City Council candidate Joe Leventhal on the future of policing in San Diego

The killing of George Floyd was disgraceful. And it rightfully ignited a critical examination of the American justice system. But the intolerable actions of four Minneapolis police officers does not justify blanket condemnation of almost 1,900 officers in the San Diego Police Department.

Using Mr. Floyd’s death to condemn the SDPD is factually unsupported and bad public policy. The SDPD is not the Minneapolis Police Department. Let’s not forget that San Diego has been repeatedly ranked as America’s safest big city. We can look at 1990s crime statistics to see how far we’ve come. In recent years, there have been considerable policy and cultural changes in the department. One of the more prominent examples is San Diego’s leadership in full implementation of body cameras.

We should always be looking for ways to improve, and every incident of police misconduct should be seriously addressed with proper consequences. I support reforms in policing and the greater justice system. But broadly calling to defund, disband or significantly cut the SDPD budget does not help our city move toward continued, meaningful reform.

Read 19 political perspectives here:

Instead, I believe we should focus our efforts on improving the broader criminal justice system, not just policing. So what would such broad reform look like in San Diego?

It would look like Council member Monica Montgomery’s proposal to create a citywide Office of Race and Equity to address racism and bias in our city. This office should also consider equity and inclusion relating to women, the disabled community and other demographics.

It would look like integrating social workers and mental health experts on calls relating to substance abuse or mental health, with our trained police providing appropriate protection.

It would look like investing in more police training to improve de-escalation tactics, better salaries to encourage good officers to stay at SDPD, and swift action when police misconduct is identified.

It would look like reshaping our local court system to include judges with more diverse backgrounds to help mitigate against explicit and implicit bias in charging decisions, juries and sentencing.

For these reasons, and many more, calls to cut back on the SDPD’s budget are a step in the wrong direction. Implementing these reforms will take more money, not less. And disbanding the police is a nonstarter. This unproven model leaves the public vulnerable and unsafe during times of domestic violence, armed robberies, mass shootings or worse. The actions of a few bad officers in Minneapolis shouldn’t equate to San Diego’s 1.4 million residents left without the safety and protection of police.

But actions speak louder than words. I am proud to say that I’ve been a small part of moving our city forward on this front. Five years ago, after the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson and the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer in Florida, I spearheaded a committee of lawyers planning an annual conference for our federal judges in San Diego. Given the important role judges play in the outcomes for criminal defendants, I asked that the conference focus exclusively on bias in the justice system. To the credit of the chief judge and his colleagues, they agreed.

The result was a productive and important dialogue among judges, SDPD and other law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys. The conference focused on topics such as implicit bias, police practices and excessive force, and discrepancies in sentencing. While it wasn’t an earth-shattering moment for social justice, it started important conversations that need to continue.

I’ve also repeatedly chaired the panel that helps determine our federal magistrate judges. Magistrate judges handle the vast majority of criminal matters in our federal courts. It was important to me and the panel members that our judges reflect the community they serve and understand the criminal justice system from both defense and prosecutor perspectives.

Of the magistrate judges selected through my panel, half are Latina. This is important because the majority of criminal defendants in our local federal court are Latinos. And half of the judges selected have a more diverse criminal law background than the majority of the bench. Of course, these judges reached the bench on their own merits, intelligence and hard work. But sometimes, equity and inclusion require an advocate.

If I’m fortunate enough to serve you, I will remain committed to justice for all in our community. But I’ll focus my efforts on the larger, often tougher, obstacles to that goal and will defend the overwhelming majority of those in law enforcement who are committed to public safety, trust and professionalism.

Leventhal is a candidate for San Diego City Council District 5, which includes Black Mountain Ranch, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Peñasquitos, San Pasqual, Torrey Highlands and other communities.