HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-14 DITF Agenda
TOWN OF TIBURON
Tiburon Town Hall
1505 Tiburon Boulevard
Tiburon, CA 94920
Tiburon Town Council
Standing Committee: Diversity Inclusion Task Force
April 14, 2021
Regular Meeting – 5:00 p.m.
TIBURON
DIVERSITY INCLUSION TASK FORCE
AGENDA
CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) ADVISORY NOTICE
On May 18, 2020, the Marin County Public Health Officer issued a legal order directing residents to
shelter at home until further notice. The order limits activity, travel and business functions to only the
most essential needs. Additional information is available at https://coronavirus.marinhhs.org/
Consistent with Executive Orders No. N-25-20 and No. N-29-20 from the Executive Department of the
State of California, the Town Council Task Force meeting will not be physically open to the public and
all members will be teleconferencing into the meeting. To maximize public safety while still maintaining
transparency and public access, members of the public can access the meeting by following the meeting
live at:
Audio/Video Webinar: https://zoom.us/j/98210862426
Webinar ID: 982 1086 2426
Call-in Number: +1 669 900 6833
Access Code: 982 1086 2426
Instructions for providing public comment live during the meeting using Zoom are linked on the Town’s
website.
Members of the public may provide public comment by sending comments to the Town Clerk by email at
comments@townoftiburon.org. Comments received prior to the start of the meeting will be distributed
electronically to the task force and posted on the Town’s website. Comments received after the start
time of the meeting, but prior to the close of public comment period for an item, will then be read into
the record, with a maximum allowance of 3 minutes per individual comment, subject to the Chair’s
discretion. All comments read into the record should be a maximum of 500 words, which corresponds
to approximately 3 minutes of speaking time. If a comment is received after the agenda item is heard but
before the close of the meeting, the comment will still be included as a part of the record of the meeting
but will not be read into the record.
Any member of the public who needs accommodations should email or call the Town Clerk who will use
their best efforts to provide reasonable accommodations to provide as much accessibility as possible
while also maintaining public safety in accordance with the Town’s procedure for resolving reasonable
accommodation requests. All reasonable accommodations offered will be listed on the Town’s website at
www.townoftiburon.org.
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Town Council: Councilmember Fredericks (Vice Chair), Councilmember Kulik, Councilmember Ryan,
Vice Mayor Welner, Mayor Thier (Chair)
At-large Members: Noah Griffin, Anette Harris, Ruben Kalra, Karen Carrera, Leela Stake
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Persons wishing to address the task force on subjects not on the agenda may do so at this time. Please
note however, that the task force is not able to undertake extended discussion or action on items not on
the agenda. Matters requiring action will be referred to the appropriate Commission, Board, Committee
or staff for consideration or placed on a future task force meeting agenda. Please limit your comments to
three (3) minutes.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
DI-1. Introduction of Police Chief Ryan Monaghan – The Town Manager will introduce new Police
Chief Ryan Monaghan, followed by comments from Task Force members.
DI-2. Task Force Actions and Activities – Task Force members will discuss ideas for the work or
goals of the Task Force, including potential community events, review existing community
feedback received by the Town in the development of the Task Force and receive information
regarding similar initiatives in Marin County.
DI-3. Workforce Diversity – Discuss ideas for increasing diversity in the workforce, including
hiring/promotion policies.
DI-4. Next Meeting – Annouce next meeting date and make recommendations for agenda items.
ADJOURNMENT
GENERAL PUBLIC INFORMATION
ASSISTANCE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special
assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Town Clerk at (415) 435-
7377. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the Town to make
reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.
AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION
Copies of all agenda reports and supporting data are available for viewing and
inspection at Town Hall and at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library located adjacent to
Town Hall. Agendas and minutes are posted on the Town’s website,
www.townoftiburon.org.
Upon request, the Town will provide written agenda materials in appropriate
alternative formats, or disability-related modification or accommodation, including
auxiliary aids or services, to enable individuals with disabilities to participate in
public meetings. Please send a written request, including your name, mailing
address, phone number and brief description of the requested materials and preferred
alternative format or auxiliary aid or service at least 5 days before the meeting.
Requests should be sent to the Office of the Town Clerk at the above address.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Public Hearings provide the general public and interested parties an opportunity to
provide testimony on these items. If you challenge any proposed action(s) in court,
you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the
Public Hearing(s) described later in this agenda, or in written correspondence
delivered to the Town Council at, or prior to, the Public Hearing(s).
TIMING OF ITEMS ON AGENDA
While the Town Council attempts to hear all items in order as stated on the agenda,
it reserves the right to take items out of order. No set times are assigned to items
appearing on the Town Council agenda.
TOWN OF TIBURON PAGE 1 OF 2
STAFF REPORT
To: Chair and Members of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force
From: Office of the Town Manager
Subject: Discuss Work and/or Goals of the Task Force, review past community feedback and receive information regarding similar initiatives in Marin County
Reviewed By: _________
Greg Chanis, Town Manager
________
Benjamin Stock, Town Attorney
SUMMARY Staff has provided background information to the Task Force on existing community feedback received by the Town in pursuit of creating the Diversity Inclusion Task Force and the initiatives other similar task forces are pursuing to aid in the task force’s discussion of potential
activities and initiatives.
BACKGROUND Tiburon’s Racial Equity Community Feedback
On September 16, 2020, the Town Council held a community forum to gather feedback from the
community about what the public would like to see in a potential Diversity Inclusion Task Force. Staff compiled the following broad list of ideas and topics that were brought up during the forum.
• Police Training (de-escalation tactics, bias, inclusion)
• Community policing (more time “walking the beat” and becoming better connected with community and business owners)
• Better diversity (on the police force and in Tiburon community)
• Diversity education (Tiburon residents’ roles in promoting diversity and improved school curriculum to educate youth)
• Police reform and transparency about reforms
• Community input on hiring of next Police Chief
• Involvement in the Marin County Citizen Oversight Review still in development Other Public Agencies’ Racial Equity Initiatives
The City of Mill Valley created a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, which developed a list of DEI initiatives for the City of Mill Valley to consider to advance racial equity in Mill Valley.
TOWN OF TIBURON
1505 Tiburon Boulevard Tiburon, CA 94920
Diversity Inclusion Task Force Meeting April 14, 2021
Agenda Item: DI-2
Town Council Meeting April 14, 2021
TOWN OF TIBURON PAGE 2 OF 2
(https://www.cityofmillvalley.org/gov/departments/citymanager/diversity_equity_and_inclusion.htm) The City of Sausalito created a Racial Justice group and recently published a progress report on
their recent racial equity initiatives. (City Webpage – https://www.sausalito.gov/city-
government/hot-topics/racial-justice-initiatives) (Progress Report – https://us10.campaign-archive.com/?u=ef48996d6f825fac32ec81b4b&id=8c270a27b4#justice) The Town of San Anselmo created a Racial Equity Ad Hoc Committee and has stated goals to
explore anti-bias training for staff and to conduct audits of Town policies and programs to ensure
they are fair and equitable and free of bias of any kind. (https://www.townofsananselmo.org/1453/Racial-Equity-Ad-Hoc-Committee) The Town of Fairfax created a racial equity and social justice committee with a goal of studying
the Town’s police policies.
The City of San Rafael created a task force to conduct a review of San Rafael’s policing policies as they relate to the 8 Can’t Wait guidelines and is currently gathering community input for additional activities of the task force. (https://www.cityofsanrafael.org/racial-and-social-equity/)
County of Marin’s initiatives include supporting diversity in their 5 Year Business Plan, participation in G.A.R.E. (Government Alliance on Race and Equity), and initiatives to provide cultural intelligence/competency training for all employees, anti-bias training for hiring managers and supervisors, to utilize a Diversity Hiring Toolkit, and to focus on equity in Leadership
Academy training and projects. (https://www.marincountyhr.org/get-to-know-us/diversity-and-
inclusion)
Diversity Inclusion Task Force
April 14, 2021
DI-2
Late Mail
Written Comments
Requests for Copies:
Lea Stefani, lstefani@townoftiburon.org
April 7, 2021
Dear Tiburon Town Council Members and Inclusion and Diversity Committee Members:
We’d like to thank those who have stepped up to serve on the Inclusion and Diversity
Committee and look forward to following your progress and supporting your efforts.
As concerned members of the Tiburon community who have attempted to engage in the
process of improving police accountability, and to help create a safer environment for people of
color in Belvedere-Tiburon, we are disheartened at the appointment of Tiburon’s Chief of Police
who - based on the recent announcement by the Town - does not appear to meet any of
the criteria requested by community members at the November 19, 2020 meetings with the
recruiter. Here are some of the qualities/viewpoints emphasized as being most important for a
new Police Chief during the recruiter meetings on November 19, 2020:
· Cultural and racial sensitivity; recognition that bias and current policing practices
contribute to disproportionately higher rates of incarceration for POC, and
specifically for African Americans, Black Americans and Black immigrants.
· Extensive training in implicit bias.
· Demonstrated integrity in community relations, valuing diversity and equality, and
implementing these core elements in the workplace.
· Not entrenched, with a growth mindset; welcoming and inclusive.
· Not a lifelong police officer, having background in public service such as social work,
drug/alcohol counseling, mental health.
· Ideally, identifies as a person of color.
· Mindful of the vision of police reform as laid out by the Movement 4 Black Lives
platform (community safety vs policing).
· Ability to embrace the necessary changes and police reforms that are being
formulated and implemented across the country.
Based on the painful confrontation between the Tiburon police and Yema Khalif on August 21,
2020, and the subsequent resignation of Police Chief Cronin and of Sgt. Michael Blasi, we
understood that the vetting process for the new Police Chief would include the important and
necessary criteria of community involvement and transparency throughout the process, with
diversity and implicit bias being a primary consideration. This does not just include hiring a
police chief who has undergone diversity training, but one who has taken an active position in
promoting diversity training among his staff, as well as hiring and developing a diverse
workforce.
In the Town’s announcement there was no reference to Chief Monaghan's background on
diversity or racial equity practices or training. In fact, there is no mention of diversity or
inclusion at all.
The Inclusion & Diversity committee was created thanks to the groundwork laid by Hawi Awash
and her insistence with Town Council members in the wake of the incident at Yema store and
the threat made against Hawi and Yema on election day. In honor of Hawi’s efforts, we want to
ensure that bias-free policing in Tiburon is a key focus of this committee. The performance
guidelines authored by this committee for the Police Chief will be extremely important in
effecting change, diversity and racial equity in Tiburon, and so we ask the following questions:
1) What plans exist for ongoing training for all members of the Tiburon police force, as well as
the Town Manager and the and the Town Council, especially in view of recommendations set
out by The California Racial Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) 2021 Annual Board Report, to augment
the training recommended by Committee Member Noah Griffin at the last meeting?
2) The RIPA 2021 Annual Board Report has model policies for bias-free policing for police and
dispatchers. Will the Town Council and new Police Chief create a policy for bias-free policing
described in the report (pages 92-100)?
3) The Town’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (also known as a collective bargaining
agreement) with Tiburon Police Association expires on June 30, 2021. An opportunity exists to
review and renegotiate this contract through the lens of racial equity, accountability and
transparency. How can the Town Council and Inclusion & Diversity Committee utilize this
opportunity to ensure that the new MOU addresses recommended training as well
accountability and discipline outlined in the RIPA 2021 Annual Board Report? Please refer to
the report pages 90-91 for additional information.
4) Is there a need to review and revise the Tiburon police manual with a lens for racial equity
and community safety (different from community policing) for all people?
5) The California RIPA 2020 Annual Board report indicates 61% accuracy of RIPA stop data
based on review of body worn camera footage. What supervisory oversight is currently in place
and what steps will be taken to ensure accuracy of RIPA stop data being reported and recorded
by Tiburon police?
6) What are the Town Council’s and the Chief of Police’s strategy and policies for thoughtful,
fair and racially equitable recruitment?
7) Have any revisions been made to hiring practices and vetting of police officers based on the
issues with former Sergeant Blasi and on the recent arrest of Tiburon police Sergeant Ford on
January 28th for alleged domestic violence?
8) Is there a need to educate citizens on when it is appropriate to call the police? For instance,
when they don’t recognize their gardeners, they place people in danger when making these
calls to the police and it is demeaning for the people in question.
9) The incident at Yema store and the threat against Hawi and Yema emphasize the need for
police accountability. Does a protocol exist to mend community relationships when such
incidents occur?
10) The crime prevention policing model that the Town of Tiburon has historically deployed,
including the plate reading software and traffic stops, can lend themselves to discriminatory
and bias-based policing practices. What action can be taken to ensure that all people feel safe
in Tiburon including visitors who identify as people of color?
Based on these questions, and many others, we ask that the committee considers creation of
a task force to focus on bias-free policing so that meaningful work can take place between
committee meetings, beginning with the MOU that expires on June 30, 2021. We ask that this
be added to the agenda for the upcoming committee meeting. We also request that the Police
Chief and Town Manager attend all the Inclusion & Diversity committee meetings so that they
can be actively engaged in creating a more diverse and inclusive community, one where every
person feels safe.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Bronia Hill
Carol Korenbrot
Linda Higgins
Lorraine Gemingniani
Lynn Feinerman
Susan Bolle
From:Bronia Hill
To:Lea Stefani
Cc:Holli Thier; Diversity; Greg Chanis; Lorraine Gemigniani; Linda Higgins; Carol Korenbrot; Lynn Feinerman
Subject:DI Task Force: late mail addition to the agenda packet
Date:Tuesday, April 13, 2021 11:24:27 AM
Attachments:MVDEI-TaskForce-Report-FINAL-C (5) (1).pdf
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Hi Lea,
Could you add this attachment and email to the agenda packet as well please?
