The Contra Costa Racial Justice Coalition will host Aaron Zisser, a civil rights lawyer who served as Independent Police Auditor in San Jose.

As IPA, Zisser reviewed internal investigations of alleged officer misconduct and issued policy recommendations. He served in this role for about a year before an intense political campaign, waged by the police union, forced him out. South Bay police accountability activists believe that the campaign against Zisser was the police union’s way to trying to put the brakes on efforts to give the Auditor more powers to hold the agency to account. (As the Mercury News put it, a “veiled opposition to community demands for expanded reach for the IPA, including increased access to internal misconduct investigations – and officer-involved shooting probes.”)

Now that the CCC Racial Justice Task Force is trying to increase accountability over the CCC Sheriff’s office, Zisser will be attending the next CCRJC meeting to help thr group understand various models of independent oversight for law enforcement. Some of these models are described in “Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement Bodies,” a report which describes the pro’s and con’s of different ways that cities oversee their police departments. Options range from civilian police commissions (such as we have here in Richmond) to Independent Auditor models, like the one in San Jose. To find out more or get involved, please attend the meeting on the 10th!