Auditor: no new Taser cases this year; complaint write-ups to be presented in August

At the commission’s meeting the auditor’s office reported that there have been no new Taser cases provided by the department in several months and none in 2026. The auditor’s representative said he and a colleague have divided pending complaint cases and expect to circulate written summaries before the next meeting and to present them then.

“It's the law that authorizes people to be taken into custody for a brief period of time for purposes of assessing their mental health,” the auditor explained when describing Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150 in response to a question about what a “mental-health hold” means. The auditor said one of the pending complaints involves an individual who challenged the legitimacy of a 5150 hold and asserted police did not have a right to take that person into custody in the manner they did; the auditor said that complaint will be among those discussed at the next meeting.

Commissioners and staff discussed follow-up questions about whether officers who confiscate weapons during a 5150 hold coordinate with the city attorney’s office to seek retention of the weapons; staff said they would follow up with the chief and the city attorney to clarify local practice. The auditor emphasized that the review process provides transparency about complaints and departmental investigations and that completed case write-ups will be made available to commissioners in advance of the next meeting.

The commission was told the next scheduled meeting is Aug. 3 and that the auditor’s office plans to present the complaint cases at that session, subject to scheduling confirmation.