Mayor updates council on policing advisory group

FREMONT – Mayor Jim Ellis updated Fremont City Council on the city’s plans for a new community policing advisory group, which will include about 20 members and draw from the city’s police department and several area civic groups.

Ellis said he wants the group to include members from groups like NAMI, Terra State Community College and the NAACP, as well as clergy, members of the area’s domestic violence task force and other community organizations.

The mayor previously said the new group would not replace the city’s Community Relations Commission, a group Ellis has criticized in recent months for the way it has handled resident complaints.

Thursday, Ellis said the new advisory group was intended to be temporary, with the idea that it would transition back to the CRC with a new, balanced direction on how to address resident and police department concerns.

According to the mayor, the group will meet together with a facilitator experienced in law enforcement matters to discuss a wide range of issues, including allegations of racial profiling, improvements to the complaint process, and a policy for the use of body cameras.

City Council President Dallas Leake, Ellis’ opponent in the Democrats’ mayoral primary, said he thought the group was a good idea and noted that there was a group that had been meeting once a month to look into similar issues.

“I’m glad there’s a cross section of agencies he wants to get involved,” Leake said.

Ellis said the new group’s makeup and ideas were inspired by a Chicago-based community policing initiative.

He said he hoped to have a facilitator in place within the next month, with that person needing a couple of months to reach out to possible group members and get feedback from the community on issues of concern.

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