Thank you and best wishes from Bronia Hill, Lorragine Gemingniani, Linda Higgins, Lynn
Feinerman and Carol Korenbrot.***
We want to provide some critical information missing from Greg Chanis' letter/"Progress and
Activities" referenced in the DI Task Force agenda for April 14. as well as a correction:
1) Mill Valley's DEI task force disbanded itself as of Dec. 7 of last year to become an
unofficial racial justice advocacy group for reasons that you can read about here.
There are many lessons to be learned from this. The report authored by the DEI
committee before it disbanded is attached to this email and can also be
accessed here. Important: Greg referenced a list of DEI initiatives created by theMVDEI task force but provided a link to a page with MV Town Manager's work
plan. This work plan was NOT created or authored by MV DEI Task Force, it was
created by Mill Valley' town manager and is very different from the actual report
created by the DEI Task Force which absolutely deserves our time (seeattachment). Former members of the MV DEI Committee continue to work with MV
Police on issues of transparency, accountability and training. It is also worth noting
that the town of Mill Valley hired a professional DEI consultant to facilitate meetings
and guide them through the first stages of this work.
2) Fairfax created a Racial Equity and Social Justice Committee (RESJ) through a democraticcommunity-driven process (as opposed to town council selecting them) and engaged a DEIconsultant for a year to lead them in their journey toward racial equity (they repurposed fundsfrom the police budget to cover this). They have created a subcommittee of RESJ to informpublic safety alternatives.-- Bronia Hill (she/her)
415-601-0157
M I L L V A L L E Y DEITASK
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LET’S WALK THE TALK & BE THE EXAMPLE
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“A foundation to activate a seismic shift toward
an equitable and inclusive future for Mill Valley.”
WE WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE REMOVAL OF
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES FROM THE LAND THEY CULTIVATED
AND RESIDED UPON.
THE COAST MIWOK AND SOUTHERN POMO, RECOGNIZED
TODAY AS THE GRANDE RANCHERIA TRIBE, ARE THE
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS OF THE AREA WE NOW KNOW
AS MARIN COUNTY.
WE WISH TO STATE OUR APPRECIATION AND RESPECT FOR
THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
WHO WERE HERE FOR GENERATIONS AND REGENERATIONS,
LIFETIMES BEFORE ANY OF US. WE HONOR YOUR LAND.
INDIGENOUS LAND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
COAST MIWOK
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 20201
CONTENTS
WHY WE ARE HERE ..........................................................................................................................................................................3
FROM THE TASK FORCE ...................................................................................................................................................................4
TASK FORCE PARTICIPANTS & WORKING GROUPS ...........................................................................................................................5
TASK FORCE PROCESS .....................................................................................................................................................................6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. ....................................................................................................................................................................7
MILL VALLEY RACIAL EQUITY SNAPSHOT ......................................................................................................................................14
RACIAL EQUITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT & RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................15
I. DEI LEADERSHIP & TESTED CITY EQUITY STRATEGIES ..................................................................................................15
A. DEI LEADERSHIP & CITY EQUITY STRATEGIES ......................................................................................................15
B. BEST PRACTICES IN DEI LEADERSHIP & CITY GOVERNMENT .................................................................................16
C. RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................................................................17-18
II. SAFE & EQUITABLE LAW ENFORCEMENT .......................................................................................................................18
BIAS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT ......................................................................................................................................18-20
A. BACKGROUND & CONDITIONS .............................................................................................................................19
B. BEST PRACTICES FOR SAFE & BIAS-FREE POLICING .............................................................................................20
C. RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................................................................................21-25
TRUST & LEGITIMACY IN LAW ENFORCEMENT .................................................................................................................26
A. BACKGROUND & CONDITIONS .............................................................................................................................26
B. TRUST & LEGITIMACY BEST PRACTICES ..............................................................................................................27
C. RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................................................................................27-29
LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNCTIONS & FUNDING ...................................................................................................................30
A. MVPD FUNCTIONS & FUNDING .......................................................................................................................30-31
B. BEST PRACTICES FOR NEED-BASED POLICE FUNCTIONS & FUNDING ................................................................31-32
C. RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................................................................................32-34
III. AMPLE AFFORDABLE, EQUITABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES .....................................................................................35
A. CHALLENGES & OBJECTIVES ..........................................................................................................................35-36
B. AFFORDABLE HOUSING BEST PRACTICES & SUCCESS STORIES .......................................................................36-39
C. RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................................................................................39-41
IV. EQUITABLE CULTURAL & RECREATIONAL ENGAGEMENT ...............................................................................................42
A. SEGREGATION & CULTURAL EXCLUSION IN MILL VALLEY ......................................................................................42
B. CURRENT PROGRESS & OPPORTUNITIES .............................................................................................................42
C. RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................................................................................43-45
V. EQUITABLE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ..........................................................................................................................45
A. BACKGROUND & CONDITIONS .............................................................................................................................45
B. BEST PRACTICES FOR ECONOMIC EQUITY ......................................................................................................45-47
C. RECOMMENDATIONS ..........................................................................................................................................47
VI. EQUITABLE EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.................................................................................48
A. RACIAL JUSTICE IN MILL VALLEY SCHOOLS & THE ROLE OF CITY GOVERNMENT ..............................................48-51
B. EVIDENCE & EXPERT OPINIONS .......................................................................................................................51-55
C. RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................................................................................55-56
TABLE OF RECOMMENDATIONS. ..................................................................................................................................................57-58
ENDNOTES ................................................................................................................................................................59-69
APPENDICES. ....................................................................................................................................................................i
APPENDIX A—MVPD POLICY AMENDMENTS BASED ON RIPA MODEL POLICIES FOR BIAS-FREE POLICING .............................ii
APPENDIX B—RIPA TRAINING BEST PRACTICES FOR BIAS-FREE POLICING ..........................................................................x
APPENDIX C—RIPA BEST PRACTICES TO PREVENT BIAS BY PROXY ...................................................................................xv
APPENDIX D—MVPD USE OF FORCE POLICY AMENDMENTS BASED ON 21ST CENTURY POLICING & PROCEDURAL JUSTICE ........xviii
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 2020 2
What is the measure of sorrow and rage that will finally tip us toward change?
Another mother’s child erased for the singular audacity of his birth as Black.
George Floyd speaks to every one of us of a casual brutality, cultivated on plantation soil and
nourished and normalized through generations of subjugation, vilification and exclusion: from
neighborhoods, from homes, from schools, from jobs, from all aspects of full civic participation.
Black people have struggled against these barricades and—by force of talent and unbreakable
determination—have made extraordinary contributions across the spectrum of American life.
Still, so much potential has been thwarted.
Imagine the possibilities in a future without racial barriers, where all Americans are supported
and celebrated in the pursuit of their unique dreams and abilities.
Let this be the moment when Mill Valley rises to the challenge and the promise of that vision.
With the Black Lives Matter movement as its catalyst, much of this report
centers on the Black experience. However, the Task Force objectives and
recommendations apply equally to all groups and individuals that are, or
have been, societally disadvantaged due to race, ethnicity, national origin,
immigration status, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability,
health, socioeconomic status or other factors.
Black Lives Matter
Why We Are Here
The Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion proudly proclaims its solidarity with the Black
Lives Matter movement. We are committed, through collective action, to ending structural,
institutional and systemic racism in our City, our County, and throughout the world.
Why Are We Here :Mill Valley DEI Task Force
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 20203
BLACK
lll'J!-i
MATTER
The Task Force is grateful to the Mill Valley City Council for this opportunity to gather, investi-
gate and express our community’s concerns and hopes in the realm of racial justice.
This moment of overdue racial awakening presents a rare and exciting opportunity to reshape
our future in profound and meaningful ways. We look forward to traveling this path of learning
and healing with the City of Mill Valley and all of its residents.
This report provides a roadmap for our common journey:
• To transform our small community into a model of universal welcome and inclusion;
• To encourage and support the individual and collective potential of all our residents;
and
• To honor and celebrate diversity in all its forms as a catalyst for creativity, innovation
and community enrichment.
This is among the most challenging and important efforts that our community is likely ever
to undertake. Our shared commitment is a giant first step in a transformative journey that we
must dare to believe is possible.
Sincerely,
Naima S. Dean, Task Force Chair
Elspeth Mathau, Task Force Co-Chair
and All of Us on the DEI Task Force
To honor and celebrate
diversity in all its forms as a
catalyst for creativity, innovation
and community enrichment
Our Message
from the Task Force on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: From All Members
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 2020 4
>>>
DEI Leadership
• Full Task Force
City Government
• Full Task Force
Police
• Tammy Edmonson
• Halicue Hanna
• Frank Leidman
• Maura Tokarski
• Celimene Pastor
Housing
• Nancy Carlston
• Dart Cherk
• Eileen Fisher
• Running Grass
Community Services
• Zoe Fry
• Gilda Harger
• Jasson Minadakis
Economic &
Civic Advancement
• Megan Acio
• Denmo Ibrahim
• Kerry Pierson
TASK FORCE PARTICIPANTS &WORKING GROUPS
Task Force Chair, Naima S. Dean
Task Force Co-Chair, Elspeth Mathau
Education
• Amber Allen-Pierson
• Sacha Bunge
• Johanna Calabria
• Hilary Heaven
• Tammy Herndon
Editing
• Sacha Bunge
• Nancy Carlston
• Tammy Edmonson
• Running Grass
Design
• Dart Cherk
• Zoe Fry
• Gilda Harger
• Celimene Pastor
Facilitator
Patricia Patton, PhD
MV DEI Task Force Facilitator
Honorable Mention
Esther Cherk
dei@cityofmillvalley.org
Participants & Working Groups :Mill Valley DEI Task Force
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 20205
Task Force Process
The magnitude of the atrocity of Black deaths at the
hands of police came sharply into focus with the
widely shared video of George Floyd’s murder on May
25, 2020. The nation erupted in protests spawned by
the conviction that the time for change had come.
At a June 2 meeting of the Mill Valley City Council, a
commenter asked what Mill Valley was doing “to show
Black lives matter in our community.” The Mayor re-
sponded, citing Council policy, that “we don’t take ac-
tion on matters not of immediate local concern.” This
comment prompted immediate and widespread public
outcry, including numerous marches and rallies in Mill
Valley that brought hundreds of community members
out of their homes to attest to the daily lived reality of
racial injustice in our local community.
The City Council was quick to respond for the comment
(and silence in the face of the comment), and to sched-
ule a Special Meeting of the Council, “Regarding Black
Lives Matter and Development of a City Action Plan to
Address Racial Injustice and Inequities in Mill Valley.”
On June 15, 2020, the City Council listened for nearly
five and a half hours as community members took
two minutes each to express their experiences in
Mill Valley with racial bias and to offer recommenda-
tions to correct and repair the resulting injustices.
The Council also received 164 letters and emails
urging action on racial equity, and the outpouring of
community input has continued ever since.
The City Council responded with a resolution stat-
ing that Black lives matter, acknowledging the City’s
historic failure to foster “a diverse and welcoming
community for people of all racial and socioeconomic
backgrounds,” and committing to the long-term ef-
fort necessary to “eliminat[e] racial disparities, both
inside government and in the community.” In August,
the City announced the appointment of a facilitator
to oversee the creation and operation of a Mill Valley
Task Force on Diversity Equity and Inclusion [DEI] em-
powered to collect and analyze public input, investi-
gate best practices, and issue recommendations to
the City for advancing equity and racial justice. The
facilitator selected a diverse group of 22 community
members from an applicant pool of 53 based on
commitment, representation, history and expertise.
The DEI Task Force met eight times over as many
weeks, including at a two-hour public engagement
meeting on November 5, where it gathered further
public input. Working group members reviewed
all public input, conducted extensive independent
outreach and research, and met with their groups
to develop and agree upon recommendations in
their respective subject areas.
A Writing and Editing group consolidated the
working group recommendations into a single
report for presentation at the December 7, 2020
City Council meeting.
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Our Process
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 2020 6
Executive Summary To activate a seismic shift toward an
equitable and inclusive future for Mill Valley
INTRODUCTION
The Black experience in Mill Valley is so different
from the White experience that it can be difficult
for White community members to acknowledge and
accept. That White denial itself lands a dehumaniz-
ing blow to Black people who battle the headwinds
of racism on a daily basis.
A Black parent from Marin City who plans to attend
a Tam High open house, a Black teen going to school
or meeting up with classmates in town, and a Black
resident going for a run: all know when they set out
that they will see few if any others who look like them.
They know what it is like to be watched and followed in
Mill Valley stores and have seen the Nextdoor postings
warning neighbors when a Black person “suspiciously”
appears on Mill Valley streets. They have experienced
“the corridor” on Miller Avenue where driving while
Black is a magnet for police detention. They are wary
of the danger and humiliation that accompany a too-
likely police encounter, when theirs will become the
public face of “the criminal suspect.” And always front
of mind is an awareness that this perception could
trigger a police officer to deploy the heavy arsenal at
his or her disposal.
The perception and reality of racial bias in our com-
munity is a powerful deterrent to Black people and
other people of color who might otherwise choose to
live, work in, or visit Mill Valley. The resulting lack of
diversity harms the entire community, narrowing per-
spectives, fueling intolerance, and stifling innovation,
artistry and entrepreneurship.
As this report demonstrates, racial inequity and
injustice have been firmly woven into the fabric
of Mill Valley’s community and civic life. The Task
Force has identified evidence-based best practices
for advancing racial equity in six essential areas: DEI
Leadership & City Government (Part I); Law Enforce-
ment (Part II); Affordable Housing (Part III); Culture
& Recreation (Part IV); Economic Opportunity (Part
V); and Education (Part VI).
