City Manager, City Attorney, and Police Chief agreed to bring on a third-party career law enforcement expert to examine two officer-involved shootings
The City Manager today signed a contract to bring on a highly credentialed expert as an outside investigator to review two officer-involved shootings this year and to determine if policy changes are warranted. The City Manager, City Attorney and Police Chief collaborated on the decision.
Michael Gennaco, Principal of the OIR Group, will review the officer-involved shooting of Joseph Mann, which occurred on July 11 on Del Paso Boulevard and the fatal encounter between police officers and Dazion Flenaugh on April 8 in South Sacramento.
The decision reflects city council members desire to have an objective third-party review. The consultant will have complete autonomy in the review process.
“The review further reflects our effort to be open and perform an objective review of police officer actions,” said City Manager John Shirey.
This is in addition to reviews by the Police Department’s Internal Affairs office and the city’s Office of Public Safety Accountability. A review for any criminal wrongdoing in both cases is still being conducted by the Sacramento County District Attorney.
The deliverable will be a public report of findings and any recommendations for reform.
As a consultant, Mr. Gennaco has reviewed deadly force incidents and in-custody deaths, provided internal training, and conducted reviews of internal affairs at 26 police departments. Mr. Gennaco headed up civilian oversight of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for 13 years and continues to provide ongoing oversight for the Anaheim, Fullerton, Palo Alto, Burbank and Santa Maria Police Departments. He is a former trial attorney for the civil rights division of the U.S. attorney’s office, where he supervised more than 20 federal grand jury investigations into police misconduct.
He will begin his review in early November.