meetings from four to three per year while keeping training and outreach priorities.

Nikki Matosian, community relations manager, facilitated the discussion. Commissioners generally supported “continu[ing] best practices for commission training, communication, deliberation and operations,” and asked staff to present the revised work plan and calendar to City Council for approval.

Commissioners discussed mandated trainings spelled out in the commission ordinance, including the Citizens Police Academy and at least two ride-alongs. Staff and commissioners also noted ordinance-referenced exposure to police trainings such as use-of-force briefings, implicit-bias training and mental-health interaction courses; some of those sessions are online or observational and are tracked through the department’s training portal.

The commission placed Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training in a planning “parking lot” and asked staff to arrange a future CERT presentation so commissioners can decide whether to add it to the work plan. Commissioners also proposed that staff connect each commissioner with a neighborhood block captain (crime-prevention point of contact) in their district to raise awareness and create direct community liaisons.

On meeting frequency, commissioners agreed to recommend three meetings per year with an option to convene special meetings as necessary; staff noted any change to meeting frequency would require City Council approval and a formal calendar adoption. Chair Zapata and Chief Calderwood said they favored fewer, more comprehensive meetings that would allow staff to prepare more detailed presentations and reduce repetitive travel.

Staff will prepare an amended work plan and calendar for the commission to adopt and then forward to council.