All of us on the Task Force firmly agree: there can be no enduring progress on these
issues in Mill Valley without the sustained and focused leadership of a permanent DEI Commis-
sion. Establishing a dedicated DEI Commission is the first of two immediate, top priorities
in this report. The second is for the City to undertake a facilitated racial equity planning pro-
cess to center equity in all government actions and decisions. These two critical initia-
tives discussed in Part I, will provide the necessary human resources, tools, training and
infrastructure, that will enable the City to activate a seismic shift toward an equitable and
inclusive future for Mill Valley.
Introduction :Mill Valley DEI Task Force
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 20207
We have tentatively designated the remaining recommendations as Short, Medium or Long Term—with one
exception for an Urgent, time-specific initiative. We urge the City to move as quickly as possible on the Short-
Term recommendations, and to work with the DEI Commission and racial equity planning facilitator to develop a
strategic timeline for a comprehensive Racial Equity Plan encompassing all of the Task Force recommendations.
The Task Force has identified several central tenets that should guide us in this work.
• Data and Accountability—Our efforts must remain data driven and community informed so that we can
monitor our progress and hold ourselves accountable to goals. We therefore urge the City to begin collect-
ing and publicizing relevant data in areas where it is not currently available.
•Transparency and Communication—In order for diversity to thrive in Mill Valley, it is not enough to lift
racial barriers; we must commit to the transparency, outreach and two-way communication necessary to
build community trust. Many of the recommendations center on these issues.
• Meaningful Partnerships—Mill Valley is not alone in this effort. Cities, school districts, nonprofits and
businesses throughout the County—and the County itself—are rolling out a wide array of racial equity plans
and initiatives. Affected communities—BIPOC [Black Indigenous People of Color] individuals and racially-
segregated communities like Marin City and San Rafael’s Canal District—have much to teach us about what
is needed and how success should be measured. Partnerships with these and other allies should inform
our strategies and priorities and will allow for collaborative approaches that will amplify our efforts.
• Shared Learning—We must commit, both in and out of government, to listen and learn about racial jus-
tice, implicit bias and anti-racist practices. And we must be prepared to share and to support one another
throughout this learning journey.
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
I. DEI LEADERSHIP & TESTED GOVERNMENT STRATEGIES
The City of Mill Valley does not have, and apparently has never had, a single department, commission, staff
member, plan, policy or program, dedicated to supporting diversity, equity and inclusion. The challenge of en-
trenched racism will not be overcome without dedicated, sustained and strategic leadership. The Task Force has
therefore identified the first two recommendations as immediate top priorities.
1. CREATE A PERMANENT DEI COMMISSION (IMMEDIATE/TOP PRIORITY)
A dedicated DEI Commission will leverage community knowledge, skills and expertise,
and provide the ongoing oversight and leadership necessary to meaningfully advance
racial equity.
2. DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE RACIAL EQUITY PLAN FOR CITY GOVERNMENT
(IMMEDIATE/TOP PRIORITY)
Overcoming deeply rooted racial bias and inequities in government requires a system-wide
transformation that centers racial equity in all City actions and decision-making. The City must
engage a knowledgeable and experienced facilitator to lead its development of a
strategic Racial Equity Plan to bring about this transformation.
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Introduction - Summary of Recommendations
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 2020 8
II. SAFE & EQUITABLE LAW ENFORCEMENT
From slave patrols to stop and frisk, the history and evolution of American policing has been shaped by racial
bias. Whether due to intentional or unconscious bias, the Mill Valley Police Department has not escaped this
legacy. Long experience has led local people of color to describe Mill Valley Police as “custodians of segrega-
tion” whom they see as focused on making sure Black and Latinx people are not in the “wrong neighborhood.”
For Black people in Mill Valley, the fear of police violence is a very real and immediate concern.
In order to ensure safe, equitable, and trusted law enforcement in Mill Valley, the Task Force is recommending a
variety of measures aimed at eliminating police bias and excessive use of force, and at increasing transparency
and accountability.
BIAS-FREE POLICING
1. BEGIN RACIAL & IDENTITY PROFILING ACT [RIPA] DATA COLLECTION
BY JANUARY 1, 2021 (URGENT)
Data collection prescribed by the California Racial and Identity Profiling Act is essential to en-
able MVPD to identify and address racial profiling by its officers, and to monitor the effective-
ness of anti-bias policies and other remedial measures.
2. ADOPT RIPA MODEL POLICIES FOR BIAS-FREE POLICING (SHORT TERM)
(MVPD Policy Revisions Detailed at Appendix A)
The evidence-based RIPA Model reflects the best available policies for achieving bias-free
policing. Adopting the RIPA Model Policies will position the Department as a leader in the
County in anti-racist best practices.
3. ALIGN MVPD TRAINING WITH RIPA BEST PRACTICES (MEDIUM TERM)
(RIPA Best Practice Recommendations Set Forth at Appendix B)
Adhering to RIPA Best Practices for Anti-Bias Training will bring MVPD into statutory compli-
ance and empower MVPD officers to recognize and effectively combat explicit and implicit
racial bias.
4. ADOPT RIPA BEST PRACTICES TO PREVENT BIAS BY PROXY (MEDIUM/LONG TERM)
(RIPA Best Practice Recommendations Set Forth at Appendix C)
MVPD currently has no policies, training or practices aimed at addressing bias by
proxy (bias-based calls for service from community members). MVPD should adopt
RIPA recommendations to empower its officers, dispatchers and other staff to respond
appropriately to bias-based calls for service and to protect the dignity and security of
any person who is the subject of a bias-based call.
5. ALIGN MVPD POLICY MANUAL WITH PROCEDURAL JUSTICE BEST PRACTICES
(MEDIUM/LONG TERM)
The MVPD Policy Manual is a one-size-fits-all model produced by the Lexipol software
company. The Manual is designed to meet minimum legal and constitutional stan-
dards but reflects neither Mill Valley community values nor current best practices for
bias-free policing. The City, the MVPD and the DEI Commission should conduct a com-
prehensive review and revision of the Manual with this in mind.
Summary of Recommendations :Mill Valley DEI Task Force
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 20209
PREVENTING UNNECESSARY & EXCESSIVE FORCE
1. ALIGN MVPD USE OF FORCE POLICIES & PRACTICES WITH 21ST CENTURY POLICING
(SHORT TERM) (Policy Revisions Detailed in Appendix D)
Mill Valley’s use of force policies, derived from the Lexipol standard form, are out of step with
21st Century Policing best practices (standards established by President Obama’s 2015 Task
Force on 21st Century Policing) that center on procedural justice and the sanctity of life. The
policies should be amended, among other things, to: forbid the use of force that is dispropor-
tionate to the harm sought to be avoided; require—rather than merely suggest—utilization
of de-escalation techniques whenever possible; and ban the use of chokeholds and other re-
straints that pose a risk of asphyxiation.
BUILDING TRUST & LEGITIMACY
1. COLLECT & PUBLICIZE COMPREHENSIVE DATA ON MVPD WEBSITE (SHORT TERM)
Data collection and transparency are central to building trust and legitimacy, the first pillar of
21st Century Policing.
2. IMPROVE COMMUNITY ACCESS TO CIVILIAN COMPLAINT PROCESS (SHORT TERM)
A transparent and credible system of police accountability builds community trust, but it must
be understood by, and readily available to, members of the community. RIPA recommendations—
that officers carry complaint forms in their patrol vehicle and hand out business cards to pedes-
trians and motorists they stop—help to achieve these objectives.
3. DEVELOP CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT OF MVPD (MEDIUM TERM)
Civilian oversight helps ensure objectivity in the investigation of civilian complaints and provides a safe
avenue for BIPOC individuals who have been harassed or intimidated by police to raise their grievances.
4. INVESTIGATE & CONSIDER PRIOR MISCONDUCT IN MVPD HIRING DECISIONS
(SHORT TERM)
Past allegations of misconduct against a police officer are highly predictive of future misconduct
and should be investigated and considered in MVPD hiring decisions.
TAILORING POLICE FUNCTIONS & FUNDING TO COMMUNITY NEEDS
1. REPLACE SCHOOL POLICE WITH SERVICE WORKERS (SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
Police officers are poorly suited to the needs and objectives of students in an educational
setting. Their presence on school campuses contributes to disparate treatment and needless
criminalization of Black students and other students of color.
2. ASSESS MVPD FUNCTIONS & FUNDING AGAINST COMMUNITY NEEDS
(SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
The cost of unchecked police expansion—in Black lives, in BIPOC intimidation, and in sheer
economic terms—has led many communities to reevaluate the size and scope of work of their
police departments. Cities are discovering that a great number of the functions currently as-
signed to police can be performed more safely, more effectively, and at a lower cost by well-
trained service personnel. A responsible allocation of functions and resources to the MVPD
must begin with an analysis of the needs and duties in our community for which armed law
enforcement personnel are uniquely trained and well-suited.
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Summary of Recommendations
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 2020 10
3. DEVELOP & IMPLEMENT A NEED-BASED COMMUNITY SERVICE MODEL AND BUDGET (ME-
DIUM/LONG TERM)
Based on the data assessment called for above, the City, MVPD and DEI Commission should de-
velop a model and budget for a City Service Team to respond to service calls that do not require
an armed police response (from leaf-blower complaints to mental health emergencies). The
model should endeavor to be cost saving or cost neutral once in operation and should be moni-
tored on an ongoing basis against goals and objectives.
III. AMPLE AFFORDABLE, EQUITABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES
Whites-only subdivisions, redlining, and other discriminatory practices have effectively discouraged and pre-
vented many people of color from settling in Mill Valley. As in communities across the nation, housing segrega-
tion in Mill Valley has operated to establish and deepen racial disparities in wealth, education and other basic
rights and opportunities. Mill Valley’s soaring housing prices operate—by means of the racial wealth gap—to
reinforce the exclusion of Black people and other people of color. Workers in Mill Valley’s service sector, many
of them people of color, are forced to commute great distances due to the lack of affordable housing.
The Task Force is recommending a number of approaches to build upon the City’s current plans and progress
to expand affordable, equitable housing opportunities. We must proceed on multiple fronts if we are to accom-
plish our goal.
1. PURSUE REGULATORY OPTIONS TO EXPAND AFFORDABLE,
EQUITABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES (SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
This Report offers a variety of recommendations including, among others: permissive zoning and
incentives to encourage the conversion of single-family homes into two homes; disincentives for
housing size expansion; further encouragement of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs); and develop-
ment of, or partnership with, a Community Land Trust.
2. REGULATE RENTAL INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, INCREASES & SHORT-TERM RENTALS
(SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
A variety of measures can be undertaken to protect renters and insulate them from rent in-
creases and eviction. Short Term Rentals can be regulated to encourage cost-sharing residential
use rather than profit-making heavy turnover use.
3. INVESTIGATE & REDRESS HISTORICAL INEQUITIES (MEDIUM/LONG TERM)
The City should investigate, acknowledge and provide redress for the historic exclusion of
people of color and plunder of Native Lands. Restitution and conservation easements benefitting
descendants of those affected are among the appropriate remedies.
4. SUPPORT THE INTEGRATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN COMMERCIAL
AND PUBLIC PROPERTIES (SHORT TERM)
The City should ease height restrictions and encourage second story residential uses in com-
mercial buildings. Creative use of public land and transfer of development rights can allow for
new affordable housing.
5. PURSUE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR AFFORDABLE, EQUITABLE HOUSING
(SHORT TERM)
Recognizing that providing affordable housing can be costly, this report suggests a variety of options
to generate revenue and reduce the costs of affordable housing development.
Summary of Recommendations :Mill Valley DEI Task Force
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 202011
IV. EQUITABLE CULTURAL & RECREATIONAL ENGAGEMENT
Shared cultural and recreational engagement that reflects and serves the full diversity within our community
can bridge racial divides and model our City’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
1. IMPLEMENT THE ARTS & CULTURE GOALS OF THE GENERAL PLAN
FOCUSING ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY (SHORT TERM)
The Arts & Culture Section of the Mill Valley General Plan acknowledges the crucial role of
cultural diversity in building community and sustaining a vibrant creative environment; the
Section includes numerous goals for fulfillment of those objectives. The City should priori-
tize these goals and implement specific cultural programs (including those identified in this
report) to ensure that they are achieved.
2. PROVIDE FREE ACCESS FOR MARIN CITY RESIDENTS TO ACTIVITIES
AT MILL VALLEY FACILITIES (MEDIUM TERM)
Mill Valley’s path to becoming an inviting and accessible place for Black people and other
people of color can and should begin with our Marin City neighbors. Providing free access to
Park & Recreation facilities and classes for residents of the Marin City Community Services
District is a meaningful step toward repairing past discrimination and exclusion. The benefit
should also apply to any recreational activities, public or private, that utilize City facilities.
3. SUPPORT INDIGENOUS GROUPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES
(MEDIUM TERM)
Local Indigenous groups deserve meaningful opportunities to design and advance cultural
spaces and programs that reflect and honor their history. The City should designate an official
liaison to the Graton Rancheria, and work with that community to develop and support such
programs and should develop an Indigenous Land Acknowledgement for use in its proceedings.
V. EQUITABLE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
Mill Valley will never be a diverse and welcoming community until we bridge the racial barriers to
economic opportunity.
1. DEVELOP EQUITABLE CONTRACTING & PROCUREMENT POLICIES TO SUPPORT
BIPOC BUSINESSES (SHORT TERM)
Mill Valley spends well over $20 million annually on non-employee supplies, services and equip-
ment. The City should adopt equitable contracting and procurement policies to alleviate the
advantages of large, White-owned businesses and provide opportunities for minority owned
businesses and workers to supply these needs.
2. EXPLORE DEVELOPMENT OF A FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT CENTER UTILIZING
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS (MEDIUM TERM)
Financial empowerment centers provide free, professional, one-on-one financial counseling to as-
sist underserved residents to build wealth and financial security. Mill Valley should explore develop-
ment of a pilot program in which local financial professionals volunteer to provide such services.
