An outside expert could review the Chico Police Department’s forthcoming internal investigation into its automated license plate reader cameras.
The proposal was floated at the City Council meeting on Sept. 1. It comes over a month after the department said it would review its data-sharing practices following reporting it had granted access to license plate information to federal agencies, including ICE and Border Patrol.
Councilmember Tom van Overbeek suggested the idea, which the council agreed to discuss further at its Sept. 15 meeting.
He said an ad hoc committee could be formed to choose an outside expert to review the city’s findings.
"This is in no way any question about the integrity of our police chief or Capt. (Jeramie) Struthers, who’s running the investigation,” van Overbeek said.
But van Overbeek said he believes it’s very likely “there will be some segment of the population that will question the validity of the results.”
He suggested that two councilors with different perspectives lead the effort to pick the expert — Mike O’Brien, a former police chief, and Addison Winslow, a progressive — in order to quell those concerns.
“The community will know that we've empowered City Councilperson O'Brien and Winslow to do that, which I think will settle a lot of people down,” van Overbeek said.
Meanwhile, City Manager Gillian Haen told NSPR that a separate special City Council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 21 to discuss the findings of the city’s internal review.
At that meeting, the council is expected to consider what to do with the cameras and hear from the public.
