Council considers extending independent police auditor’s contract for six months – Pasadena Now

As part of Monday’s consent agenda, the City Council will consider extending Independent Police Auditor (IPA) Richard Rosenthal’s contract by $90,000 for an additional six months.

Rosenthal announced his resignation last month and agreed to stay for six months if his contract was extended.

On May 9, 2022, the City Council voted to authorize the City Attorney to enter into a one-year, $150,000 contract with Rosenthal for IPA services.

He replaces Brian Maxey who resigned last year.

“To ensure the city is not left without an IPA for a significant period of time, staff will begin the bidding process for a new IPA this summer,” according to a city staff report.

In 2020, the City Council passed an ordinance creating a Community Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) and an IPA. The ordinance requires the City Attorney to “maintain and administer” an IPA that reports to the City Council.

The IPA’s duties include, among other things, serving as a best practices advisor to the Commission, reviewing categorical uses of force by Pasadena Police Department (PPD) officers, reviewing investigations of personnel complaints about bias-based policing practices, and recommending changes to PPD policies, procedures or officer training.

Dr. Rosenthal began his career in police oversight as a public corruption prosecutor in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, where he participated in the uncovering of the LAPD Rampart scandal, which ultimately resulted in the imposition of a federal consent decree on the Los Angeles Police Department.

He also served as the first police auditor in Portland, Oregon, and the first police supervisor for the city and county of Denver.

In 2012, he was hired by the Province of British Columbia to serve as the first civilian director of its Independent Investigations Office, with responsibility for conducting criminal investigations into police uses of deadly force.

He received a PhD in criminology in 2021, with a specialization in the study of police oversight and accountability.

Over the past two years, Dr. Rosenthal has developed excellent working relationships with the Community Police Oversight Commission, the Pasadena Police Department, and city staff. Dr. Rosenthal recently released a report on the staff complaint process, and the Police Department and CPOC have worked with him to create an online implementation tracking tool for all recommendations made by him and other independent reports.

Rosenthal is currently working with CPOC on a comprehensive assessment of pretext stops in Pasadena, which was a recommendation made by the OIR group as part of the independent review of the officer-involved shooting of Anthony McClain.