3. EXPLORE COOPERATIVES, GRANTS & OTHER ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT NEW &
STRUGGLING BIPOC ENTREPRENEURS (MEDIUM TERM)
The City, through the DEI Commission, should explore available options to attract, promote and sup-
port BIPOC businesses in our community.
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Summary of Recommendations
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 2020 12
VI. EQUITABLE EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
1. PARTNER WITH SCHOOL DISTRICT LEADERSHIP TO SUPPORT & AMPLIFY DEI
INITIATIVES THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY (SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
For young children the world outside of school is key in supporting their learning and develop-
ment. The Mill Valley City Council, through its DEI Commission, can coordinate with the Mill
Valley School District (MVSD) to develop and implement a cohesive equity and inclusion plan for
Kindergarten through eighth grade students both in and out of school.
2. PARTNER WITH TAM HIGH SCHOOL & TAMALPAIS UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT [TUHSD]
TO BUILD MECHANISMS FOR COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION ON
DEI INITIATIVES (SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
Tam High School is working to address racial equity issues on a variety of fronts. But the school
needs community support for its anti-racist work both within and outside the school setting. Mill
Valley, through its DEI Commission, can develop a supportive partnership with the High School to
develop and implement collaborative DEI solutions.
3. PARTNER WITH THE SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SHARED LEARNING
ON RACIAL JUSTICE FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY (SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
This report offers a number of recommendations for shared community learning that can begin to
unite us around a common understanding, vision and plan for an equitable Mill Valley.
4. ENCOURAGE A COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MILL VALLEY
& MARIN CITY SCHOOL (MEDIUM/LONG TERM)
Racial inequities in Mill Valley schools must be addressed in the larger context of the educational
inequities across Marin County, and specifically between Mill Valley and Marin City whose residents
attend Tam High. We must encourage and support collaborative approaches that engage our Marin
City neighbors and affected communities of color.
WHO WILL ADVANCE THESE RECOMMENDATIONS?
The City Council is the public face of our community with the power to set the tone and priorities for our civic
life. The Council’s July 6, 2020 Black Lives Matter Resolution marked an important shift in Mill Valley toward
acknowledging and addressing racial equity as a top priority for our City and our community. But the Council
cannot do this alone. A permanent DEI Commission is essential to provide focused leadership and practical
assistance in carrying out meaningful DEI initiatives. That Commission should work with the City and an eq-
uity planning facilitator to review the recommendations in this report (among others) and develop a strategic
timeline for their accomplishment. Building an equitable and inclusive future in Mill Valley will also require the
ongoing participation, collaboration and support of our whole community. City Departments, educational insti-
tutions, business leaders, nonprofit stakeholders, philanthropists, local residents and neighboring communities
all have important roles to play.
We look forward to joining all of you in this historic effort!
MILL VALLEY TASK FORCE ON DIVERSITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Summary of Recommendations :Mill Valley DEI Task Force
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 202013
MILL VALLEY RACIAL EQUITY SNAPSHOT
Historic and persistent segregation throughout Marin has produced a racially divided community with
deep racial disparities in health, economic opportunity, education, housing, crime, and justice. In Mill
Valley, Whites-only subdivisions, racially restrictive covenants, and racial hostility—both subtle and overt—
have produced a heavily White and largely affluent majority population. The City’s current Black population
is negligible (0.7%) and the Latinx population, at 6.5%, greatly underrepresents the group’s population in
the County (16.1%) and in the State (39.4%). See Table A.
As in communities across the nation, housing segregation in Mill Valley and Marin has operated to estab-
lish and expand racial disparities in wealth, education, and other areas. See Tables B and C. This sets in
motion a pernicious and self-perpetuating cycle in which the inequities caused by segregation become the
proxy for race and a justification for further discrimination.
TABLE A
Residential Demographic Percentages by Area
California Marin County Mill Valley San Rafael Canal Districta Marin Cityb
White 71.9%85.5%87.4%67.1%40.6%31.6%
Latinx 39.4%16.1%6.5%31.4%48.1%13.7%
Asian 15.5%6.5%4.3%6%4.6%10.7%
Black 6.5%2.8%0.7%2.1%1.7%37.3%
TABLE B
Median Household Income/Percentage of Households in Poverty
California Marin County Mill Valley San Rafael Canal District Marin City
Median Household Income $71,228 $110,217 $158,839 $87,262 $43,448 $42,737
% Households in Poverty 13%7%5%13%25%22%
Except as noted, data in Tables A and B reflects US Census estimates for 2019. Census.gov.
a http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Canal-San-Rafael-CA.html
b https://worldpopulationview.com/us-cities/marin-city-ca-population/
c Canal: An Immigrant Gateway … At Risk, UC Berkeley Center for Community Innovation (Jun 2015)
d Data USA, datausa.io/profile/geo/marin-city-ca/
TABLE C
Public School Demographic Percentages by District
California Marin County Mill Valley K-8 San Rafael K-8 Bayside MLK K-8
White 22.9%54.7%75.1%24.7%N/A
Latinx 54.6%30.8%8.3%69.3%28.5%
Asian 9.3%4.8%4.9%2.9%N/A
Black 5.4%1.8%0.5%8.5%50.3%
Data in Table C reflects 2018-2019 enrollment from Ed Data. https://www.ed-data.org/county/Marin
Green = Highest in County Comparison
Red = Lowest in County Comparison
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Mill Valley Racial Equity Snapshot
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 2020 14
RACIAL EQUITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT & RECOMMENDATIONS
I. DEI LEADERSHIP & TESTED CITY EQUITY STRATEGIES
Centering equity in government decision-making
A. DEI LEADERSHIP & CITY EQUITY STRATEGIES
Mill Valley does not have, and apparently has never had, a department, commission, staff member
or policy dedicated to supporting diversity, equity and inclusion in our community. Currently, the City
has six standing commissions organized around community priorities including Bicycles and Pedes-
trians, Arts, and Emergency Preparedness, but none that focuses on issues relating to racial equity.
Prior to the local protests following George Floyd’s murder, our predominantly White residents and
City government paid little attention to the question of racial equity, shielded by segregation from the
human costs of Marin’s deep racial disparities in health, economic opportunity, education, housing,
crime, and justice.
When our community gathered in 2012 to develop Mill Valley’s long-term General Plan, none
of the countless committees and discussions that purported to reflect our common goals and
values was dedicated to the issues of equity, diversity and inclusion. Although teens from Marin
City attend Tamalpais High School located in Mill Valley, the City’s outreach to and engagement
with the Marin City community has been minimal.
Mill Valley’s workforce and leadership are also predominantly White, though the City apparently does
not track or publicize relevant demographic data. Nor does the City appear to have any standards or
objectives for diversity in recruitment, hiring, training, retention and advancement, with the single ex-
ception of the Mill Valley Police Department’s Policy 1000.3. But this policy is part of a standard form policy
manual to which the MVPD subscribes and does not refl ect any specifi c focus by the City of Mill Valley or its
police department on these issues.
On July 6, 2020, the City Council adopted a resolution acknowledging the City’s historic failure to address
these crucial issues and committing to “develop both immediate and longer-term action plans” to “address
racism and injustice in Mill Valley.” The Resolution pledged to establish a Task Force on Diversity Equity and
Inclusion, “to review and develop additional actions, investigate best practices, and make specifi c recom-
mendations to Council for next steps.” This Task Force and report refl ect the fulfi llment of that pledge.
Meanwhile, the Task Force is pleased to note that, at the City Council’s direction, many City Departments
have begun to look at their own practices in an effort to identity opportunities to advance racial equity,
and the City is sending fi ve representatives to a course on Advancing Racial Equity. These are worthwhile
efforts. But City Departments whose primary focus and expertise is elsewhere (Library, Planning and
Building, Parks, Police, Recreation, etc.) cannot be expected to provide the sustained and dedicated focus
and leadership necessary to accomplish meaningful change.
This DEI Task Force was appointed for a limited term (October 7 through December 7, 2020), and has
done its collective best in a few short weeks to shine a light through this momentary crack in the
status quo. But much more work remains to identify, address and overcome the pervasive racial bar-
riers in our community,
Racial Equity Needs Assessment & Recommendations :Mill Valley DEI Task Force
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 202015
B. BEST PRACTICES IN DEI LEADERSHIP & CITY GOVERNMENT
Breaking out of entrenched patterns of individual, institutional and systemic bias requires a concerted,
long-term commitment. Increasingly cities are appointing permanent DEI Commissions to reflect,
shepherd and sustain that commitment.11 Commissions leverage community knowledge, talent and
expertise to inform a city’s practices and decision-making. They provide a free or low-cost workforce
that can advance a city’s priorities more effectively than the city’s resources would otherwise allow.
And they can alleviate tensions within a city by providing avenues for community communication and
engagement.
Experts agree, eradicating racial bias in city government also requires a systemic transformation that
centers racial equity in all government actions and decision-making.12 Cities across the country have
embraced well-tested, system-wide strategies to counteract ubiquitous and longstanding individual,
institutional and systemic bias, both explicit and implicit.13
Mill Valley has recently subscribed to the Government Alliance on Race and Equity [GARE] and has
announced it will send five City representatives to a GARE training on “Advancing Racial Equity.” This
is an important first step. GARE is a leader in government planning and practices for racial equity and
has been working with a cohort of northern California jurisdictions—including Marin County—to facili-
tate systematic change. 14 The GARE methodology, which employs “six critical strategies” reflects best
practices in the field:15
1. Use a racial equity framework (develop a common historical understanding and defini-
tions for key concepts such as equity, explicit and implicit bias, and individual, institu-
tional and structural racism);
2. Build organizational capacity (commit to the institutional transformation necessary to
achieve sustainable impacts; e.g., City government wide training on equity implementation
skills and strategies; organizational capacity-building that integrates equity policies and
processes throughout the City);
3. Implement racial equity tools (tools ensure that all decisions are aligned with organizational
equity goals and desired outcomes, thereby alleviating the impacts of implicit bias and other
practices that are perpetuating inequities);
4. Be data-driven (to measure the impact of policies, strategies and initiatives, identify and
address problem areas, and ensure accountability);
5. Partner with other institutions and communities (to ensure that social change
efforts are informed by the lived experience of impacted communities; to magnify
efforts through collective action and community engagement; to leverage expertise
beyond that available within the City; to acknowledge and integrate the concerns of dis-
satisfied community members); and
6. Operate with urgency and accountability (when change is a priority and urgency is felt,
change is embraced and can take place quickly; building in institutional accountability
mechanisms via a clear plan of action will allow accountability.)
This approach builds the government-wide understanding, capacity and commitment nec-
essary to effectively center equity in all City actions and decision-making.
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Racial Equity Needs Assessment & Recommendations
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C. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DEI LEADERSHIP & CITY EQUITY STRATEGIES
1. CREATE A PERMANENT DEI COMMISSION (IMMEDIATE/TOP PRIORITY)
Mill Valley should create a permanent DEI Commission empowered, among other things: to
recommend, promote and oversee Mill Valley DEI Initiatives; to monitor, investigate and assess
relevant City data; and to report to the City Council and to the public on progress toward goals.
DEI Commission Mission—The mission of a Mill Valley DEI Commission should be as broad as
the challenges it will be confronting: to eliminate racial and identity bias, increase diversity and
inclusion, and promote cultural understanding.
DEI Commission Membership—Commissioners should include Black people and other people
of color whose lived experience with racism will be invaluable to the Commission’s work. In
light of Mill Valley’s proximity to Marin City (home to Marin’s largest concentration of Black
people), and our shared high school, the Commission should include Marin City residents, per-
haps including Tamalpais High School students. Representation of the County’s growing Latinx
population, and of local Indigenous people, will also be important. Commissioners should have
a demonstrated commitment to DEI issues. At the outset, at least two seats should be reserved
for people who participated in the DEI Task Force to ensure continuity. Knowledge and experi-
ence in law, policy and/or local government will be valuable additions. Commissioners should be
offered an optional stipend to encourage individuals with limited financial means to participate.
The Task Force is aware of the Mill Valley Municipal Code provision requiring that commissioners
reside within the boundaries of the elementary school district, which would not include Marin
City or other majority-minority areas of Marin.
It is, however, within the power of the City Council to enact an amendment or exception to this
provision and it should do so in this instance to achieve the diversity objectives of a DEI Com-
mission. In the alternative, out-of-district representatives could serve in an advisory capacity
rather than as full commissioners.
DEI Commission Staff—The DEI Commission will require the support of City staff, particularly in
the early stages as the Commission gets up and running. The City and DEI Commission will also
benefit from the occasional services of an expert DEI consultant.
DEI Commission and Task Force Initiatives—The DEI Commission can greatly lighten the
City’s load in carrying out the initiatives recommended by the Task Force. It should, for example,
help to lead the Racial Equity planning process, monitor and report on data collected pursuant
to Task Force recommendations, develop and maintain DEI partnerships with neighboring cities,
school districts and other allies, and oversee the civilian complaint recommendations in the
police section.
2. DEVELOP A RACIAL EQUITY PLAN FOR CITY GOVERNMENT (IMMEDIATE/TOP PRIORITY)
Mill Valley should engage an experienced professional facilitator (e.g., from GARE) to lead its de-
velopment of a comprehensive Racial Equity Plan. The Plan should include an express acknowl-
edgement of past wrongs and a commitment to advancing racial justice in all aspects of Mill
Valley community life. That commitment should also be reflected in revised vision statements
for the City and its General Plan.
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Racial Equity Plan Participants—The DEI Commission can and should assist the City in
leading the development of the plan. The planning process should actively engage the
County’s affected BIPOC communities and other stakeholders, as well as potential com-
munity partners such as school districts, government leaders from nearby cities and from
the County, and nonprofit organizations. The City Council is in a unique position to play an
important leadership role in the community by actively joining and amplifying the efforts
across our County to advance inclusion, equity and diversity.
