Audit Urged in Lieu of Police Commission

The proposal to create a civilian police commission has been shelved by a City Council subcommittee, cooling an ongoing political firefight between a faction of the council and this city’s police force.

Turning away from the controversial move of creating Orange County’s only civilian police commission, the subcommittee instead recommended hiring an independent auditor to review Police Department policies and effectiveness.

The full council may act on that recommendation at its Feb. 18 meeting.

The police commission proposal was viewed by some as a way to rein in a department with a reputation for aggressive behavior. Others dismissed the plan as little more than political payback in an ongoing feud between the police officers union and council members.

The subcommittee of council members Dave Sullivan, Shirley S. Dettloff and Tom Harman recommended 3 to 0 on Monday that an outside consultant performing a three- to six-month audit would be a more practical option.

“We still felt there were some questions we wanted answered,” Sullivan, the subcommittee chairman, said Tuesday.

Sullivan and Harman proposed the civilian commission, and both have defended themselves against claims that the move was meant to punish officers after the police union aggressively campaigned against them in the November elections.

Sullivan said his main concerns are about police response to citizen complaints, its budget and staffing.

Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg and police union President Richard Wright both heralded the new proposal.

“I feel more comfortable with this direction,” Lowenberg said Tuesday. “We run a pretty good ship here and we feel confident that a consultant with good credentials will recognize that. A review might also reveal something we can do better or different.”