From an August 17, 2021 memo from City Clerk John Tulloch:
On August 26th at 6:00 p.m., the City of Piedmont will hold a virtual community meeting with researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio who will be analyzing police call for service data to examine how police services are utilized within Piedmont. The City is interested in an analysis of this data to inform future discussions relative to call responses as well as public utilization of emergency and non-emergency requests for police services.
Community members interested in participating can join the webinar by clicking on https://piedmont-ca-gov.zoom.us/j/86728495072 The meeting will also be televised on KCOM- TV, Piedmont’s government Access TV Station (Comcast Channel 27, AT&T Channel 99).
The researchers will be taking a broad look at all police call data, but will focus on two areas of particular interest:
- The types of calls for service which police officers respond to and the question of if there are alternative responses based on the call types.
- The frequency of biased-based calls for police intervention from the public which lack specific criminal related behavior. At the community meeting, the researchers will present their procedure and methodology and take questions from community members along with the City Administrator Sara Lillevand and Police Chief Jeremy Bowers. This work is a part of the effort to understand bias and the historical role racism has played in Piedmont and the community at large, in order to better lead a city which is a safe, welcoming, and equitable place for all people committed to by the City Council in Resolution 60-2020. The analysis also is part of the efforts to “…review and revise its policies, procedures, ordinances, values, goals, and missions through an anti-racism lens to foster an unbiased and inclusive environment that is free of discrimination, harassment, and negative stereotyping toward any person or group.” required by that same City Council action.