Racial Equity Plan Topics—Planning areas should include, among other things,
•DEI training for City Council and staff
•Implementation of racial equity tools to center equity in decision making
•Development of diversity hiring policies and practices for all City Departments
•Transparent data collection, monitoring and reporting on all strategies and initiatives
•Integration of DEI Task Force recommended strategies and initiatives
•Strategy for aligning 2040 General Plan with Racial Equity Plan
•Coalition-building across the County to achieve DEI goals
•Consideration of a “sister city” relationship with Marin City
II. SAFE & EQUITABLE LAW ENFORCEMENT
Procedural justice for the protection of the dignity and human rights of all
Bias in Law Enforcement
A. BACKGROUND & CONDITIONS
1. EVOLUTION OF RACIAL BIAS IN POLICING
The origins of American law enforcement date back to the armed slave patrols of the 1700’s
that were created to enforce the submission of enslaved people.18 When slave patrols for-
mally dissolved after the Civil War, municipal police were empowered to enforce Black Codes
which specified whether, where, when and how Black people could travel, work, vote, reside
and more. Black codes were outlawed by the passage of the 14th Amendment (provid-
ing equal protection of the laws), but Jim Crow laws promptly took their place. Up to and
through the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, police aggressively—and often brutally—
enforced Jim Crow mandates for separate public spaces for Blacks and Whites (e.g., in schools,
libraries, restaurants, water fountains, etc.). At the same time, Whites who lynched Black
people went unpunished and courts declined to hold police accountable for their failure to
intervene in such murders.19
The notion of police as armed enforcers against “undesirable” individuals and groups has con-
tinued into the 20th and 21st Centuries with BIPOC, and specifically Black people, bearing the
heaviest burden. The 1960s “war on crime” launched the era of mass incarceration that focused
heavily on Black communities and fueled a racist narrative that equated Blackness with criminal
propensity.20
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Generations of criminalizing Black existence have produced a modern criminal justice system
steeped in racial bias, both conscious and unconscious.21 An avalanche of social science research
has documented the profound racial disparities in U.S. criminal law enforcement.22 Throughout
the State and across the nation, Black people are stopped, detained, searched, and arrested by
police at substantially higher rates than Whites.23 Police in the U.S are four times more likely to
use force against Black people than they are against Whites. Statistical data chillingly confirms
the role of racial bias in determining who will live or die at the hands of police: Black people are
3 times more likely to be killed by police than White people; Black people account for 28% of all
861 people killed by police so far in 2020, but only 13% of the population; and of all the people
killed by police in 2020, Black people were more often unarmed than Whites.25
The movement of police into schools26 has led to the undue criminalization of school disci-
pline and related conduct.27 These misplaced interventions are also disproportionately applied
against students of color contributing to the flow of Black students into what has come to be
known as the “school to prison pipeline.”28
The profound racial disparities in law enforcement have repeatedly been shown to result from
systemic and individual racial bias (often unconscious and implicit) which begins with policing
and occurs at every stage of the criminal justice system.
2. BIAS IN MILL VALLEY & MARIN COUNTY POLICING
The MVPD does not currently track data on police interactions that would enable it to quantify
the incidence of racial profiling in our community in accordance with the directives of the Ra-
cial and Identity Profiling Act.30 Despite the absence of numerical data, however, there is ample
evidence of racial profiling and bias by proxy in Mill Valley.
The City Council has received countless reports of longstanding and ongoing racial profiling and
discrimination against Black people and other people of color in Mill Valley including: unwarrant-
ed traffic stops; surveillance and detention by Mill Valley police officers; race-based calls from
residents to police (bias by proxy); racially insensitive comments; and overt racial hostility.31
Through community outreach and interviews with BIPOC community members, and personal ac-
counts of Black Task Force members, the Task Force has confirmed the disturbing frequency of
these occurrences,32 and the deep distrust and fear of the Mill Valley police that exists among
communities of color. Mill Valley Police are perceived by local people of color as “custodians of
segregation,” focused on making sure Black and Latinx people are not in the “wrong neighbor-
hood.” Disparate law enforcement is also reflected in County statistics that demonstrate, for
example, that Blacks are 14.3 times more likely than Whites in the County to be incarcerated.33
Local Black children and youth are also deeply affected by racial profiling which does not stop
at the schoolhouse door. Black students at Mill Valley’s Tamalpais High School complain of being
disproportionately targeted by Mill Valley police officers assigned to the school. School statistics
for Tam High reflect that Black students face substantially higher rates of discipline than White
students.34 At the County level, Black youth are 3.5 times more likely than White youth to be ar-
rested for status offenses (conduct prohibited only to a certain class of people, such as truancy
and underage possession of tobacco or alcohol).35
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3. COMMUNITY HARMS FROM BIASED POLICING
For Black people, the specter and experience of racial profiling has devastating and lifelong
consequences. A recent, extensive study of the Ontario Human Rights Commission docu-
ments these serious mental, emotional, psychological, economic and physical human costs.
Black children and youth have their self-confidence shattered by low academic expecta-
tions, excess suspensions and expulsions, and a presumption of criminality. Many Black
Americans are “living in a perpetual state of crisis” and suffering under “a lasting sense of
personal powerlessness, fear, humiliation and loss of social status” that result from wide-
spread racial profiling, disparate rates of detention, arrest, conviction and incarceration,
and an epidemic of police killings of Black people. Often, Black people feel compelled to
alter their behavior in an effort to avoid or minimize being subjected to racial profiling (e.g.,
by observing self-imposed curfews, avoiding certain neighborhoods or streets, dressing
and behaving so as to appear inconspicuous, etc.).37
A justified sense of alienation and distrust of civic institutions among Black people contrib-
utes to an unwillingness to report crime or otherwise seek law enforcement assistance and
undermines Black civic engagement and democratic participation. The economic fallout from
racial profiling can include, among other things: legal fees incurred to defend criminal charges
and/or to pursue a civil suit against the profiling agency; temporary or permanent loss of
employment income; and difficulty obtaining employment and employment-related security
clearances. Those who are subjected to racially biased law enforcement face a heightened in-
cidence of hypertension, missed days at work, anxiety, depression and other health challenges38.
Beyond all of this, there are the horrific direct consequences—including death—of excessive
force and needlessly aggressive tactics by police against Black people.39
The perception and reality of racial bias in our community is a powerful deterrent to Black
people and other people of color who might otherwise choose to live, work in, or visit Mill
Valley. The resulting lack of diversity harms the entire community, narrowing perspectives,
fueling intolerance,40 and stifling innovation, artistry and entrepreneurship.
B. BEST PRACTICES FOR SAFE & BIAS-FREE POLICING
In recent years, a deluge of horrific video evidence has brought the reality of racially biased
policing to the forefront of the American consciousness and has spurred communities and
lawmakers to act. In 2015, President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing [21st Century Task
Force], and California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Board [RIPA Board] each brought together
preeminent experts in the fields of law enforcement, civil and human rights, law and policy.42 The
well-researched reports and recommendations of these two bodies represent the best and most
up-to-date models for alleviating law enforcement bias in all of its forms.
The 21st Century Task Force took a deep and comprehensive view of bias in American policing and
developed numerous concrete proposals under each of six topics or “pillars”: (1) Building
Trust and Legitimacy; (2) Policy and Oversight; (3) Technology and Social Media; (4) Com-
munity Policing and Crime Reduction; (5) Officer Training and Education; (6) Officer Safety
and Wellness.43
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The RIPA Board is charged with analyzing demographic data reported by police departments under
the Racial and Identity Profiling Act [RIPA], and issuing annual reports and recommendations for alle-
viating bias in policing. For the past three years, the RIPA Board Reports have recommended detailed
model policies and best practices on a wide range of issues including bias-free policing, anti-bias
police training standards and content, civilian complaint forms and procedures, and eliminating bias
by proxy, among other things.
In the arena of police use of force, the modern 21st Century Policing approach calls for a change in
the culture of policing, from the mindset of a warrior to that of a guardian. This approach calls on
police agencies to embrace procedural justice from top to bottom “for the protection of the dignity
and human rights of all;” this includes developing “clear and comprehensive polices” to minimize use
of force that emphasize de-escalation.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SAFE & BIAS FREE POLICING
Anti-Bias Policies, Training & Practices
1. INITIATE RIPA DATA COLLECTION BY JANUARY 1, 2021 (URGENT)
RIPA directs California law enforcement agencies to collect, maintain and analyze demographic data
on all detentions and searches, along with citizen complaint and use of force information. This data
collection is essential to enable police departments to identify and address racial profiling by their
officers, and to monitor the effectiveness of anti-bias policies and other remedial measures.
Based on the size of the Department, RIPA requires MVPD to begin its data collection on or before
January 1, 2022. However, in response to community and City Council requests, the MVPD has an-
nounced its intention to begin RIPA data collection in 2021. RIPA calls for a full report of 2021 data by
April 1, 2022. That report is expected to encompass data for all of calendar 2021. Therefore, the City
should ensure that the MVPD has all the necessary technology and training in place and operational
in time to begin RIPA data collection by January 1, 2021. In addition, MVPD Policy 404.4.2 should be
amended to reflect the accelerated start date.
All collected data should be published on the City’s website on a monthly basis and should be reported
to the Attorney General by April 1, 2022, in accordance with RIPA guidelines. In the event that the MVPD
is unable to begin data collection on January 1, 2021, the Department should begin data collection as
soon as possible thereafter and should report any data it compiles to the Attorney General by the April
1, 2022 deadline, along with a notation identifying dates in 2021 for which data is unavailable.
2 ADOPT RIPA MODEL POLICIES FOR BIAS-FREE POLICING (SHORT TERM)
(MVPD Policy Revisions Detailed in Appendix A)
The MVPD relies on the Lexipol software company for its policies. These policies are designed to meet
minimum legal and constitutional requirements to which police departments must adhere; literally the
very least a community can expect of its police department. The Lexipol one-size-fits-all Policy Manual
may provide a worthwhile risk management tool and a starting point for developing policies tailored to
the needs and interests of our community; but it falls significantly short of the law enforcement best
practices recommended by the experts on the 21st Century Policing Task Force and the RIPA Board.
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The MVPD manual contains these laudable, if generalized, anti-bias provisions:
• “ Guidance” to officers, affirming the “Department’s commitment to policing that is fair and objec-
tive” (MVPD Policy 402.1);
• A commitment to provide law enforcement services without regard to identified characteristics,
including race, and “to enforce the law fairly, objectively and without discrimination toward any
individual or group” (MVPD Policy 402.2);
• A definition of bias-based policing as “[a]n inappropriate reliance on [identified characteristics
including race] as the basis for providing differing law enforcement services or enforcement”
(MVPD Policy 401.1.1);
• A direction that “Officers contacting a person shall be prepared to articulate sufficient reason for the
contact, independent of the protected characteristics of the individual” (MVPD Policy 402.4.1); and
• A directive that “bias-based policing is strictly prohibited” (MVPD Policy 402.3).
But racial profiling is often the result of unconscious, implicit and/or institutional bias. This is why
experts recognize that it is not enough to say—as the current MVPD Policy does—“bias-based polic-
ing is strictly prohibited.” Such broadly stated prohibitions offer no meaningful tools, standards or
practices for overcoming deeply ingrained biases.
By contrast, the RIPA Model Policies provide clear, specific and detailed guidance to assist officers
in recognizing and eliminating bias. For example, the RIPA policies: clearly define concepts such as
implicit bias and bias by proxy; describe the rationale and benefits of anti-bias policing; articulate
the distinct standards and evidence required to justify a lawful detention, search, seizure or arrest;
and prescribe a code of conduct to ensure that police encounters with the community are respectful,
courteous and minimally disruptive. These policies and the necessary related amendments to exist-
ing MVPD policies are set forth in full at Appendix A.
As Mill Valley undertakes the data collection and reporting required under RIPA, it must empower the
MVPD with the best available tools to achieve bias-free policing. Adopting the RIPA Model Policies
will position the Department as a leader in the County in anti-racist best practices, an important first
step toward eradicating the cancerous legacy and lived reality of racial profiling in our community.
The City will undoubtedly want to review this recommendation with its legal counsel. Inasmuch as
the policies are already fully developed and directly aligned with the MVPD’s statutory obligations,
this should be a fairly straightforward process that can be completed in the short term. The MVPD
will need to ensure that all of its officers understand and abide by the new policies.
3. ALIGN MVPD TRAINING WITH RIPA BEST PRACTICES (MEDIUM TERM)
(RIPA Best Practice Recommendations Set Forth in Appendix B)
Well-designed anti-bias training has been shown to be an effective tool for alleviating racially dispa-
rate law enforcement practices.51 This is why MVPD needs to look carefully at the quantity, quality
and content of its anti-bias training.
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Minimum police training requirements in California are set by statute (Penal Code Secs. 13500-13553).
The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training [POST] develops training programs intended
to align with those requirements. While participation in POST is voluntary, a majority of California
police departments including the MVPD52 participate in this program. Training designated by POST
as mandatory is meant to meet minimum statutory training requirements. In the case of the POST
anti-bias training, however, the RIPA Board has determined that the training falls short of statutory
mandates.53 Although POST has been working to bring its programs into compliance, the work appar-
ently is not yet complete.54 MVPD should not be relying on the POST program to fulfill its minimum
statutory training requirements, much less to satisfy the needs and values of our community.
The RIPA Board has developed Best Practice Recommendations for Anti-Bias Training to which MVPD
should adhere. These are set forth in full in Appendix B. The RIPA Best Practices would require sub-
stantially more, and more frequent, training than POST (or the MVPD) require. They identify specific
training methodologies that have been shown to be effective, and set forth in detail the principles,
tenets, tactics and skills that should be, but are not currently covered in MVPD training.
The DEI Task Force appreciates that a number of MVPD officers have participated in additional op-
tional anti-bias training in the past month. But the nature and quantity of police officer training on
such important issues should be fixed in accordance with evidence-based best practices and not left
to depend on the political winds or the good graces of individual officers.
Aligning MVPD anti-bias training requirements and content with the RIPA Best Practice Recommenda-
tions will require a careful review and comparison of the RIPA training recommendations with avail-
able compliant offerings, perhaps including those under development by POST. MVPD should work
collaboratively with the DEI Commission in this effort. MVPD policies relating to anti-bias training
should be revised to reflect the new, RIPA-aligned training requirements, standards and content. This
process should be undertaken without delay but will necessarily require some time to implement. For
this reason, we have designated it a medium-term recommendation.
4. ADOPT RIPA BEST PRACTICES TO PREVENT BIAS BY PROXY (MEDIUM/LONG TERM)
(RIPA Best Practice Recommendations Set Forth in Appendix C)
Bias by proxy—when a community member calls the police based on a racially biased fear or suspi-
cion—can contribute significantly to racial disparities in law enforcement.
Because calls for service are the most common way in which law enforcement officers make contact
with the public, it is critical that law enforcement agencies have policies and training in place about how
to prevent bias by proxy when responding to a call for service. 2020 RIPA Report, p. 54 (emphasis added)
For this reason, the RIPA Board has developed detailed “Best Practices for Responding to Biased-
Based Calls for Service.” Mill Valley has no policies or guidelines that address this issue. The RIPA
recommendations address, among other things: policy development; how to identify and respond ap-
propriately to bias-based calls for service; how sworn personnel and dispatchers should interact with
such callers; how to protect the dignity and security of the person who is the subject of the bias-
based call; the responsibility of supervisors; and elements of appropriate training. See Appendix C.
MVPD—in collaboration with the DEI Commission—should develop policies, practices and training aimed
at preventing bias by proxy that conform to the RIPA Best Practice recommendations. Appendix C.
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5. ALIGN MVPD POLICY MANUAL WITH PROCEDURAL JUSTICE BEST PRACTICES
(MEDIUM/LONG TERM)
As the 21st Century Task Force explains, Police interventions must be implemented with strong
policies and training in place, rooted in an understanding of procedural justice. Indeed, with-
out that, police interventions can easily devolve into racial profiling, excessive use of force,
and other practices that disregard civil rights, causing negative reactions from people living in
already challenged communities.
21st Century Policing Final Report, supra, p. 41
It was not possible, in the brief time frame of the DEI Task Force, to conduct a comprehensive review
of all MVPD policies through the lens of anti-bias best practices. We therefore recommend that the
City initiate such a review, in collaboration with the DEI Commission.
Use of Force Policies & Practices
1. ALIGN MVPD USE OF FORCE POLICIES & PRACTICES WITH 21ST CENTURY POLICING
(SHORT TERM)
(Policy Revisions Detailed in Appendix D)
MVPD’s use of force policies, derived from the Lexipol standard form, are in many ways out of step
with 21st Century Policing best practices.
Many police agencies are adopting the procedural justice model prescribed by 21st Century Policing.
This can take the form of “sanctity of life” policies that place the health and safety of all human be-
ings above the prompt resolution of conflict in police encounters. Increasingly, police policies man-
date proportionality (“the risk of harm [from an officer’s use of force must] … correspond in degree
to the seriousness of the public interest that is being served”). Current Mill Valley policy, by contrast,
allows any amount of force “that reasonably appears necessary… to accomplish a legitimate law en-
forcement purpose.” MVPD Policy 300.3 (emphasis added). This would enable an officer to bludgeon
or maim a person suspected of petty theft, if it “appeared necessary” to accomplish the “legitimate”
aim of a prompt arrest.
Procedural justice demands the use of de-escalation techniques such as verbalization or warnings,
creating distance in time and space, and tactical repositioning wherever possible instead of force.
Although MVPD policy recommends the use of de-escalation techniques in crisis intervention situa-
tions (Policy 466.6), these techniques are offered as suggestions (what an officer “should generally”
do or “generally should not” do) and are not required.
In addition, some uses of force are deemed so dangerous (e.g., chokeholds, neck restraints, and
other restraints that pose a heightened danger of asphyxiation), that their use should be entirely
banned. These bans were fairly common before George Floyd’s murder and have been adopted by
dozens of jurisdictions in its wake. Mill Valley continues to allow chokeholds “where deadly force
would be reasonable.” MVPD Policy 300.3.4.
Other growing policy trends establish a duty to intervene to stop a fellow officer’s unwarranted or
excessive use of force, a duty of comprehensive use of force reporting, and implementation of a
use of force continuum. Again, Mill Valley policies on these issues are either weak or nonexistent.
See Appendix D
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Research reviewed by the RIPA Board in its 2019 Report shows that modern, restrictive use of force
policies such as these “correspond with a decrease in deadly and less lethal force incidents.” 66
Where these policies are in place, not only are there fewer officer-involved deaths, but police officers
themselves are less likely to die or be assaulted in the line of duty.67
For the safety of everyone in our community—including our MVPD officers—we recommend that
MVPD Policy Manual be amended to fully incorporate the use of force policies detailed above. Specific
proposed amendments are set forth in full in Appendix D. These recommendations are based on a
partial review of the MVPD use of force policies and are not intended as an exhaustive list of the
policy changes and additions that should be undertaken in furtherance of safe and bias-free policing.
We recommend that a comprehensive review of MVPD Policies be undertaken as described in Recom-
mendation 5 for Anti-Bias Policing.
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FAIR AND IMPARTIAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE BEGINS
WITH POLICE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Trust and Legitimacy in Law Enforcement
A. BACKGROUND & CONDITIONS
MVPD’s history of racial profiling and reputation in the BIPOC community as “custodians of
segregation” will not be easily overcome. The lessons of past experience have created deep dis-
trust of the MVPD that is compounded by the MVPD’s lack of data transparency, lack of indepen-
dent oversight of civilian complaints, and inadequate safeguards in the hiring process to screen
out officers with a history of misconduct.
The MVPD Policy Manual asserts its core values as: “accountability, honesty, integrity, profes-
sionalism, transparency and trust.” MVPD Values, p. 3. But the Department’s actions have failed
to realize these values in relationship to the community.
Data Transparency—MVPD offers very little information on its website compared with detailed
data offered by other police agencies concerning, for example, police activities and statistics,
civilian complaints, anti-bias measures, and demographic data. Civilian Complaint Process—Ci-
vilian complaints against officers in the MVPD are handled internally, with no independent over-
sight or review. Data on the complaints is not available on the MVPD website. However, accord-
ing to information provided by Chief Haynes at the request of the Task Force, MVPD logged nine
civilian complaints between October 2016 and October 2020. Of those complaints, the MVPD
sustained only one. Community members are understandably reluctant to raise complaints
through the existing MVPD process. BIPOC who have been harassed or intimidated by a Mill Val-
ley police officer want to avoid the re-traumatization of another encounter with MVPD; and the
obvious, inherent conflict of interest of having the police department investigate itself leads
people to assume that their complaints will not be taken seriously. That assumption is arguably
borne out by the frequency with which MVPD determines complaints to be “unfounded.”
Justice Department statistics regarding use of force complaints confirm that police agencies
without civilian oversight receive substantially fewer complaints than do comparable agen-
cies with civilian oversight and are more likely to exonerate officers or find the complaints
were unfounded.
Hiring Practices—The MVPD purports to conduct “a comprehensive screening and background
investigation” of police officer candidates. However, these policies do not appear to require
disclosure of prior misconduct complaints or civil lawsuits. Studies show that past civilian alle-
gations of misconduct against an officer are highly predictive of serious future misconduct. As
the fight against police violence and racism in law enforcement continues across the country,
evidence has emerged that several of the officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor and
George Floyd had a history of civilian complaints for brutality and misconduct. The consequenc-
es of failing to weed out such officers in the hiring process are obviously dire.
The problem was highlighted in a recent local incident in the town of Tiburon. A local Black
businessman was harassed in his own store by three officers, including a supervisor who
had previously been involved in the death of an arrestee in Novato that resulted in a wrongful
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death settlement. The officer had been allowed to resign from the Novato Police Department
and was subsequently hired by the Tiburon Police Department. The belated discovery of the of-
ficer’s past misconduct caused an uproar in the community that resulted in the officer resigning
(again), likely to be rehired (again) by another police department.
B. TRUST & LEGITIMACY BEST PRACTICES
Building Trust and Legitimacy is the first pillar of 21st Century Policing. Fair and impartial crimi-
nal justice begins with police transparency and accountability to ensure that policies are uni-
formly understood and implemented.
1. Data Transparency Best Practices—21st Century Policing and RIPA both focus heavily on
the importance of collecting, analyzing and publicizing comprehensive data on all aspects
of policing.1 The website for the Fairfax Police Department provides a good model with
easy-to-access information including: a press log; monthly activity reports; yearly crime
statistics; use of force and restraints statistics; racial and identity profiling data; and infor-
mation on civilian and internal complaints.2
2. Civilian Complaint Best Practices—In addition to making data accessible, 21st Century
Policing holds that “law enforcement agencies must maintain public trust by having a
transparent, credible system of accountability.”3 The RIPA Board emphasizes that “policies
on civilian complaints should be easily accessible and well communicated to the commu-
nity.” RIPA Recommendations, Appendix D. To achieve that objective, officers “should have
complaint forms in their patrol vehicles.” The RIPA Board also recommends “distributing
business cards with each officer’s name, rank and contact information to assist the public
in lodging complaints.”
While not required by law, experts agree that “[s]ome form of civilian oversight of law
enforcement is important in order to strengthen trust with the community.”4 Civilian over-
sight of law enforcement has become a central element of well-designed police complaint
processes throughout the country,5 and throughout the world.6 Civilian oversight can take a
variety of forms depending upon a community’s needs and objectives.7 The National Asso-
ciation for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement [NACOL] provides an excellent guidebook
and other resources for communities seeking to develop and implement civilian oversight.8
3. Hiring Best Practices—The 21st Century Task Force called for an expansion of the National
Decertification Index to enable hiring agencies at least to identify officers who have had
their license or certification revoked for misconduct.9 Unfortunately, the effort has been un-
dermined by a lack of funding. This should not inhibit MVPD from carrying out the necessary
inquiry and investigation to weed out candidates with a history of serious misconduct.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS TO BUILD TRUST & LEGITIMACY IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
In order to begin building trust and legitimacy in the eyes of the community, the MVPD must: (1)
collect, report and regularly publicize comprehensive data on all aspects of its operations; (2) ensure
that civilian complaint forms and process are widely communicated and accessible to the public; (3)
submit civilian complaints to an effective and transparent civilian oversight mechanism.
1. COLLECT AND PUBLICIZE COMPREHENSIVE DATA ON MVPD WEBSITE (SHORT TERM)
The following data should be included on the MVPD website and updated at least monthly—
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• RIPA Data and Related Information—including: demographic data on vehicle and pedestrian stops,
searches and arrests; use of force data, including instances in which officers display a firearm, taser or
other control device (cease the practice of excluding such displays from statistical reports of “physical
force”); and information on injuries, hospital treatment, or hospital clearance on subjects or officers;
• Citizen and Internal Complaint Data—including date, substance, status and outcome of each com-
plaint and demographic data on complainant(s);
• MVPD Anti-Bias Efforts—including policies, training and other efforts MVPD undertakes to ensure
bias-free policing;
• Demographic Data on MVPD—and other information concerning MVPD efforts to promote diversity, equity
and inclusion at all levels of the MVPD;
• A Press Log—reflecting recent activity by Mill Valley police officers and calls for service in our community;
• A Monthly Activity Report—detailing daily activities performed by officers and a monthly activity
summary archive;
• Yearly Crime Statistics—including details on police functions and funding as described in Recommen-
dation 2 for Needs-Based Police Functions and Funding, below;
• Any MVPD Participation in Special Response Team [SRT] Activities (specialized tactical training, team
or elements designed to respond forcefully to extreme high-risk situations)—including SRT exercises,
operations, weapons acquisition or training; and
• Community Survey Data—The MVPD should conduct periodic community surveys to assess its performance.
2. IMPROVE COMMUNITY ACCESS TO CIVILIAN COMPLAINT PROCESS (SHORT TERM)
Consistent with RIPA Board recommendations, MVPD should provide all of its officers with busi-
ness cards that include each officer’s name, badge number, rank and contact information. The
card, which officers should give to every person whom they subject to a pedestrian or vehicle
stop, should advise, “You have a right to make a civilian complaint if you are concerned about the
conduct of any member of the Mill Valley Police Department,” and should indicate where a com-
plaint form can be obtained. In addition, MVPD officers should carry complaint forms in their patrol
vehicles to facilitate the filing of complaints.
3. DEVELOP CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT OF MVPD (MEDIUM TERM)
The City, the DEI Commission and the MVPD should work together to develop an entity and
mechanism for civilian oversight of the MVPD that is outside and independent of the Police
Department. The appropriate mechanism and relevant policies should be determined with com-
munity input. Consideration should be given to the possibility of the DEI Commission acting as
the City’s Citizen Review Board (CRB).
The CRB should be empowered, among other things, to:
•Review any and all civilian complaints filed against Mill Valley police officers;
•Participate in the prompt, fair and impartial investigation of such complaints;
• Make recommendations to the Chief of Police for the disposition of complaints and any appropriate
disciplinary action;
•Make recommendations regarding police policies, training and practices;
•Participate through a representative in police union negotiations with the City; and
•Conduct periodic audits of the MVPD.
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In order to ensure the independence and impartiality of the CRB, current and former MVPD of-
ficers and their families should be disqualified from serving on the CRB.
4. I NVESTIGATE & CONSIDER PRIOR MISCONDUCT IN MVPD HIRING DECISIONS
(SHORT TERM)
In view of the highly predictive correlation between past and future police misconduct, MVPD
should use all reasonable means at its disposal to discover and review any civilian com-
plaints and/or civil lawsuits arising out of a prospective officer’s prior employment. Candi-
date interviews should include questions designed to uncover the existence and details of
any such complaint(s) and lawsuit(s). The frequency, recency and severity of complaints and
litigation should be considered in determining the weight they should be given in the hiring
decision. Mill Valley should develop a policy that forbids the hiring of a police officer with a
proven record of prior serious misconduct.
Creating an accountable police force starts by implementing policies
that make them directly responsible to the people they serve. There
are a variety of practices that can increase the collaboration between
police and the community. Civilian oversight, both on a policy level and
for specific review of complaints and disciplinary measures, creates
direct accountability that also provides the opportunity for police to
learn from and build a relationship with those they serve…Creating
clear procedures by which police officers provide information to and
are transparent about their practices with the community creates the
basis for mutual respect. This can include policies that require police
officers to provide their name, badge number, and an informative card
on how to report complaints to people with which they interact.
Thusi & Carter
Opportunity Agenda Report (2016)
http://transformingthesystem.org/pdfs/Transforming-The-System-CJReport.pdf
An Accountable Police Department
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Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 202029
MANY FUNCTIONS CAN BE PERFORMED MORE SAFELY, MORE EFFEC-
TIVELY, AND AT A LOWER COST BY UNARMED SERVICE PERSONNEL
Law Enforcement Functions & Funding
A. MVPD FUNCTIONS AND FUNDING
Mill Valley is a small city with just 14,151 residents, and MVPD statistics reflect the bucolic
small-town nature of the community: Mill Valley reported just 1,884 police interventions in 2019,
the vast majority of which were for traffic citations (880), traffic accidents (110), and alarm re-
sponses (562). Table D, below. (Notably, the alarm responses appear to have resulted in just 32
burglary allegations, suggesting an overwhelming incidence of false alarms.) Of the remaining
332 police interventions, only 33 involved allegations of violent crime (10 felony assaults and 23
misdemeanor assaults).
Some might be inclined to attribute Mill Valley’s low crime rate to a strong and effective police
presence. However, a wealth of social science research has found either no relationship, or a
positive relationship, between police presence and levels of crime;10 that is to say, an increased
police presence tends to elevate rather than reduce crime statistics.
MVPD does not publish a breakdown of interventions that involve: (a) non-criminal conduct; (b)
school settings; (c) people suffering from mental illness; or (d) domestic disputes that call for
behavioral health interventions. There is reason to believe, however, that a significant portion of
MVPD work falls in each of these categories.
• The MVPD Frequently Asked Questions webpage underscores the abundance of non-criminal
community concerns that the MVPD is tasked with managing including: off leash dog walking,
leaf blowers, wild animal issues, construction crew guidelines, permissible signage, parking
meter holidays, prescription medicine drop off, abandoned cars, and door-to-door solicitors.11
• It appears that at least one MVPD officer is assigned to Tamalpais High School on a
regular basis.
• Marin County has a specialized STAR Court (Support and Treatment After Release) to
deal with individuals who make their way to the criminal justice system due to mental
illness.12 This is suggestive of the prevalence of mental health issues in our community.
• To the extent that the assault numbers in Mill Valley reflect reports of domestic violence—
the number one violent crime in the County—these are also more likely to implicate behav-
ioral health needs and issues than they are to warrant armed police intervention.13
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TABLE D
MILL VALLEY POLICE DEPARTMENT STATISTICS
CATEGORY 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Case Reports 987 970 898 1,297 2,041
Calls for Service 22,421 17,908 18,622 16,459 17,793
Homicide 0 0 0 0 0
Rape 0 1 0 1 0
Felony Assault 10 4 6 6 2
Misdemeanor Assault 23 18 23 27 23
Residential Burglary 24 21 27 31 33
Burglary, Other 12 23 9 14 15
Theft, All 177 137 163 166 160
Auto Theft 10 15 12 12 15
Traffic Accidents 110 109 121 149 112
Moving Violation Citations 880 1,615 1,815 1,404 1,229
Alarm Responses 562 407 898 925 966
Drunk Driving Arrests 43 43 43 43 37
Vandalism 33 32 39 27 27
CRIME/RESPONSE TOTALS 1,884 2,425 3,156 2,805 2,619
https://www.cityofmillvalley.org/police/comminfo/statistics.htm
The MVPD budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year totals $7.1 million,86 over 18% of the City’s $38 mil-
lion in total operating expenditures.87 The annual Police Department budget is larger than that of
any other City Department— large enough to fund the entire budgets for Planning and Building and
the Library Departments combined, and still have $2.4 million left over.88
With just 33 incidents of violent crime reported last year in Mill Valley, the City’s $7.1 million expen-
diture on a weaponized police force amounts to over $215,000 per violent crime. This raises the
question whether a less expensive, less weaponized alternative might be better suited to meet our
community’s needs.
B. BEST PRACTICES FOR NEED-BASED POLICE FUNCTIONS & FUNDING
Over the decades, as police departments across the country have grown in size and resources,89
cities have charged their police officers with responding to a vastly expanded range of community
service needs.90 The expanded police responsibilities are often used, in turn, to justify further police
department growth.91 This cycle of expansion has been fueled by the unexamined assumption that
police forces should continue to operate as first responders for a growing list of non-violent and
non-criminal community needs.
The cost of unchecked police expansion—in Black lives, in BIPOC intimidation, and in sheer eco-
nomic terms—has led many communities to reevaluate the size and scope of work of their police
departments. Jurisdictions throughout the Bay Area and across the country are reducing police
budgets and shifting services away from armed, force-based law enforcement toward service
delivery.92 These jurisdictions recognize that a responsible allocation of functions and resources
to their police department must begin with the threshold question: what are the specific needs
and duties in our community for which armed law enforcement personnel are uniquely
trained and well-suited?
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• The principal justification for force-based policing is the asserted need for armed and
tactically trained responders to intervene and to stop violent crime. Yet in in many juris-
dictions including Mill Valley, this is a tiny fraction of the work police are called upon to
do. 80% of the work performed by a typical police officer involves service-related tasks
(e.g., mediation, crisis intervention, support and referrals) rather than law enforcement;
yet, the great majority of law enforcement academy training focuses on serious crime
functions.93
• Police officers assigned to school settings (commonly referred to as School Resource Of-
ficers or SROs) must devote an even greater percentage of their time to non-law enforce-
ment functions. According to the California School Resource Officers’ Association (CSROA),
an SRO must act: first, as a counselor; second as a teacher; third, as a social worker; and
“lastly as a law enforcement professional when all other options are exhausted.”94
• Individuals suffering with serious mental health issues account for 10% of police respons-
es nation-wide,95 calls that consume significantly more time to resolve.96 Although the ma-
jority of these encounters involve nuisance behavior or suspicion of low-level crimes,97 the
seriously mentally ill are 16 times more likely to be killed by police than other civilians.98
Experts in law enforcement and mental health agree: mental health workers and not police
are best suited to help people with mental illness to “avoid inappropriate contact with the
criminal justice system” which can lead to tragic results.99
Cities are discovering that a great number of the functions currently assigned to police can be performed more
safely, more effectively, and at a lower cost by well-trained, unarmed service personnel. The City of Eugene Oregon
provides a highly successful and longstanding model; Denver employs a similar approach.
Eugene has been successfully dispatching social service workers and medics for 30 years in place of police interven-
tion for non-violent 911 calls. Service workers for Eugene’s CAHOOTS Program respond to roughly 24,000 service calls
annually that would otherwise be fielded by police. The cost of the program ($2.1 million for a community of 171,245)
is about 2% of the Eugene Police Department budget; yet CAHOOTS handles 17% of the Department’s overall call
volume. The cost savings for the City each year are sufficient to pay for the entire CAHOOTS program four times over.
A proportionate per capita investment in Mill Valley would amount to $175,000 and could be expected to relieve the
MVPD of substantially more than 17% of its service calls because of the very low percentage of calls in Mill Valley that
require police intervention. (MVPD reported 33 violent crimes in 2019, or .03 per every 1,000 residents. By compari-
son, Eugene reported 387 violent crimes per 1,000 residents in 2018, the most recent year available). Even if a Mill
Valley Service Team handled only 17% of the MVPD calls, a 17% reduction in MVPD services could allow for a reduction
in the MVPD budget of more than $1.2 million annually.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEED-BASED FUNCTIONS AND FUNDING
We have seen that Mill Valley has an extremely low incidence of crime, and particularly of
violent crime. To the extent that armed MVPD officers are responding to non-violent community
needs, such as school supervision, mental health calls, off-leash dog walkers, and leaf-blower
complaints, the City should reassign these responsibilities to an unarmed City Services Team.
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Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 2020 32
Such a Team would be trained to address the specific community needs assigned to it based
on a City Service Assessment (likely including skills such as first aid, mediation, and crisis
intervention). These service workers will be better equipped, less costly and, importantly, less
lethal than police officers who are trained and armed to maintain order by overcoming resis-
tance by force.
1. REPLACE SCHOOL POLICE WITH SERVICE WORKERS (SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
Data shows that armed police officers are poorly tailored to the needs and objectives of
students in an educational setting.106 Their presence contributes to disparate treatment and
needless criminalization of Black students and other students of color. Black students who
come to Tam High from Marin City already bear a heavy enough burden of “othering”. Mill Val-
ley should coordinate with the High School District and its DEI Task Force to develop alterna-
tives to the deployment of Mill Valley police officers as soon as possible.
2. EVALUATE MVPD FUNCTIONS AND FUNDING AND COMMUNITY NEEDS
(SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
The City and DEI Commission should analyze and publicize available data on the nature, quan-
tity, duration and cost of services currently assigned to and performed by the MVPD. This
assessment should include, among other things, whether the intervention or call for service
involved: an allegation of violence or threat of violence; an allegation of domestic violence; a
family dispute; an individual who appeared to be suffering from mental, psychological or be-
havioral challenges; an individual who appeared to be struggling with substance abuse and/
or addiction; an individual engaged in conduct attributable to his/her unhoused status or lack
of resources; etc. To the extent that an intervention or call involved an allegation of violence,
the data should indicate whether the alleged violence was reportedly in progress at the time
of the intervention or call. Finally, the outcome of any intervention should be indicated (e.g.,
arrest, warning, first aid, mental health referral, advice, etc.)
The analysis should include a review of interventions by MVPD officers at Mill Valley schools,
whether as a regular assignment or in response to a call for service. Details of any school as-
signments should be reported and analyzed including: the frequency, duration and stated pur-
pose of the assignment; the nature, outcome and demographic data relating to any student
contacts; and the nature of the relationship between the MVPD and the school (e.g., is there
a contract for services or other agreement governing officers’ responsibilities, conduct at the
school, payment for services, etc.).
If the necessary data is not currently being collected in a way that allows for this analysis,
the City should require the MVPD to begin collecting and reporting the necessary data im-
mediately. Data collection and documentation methodologies might include a mental health
evaluation checklist for officers who respond to calls. MVPD might consider employing a
mental health professional during the evaluation period to accompany officers on calls and
help evaluate the volume and significance of mental health concerns involved.
3. DEVELOP A NEED-BASED MODEL AND BUDGET FOR CITY SERVICE TEAM (MEDIUM TERM)
The City and DEI Commission should develop a model and budget, based on the review and
analysis prescribed in Recommendation 2, for a City Service Team to respond to calls for
service that do not require an armed police response. The Model should be developed in col-
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Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 202033
laboration with County and local mental health, education, and other service professionals to
ensure an effective, holistic approach to community needs. Consideration should be given to
a 911 Crisis Call Diversion program similar to that employed in Eugene and Denver with dis-
patchers trained to appropriately identify and divert non-violent, non-emergency calls away
from police or fire emergency teams.
The division of responsibilities between the City Services Team and the MVPD must be clearly
delineated. The transfer of MVPD responsibilities to the City Services Team should be reflect-
ed in reductions in MVPD personnel and expenses. The City should strive to ensure that the
budget for the City Service Team does not exceed its savings from the MVPD reductions.
Planning should include a comprehensive review and revision of existing police policies,
procedures and training to incorporate the Community Service Team model, goals and objec-
tives. The MVPD and the DEI Commission should continue to collect and monitor data de-
scribed above to ensure that the program is meeting its goals and objectives.
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III. AMPLE AFFORDABLE, EQUITABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES
We must be as powerful in creating non-segregation as we were in creating segregation
A. CHALLENGES & OBJECTIVES
Richard Rothstein, the author of The Color of Law: The Forgotten History of How our Govern-
ment Segregated America, Liveright Publishing, 2017, has stated:
We are obligated, as Americans, to remedy the civil rights violations that occurred across
our country in the 20th century. It’s not something that can un-happen by accident. It’s go-
ing to require changes in policies at every level of government, as well as private actions.
We must be as powerful in creating non-segregation as we were in creating segregation.
1. AFFORDABILITY
Mill Valley homes and rentals are unaffordable for the vast majority of California residents,
including a majority of Mill Valley workers. A 2018 Mill Valley report noted that 91% of the
4,600 people who have jobs in Mill Valley live outside the City. One third commute more than
25 miles each way.
The City Council and Housing Advisory Committee have been working to increase affordable
housing, including considering a plan to build 30 to 40 affordable units. Mill Valley has an
Affordable Housing Trust Fund that is funded by a 1% fee on the cost of the building permit
assessed on all residential redevelopment projects over $115K. In Mill Valley, all residential
development projects proposing four or more units must provide 25% of all units as afford-
able. Of these, one half must be low income and one half must be moderate income. The
City is currently developing a Home Match program, and it maintains a website dedicated to
housing resources, including information on Fair Housing of Marin.
Despite these efforts, the median price for a home in Mill Valley is about $1.6 million or $861
per square foot. Apartment rents start at about $1,750 for a 325 square foot studio while
the average annual salary in Mill Valley is $76,000. There are deed-restricted affordable
units in Mill Valley but no specifically designed workforce housing or homeowner programs
beyond what Marin County offers. Marin’s Below Market Rate lottery program for first-time
home buyers includes some condominiums in Mill Valley. The total number of homes in this
program each year throughout Marin is between 10 and 20.
Tina Taylor, a theater director, teacher and artist, lived in Mill
Valley for 7 years. Tina has taught 7th graders Shakespeare for
the last 11 years at the Mill Valley Middle School and has taught
and directed in theaters all over the Bay Area. Her rent increased
62% over this time frame and forced her to move out last year.
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2. EQUITY
In addition to socio-economic homogeneity, systemic and persistent racist policies prohib-
ited people of color from purchasing homes in Mill Valley, which has resulted in a lack of
diversity in Mill Valley: 87.4% of residents are White (Table A, supra).
Whites-only deeds, red-lining (racial zoning) threats from gun-toting neighbors, and atti-
tudes ranging from hostile to indifferent, effectively kept most people of color from settling
in Mill Valley. Added to that is the incredible increase in land and home values that threaten
to make our community almost entirely homogeneous.
Rita Abrams wrote the song “Mill Valley”
which influenced people all over the country and described
a small, wonderful and inviting town. After living and
working here for many, many years, she could not afford
to continue living here and ended up moving to Novato.
3. GOAL
The Task Force recommendations aim to increase rental housing but, more importantly, in-
crease opportunities for home ownership for low- and moderate- income households. Build-
ing upon the City’s current plans and progress, we hope to create the foundation for results
not just now, but long into the future. These recommendations will help the City:
• Create pathways to ownership for low- and moderate-income households
• Increase overall diversity in Mill Valley
• Build new affordable housing to balance expensive housing stock
• Integrate affordable housing into the fabric of our existing neighborhoods
• Preserve our current housing stock
• Better meet the rental housing needs in Mill Valley with dignity and respect for tenants
B. AFFORDABLE HOUSING BEST PRACTICES & SUCCESS STORIES
1. SHARED EQUITY PROGRAMS & COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS
Community Land Trusts (CLTs) have a long history of developing affordable home owner-
ship by sharing the equity in a home with the homeowner. The nonprofit Trust owns the
land and the homeowner owns the buildings and improvements on the land. Generally,
the homeowner has a 99-year ground lease, which can be inherited. The homes are resale
restricted and designed to remain affordable for low- and moderate-income buyers, resale
after resale, ideally in perpetuity.
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An extensive case study examined two decades of
data during which the Burlington Community
Land Trust (BCLT) developed 259 moder-
ately-priced homes and condominiums.
Responding to the question posed in
its title, “Does the Community Land
Trust Deliver on Its Promises?” the
study demonstrated that BCLT met
or exceeded expectations by all six
criterion: preserving affordabil-
ity, retaining community wealth,
creating individual wealth, enhanc-
ing residential stability, expand-
ing homeownership, and enabling
residential mobility. In addition to
Community Land Trusts, other Shared
Equity Homeownership initiatives are
successful at meeting these same goals.
In 2010 The Urban Institute published a
report by Kenneth Temkin, Brett Theodos, and
David Price that evaluated seven programs in six
states: Vermont, Minnesota, Colorado, California (in
Davis and San Francisco), Georgia, and Washington. Their research shows:
These shared equity programs are successful at creating homeownership opportunities
for lower income families that allow purchasers to accumulate assets, while at the same
time creating a stock of affordable housing that remains within the financial reach of
subsequent lower income homebuyers, Moreover, homeownership among shared equity
programs is sustainable: only a very small number of shared equity homeowners lose their
home because of foreclosure; and a very high percentage of these low-income, first-time
homeowners (over 90% percent in the three programs for which data were available)
remain homeowners five years after purchasing a shared equity home. Finally, shared
equity homeowners are not trapped: they resell their homes with the same frequency and
for the same reasons as other homeowners. In the three programs for which we were able
to obtain information about the subsequent housing situations of these movers, we found
that over two-thirds of them moved into owner-occupied, market-rate housing after reselling
their shared equity homes.
The median rate of return for homeowners was at least 6.5% and as high as 60%. The
foreclosure rate was low, 0 to 1.1 percent as of the end of 2009. Over 90% remained home-
owners five years after purchasing a shared equity home. Public funding was rarely lost
because of the durable affordability controls over the sales of housing built on the land.
Bay Area Community Land Trust (BACLT) was founded in Berkeley 2006. It owns the land
underneath its affordable housing units, organize housing co-ops, ensure permanent
affordability, and partner with social justice movements.
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2. AFFORDABLE HOUSING NON-PROFITS
Affordable Housing Nonprofits help secure Federal, State, and private funding for affordable hous-
ing, develop the housing, and then manage affordable housing communities. According to Rachel
G. Bratt in a 2007 study for the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, the advan-
tages of nonprofits include long-term affordability, neighborhood revitalization, and an emphasis
on quality resident services.
Hello Housing, an affiliate of MidPen Housing, has partnerships with nine Bay Area cities, including
Novato. It offers an array of innovative programs including: AC Boost, a down payment assistance
loan program; Hello R&D, developing infill housing with the goal of creating permanently-afford-
able homes integrated into current neighborhoods using tools such as creative financing, deed
restrictions, and public-private partnerships; and Workforce Housing, a pilot program serving
“community-serving” professions.
3. PROACTIVE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: BUILDING SUPPORT FOR AFFORDABLE,
EQUITABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES
In addition to forging relationships with good partners, a city that wants to be successful in
adding affordable housing must share its vision with the whole community. It must dispel
negative myths about affordable housing and show the benefits to the whole community
that adding housing at below-market rates brings in community cohesion, reduction in traf-
fic, and a diverse population in age, occupation, abilities, creativity, and culture. The City
can share its dream by:
•Having a beautiful concept first, one that improves the commons while housing people;
•Communicating visually with drawings and diagrams to fully engage all;
•Bringing in neighbors during the initial planning stages, so that it becomes their plan too;
• Encouraging participation through thoughtful scheduling of charrettes and other meet-
ings to accommodate work schedules, offering childcare;
•Publishing the plans in the local newspaper;
Naima S. Dean, raised in affordable housing in Mill Valley by a single
Black father, spoke about her experience:
“ The opportunity allowed my siblings and me to become first generation
college students, to become teachers and librarians and community
contributors and builders. Many of us who grew up in this housing
tend to seek careers that help others. The residents in our complex are
nurses, special ed teachers, College of Marin staff, hair salon staff, pet
store owners, therapists, single parents.”
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Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 2020 38
• Using display boards in an open City Hall where the public can easily comment, question,
and make suggestions;
• Educating the community about who the future residents of this housing would be, namely
workers and families and important, contributing members of the community; and
• Adding public amenities such as parks and centers.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS SUPPORTING AFFORDABLE,
EQUITABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES
1. PURSUE REGULATORY OPTIONS TO EXPAND AFFORDABLE, EQUITABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES
(SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
Change the residential zoning regulations to allow all single-family houses in Mill Valley to be
divided into two homes. Streamline the ability to convert a single-family home into two con-
dominiums, which could then be sold or rented separately. Forge relationships with afford-
able housing nonprofits and Community Land Trusts and consider establishing our own CLT.
(a) Offer owners of homes valued at the median value or below an opportunity to apply
for an affordable housing easement that would preserve the home as affordable in
perpetuity in exchange for property tax abatement. There may be Federal income tax
benefits to owners (as there are with conservation easements) at the time the ease-
ment is put in place. This helps current residents remain in Mill Valley and creates
integrated affordable housing in Mill Valley. Leveraging the property taxes in this way
is a cost-effective way to fund affordable housing.
(b) Consider regulations that would make it harder to increase the size of homes that
are already in the affordable range in Mill Valley. Instead, encourage and allow Acces-
sory Dwelling Units [ADUs] and Junior Dwelling Units [JDUs] on these properties to
increase affordable housing.
(c) ADUs and JDUs are a great way to increase housing stock and many residents are pur-
suing these but are facing long waits from the Planning Department. Consider having
special hours during the week available only for these kinds of applications.
(d) Require all substantially remodeled affordable housing meet ADA requirements. In
partially renovated housing, encourage some universal access components such as
one bedroom and an ADA bathroom on the first floor and 3-ft doors and hallways.
2. REGULATE RENTAL INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, INCREASES & SHORT-TERM RENTALS [STRS]
(SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
(a) Institute a proactive rental inspection program. This removes the burden on renters to
report violations, exposing them to retaliation, and makes it impossible for landlords
to know if a renter has reported violations.
(b) Encourage landlords to maintain their rental units and penalize them if they do not.
If rental units persistently fail to meet basic living standards, consider receivership
or condemnation options. Put in place lien waivers and other supportive measures so
that homes are rehabilitated and become permanently affordable.
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(c) Rent control is worth a thorough investigation and consideration by the City Coun-
cil. Though research is mixed on rent control measures, according to Policy Link: “Mar-
ket controls affect a lot of housing at once, at relatively low cost to the government.
In places where very little land is available for development or where existing housing
is too expensive to acquire, regulating the existing housing market may be the most
practical way to take housing affordability to scale.”
(d) Regulate Short-Term Rentals in ways that encourage STRs for cost-sharing rather than
profit-making. Consider regulations recommended by the Sustainable Economies Law
Center to:
•Restrict STRs to primary residences only
• Require that a resident occupy the unit for a minimum amount of time before
hosting STRs
• Prohibit remodeling or structurally altering units that would prevent the resi-
dence from being used as a residence in the future
• Prohibit short-term rental of single-family structures that were constructed less
than five years prior to the date of application for an STR permit
•Set a cap of 30 nights per year
We also recommend that the City provide all current STR owners (with properties that meet
the criteria) with a rental license for long-term rental at the same time as these regulations
are put in place so that there is a minimal loss of income for these homeowners.
3. INVESTIGATE AND REDRESS HISTORICAL INEQUITIES (MEDIUM/LONG TERM)
According to Harvard historian Philip Deloria “. . . the United States confronts not a singular
“original sin” of slavery, threaded through centuries of systemic racism and extending to
George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, but two foundational sins, intimately entangled across
geographies stretching from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi Delta. . . the United States
acquisition of new territory, a process characterized by the violent plunder of Native land and
its conversion into vast American wealth.” The following should be undertaken to redress
these injuries:
(a) Provide restitutions for descendants of those who were restricted by law from purchasing
a home in Mill Valley. Marin County is the most racially segregated county in California, a
deliberate result of “purposeful segregationist policies and practices” during a period of
major population growth between 1940 and 1970. In Mill Valley, it was not uncommon for
deeds to restrict home sales to Whites only, and today the City is 87% White. In contrast,
Marin City is 32% White and 68% Black and people of color.
(b) Work with Marin County and the appropriate Tribal government to create conservation
easements to preserve Indigenous lands and land trusts for Indigenous management.
(c) Increase the transaction tax on the sale of homes and commercial buildings to be desig-
nated to direct payments to descendants of the Indigenous peoples of this area and proj-
ects that foster and support the tribal histories and cultures of this area.
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4. SUPPORT THE INTEGRATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN COMMERCIAL & PUBLIC PROPERTIES.
(SHORT TERM)
(a) Reimagine Mill Valley’s commercial buildings to allow local businesses to build affordable
housing above their commercial establishments. Consider changing city planning to allow
three or four stories on Miller and other commercial areas.
(b) Consider building affordable housing on city owned lands such as over the community
center parking lot. Use “transfer of development rights,” e.g. save Kite Hill as a park by
instead building over Alto Shopping Center. Use surplus school or church lands for new af-
fordable housing.
5. PURSUE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR AFFORDABLE, EQUITABLE HOUSING (SHORT TERM)
(a) Maintain or increase Section 8 rental subsidies.
(b) Consider a sales or parcel tax for an affordable housing fund.
(c) Encourage a program of estate giving.
(d) Waive fees for affordable housing additions.
(e) Secure commitments from local banks and credit unions and the State of California to work
with the City of Mill Valley and its non-profit partners (that may secure private capital) to
purchase current and future distressed mortgage notes to prevent foreclosures and de-
velop new affordable ownership.
(f) Raise the 1% building permit fee that funds the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
(g) Provide grants or low/no interest home repair loans to homeowners that meet gross
household income
requirements so that
homes are healthy
and safe for the cur-
rent occupants and
are preserved rather
than replaced.
Additional Notes & Resources for
Affordable, Equitable Housing Section.
Affordable, Equitable Housing :Mill Valley DEI Task Force
Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 202041
IV. EQUITABLE CULTURAL & RECREATIONAL ENGAGEMENT
Attract, reflect and serve the Bay Area’s vibrant cultural diversity
A. SEGREGATION & CULTURAL EXCLUSION IN MILL VALLEY
Mill Valley’s segregationist history and resulting homogeneity make it impossible to provide
rich multicultural experiences and education in the City without outreach to surrounding
communities. Historically, that outreach has been largely absent. The longstanding exclu-
sion and hostility experienced in Mill Valley by Black people and other people of color from
neighboring communities fuels a natural reticence to participate in Mill Valley community
life even when those opportunities do present themselves. Our whole community suffers
from the resulting lack of cultural and social vibrancy.
Providing welcoming, equitable and inclusive cultural and recreational opportunities in Mill
Valley can help begin to bridge racial divides and demonstrate our City’s sincere commit-
ment to overcoming our racist past.
B. PROGRESS & OPPORTUNITIES
We appreciate the efforts currently underway to make the City’s cultural and recreational
opportunities more equitable and reflective of diversity.
• Mill Valley Library is undertaking a serious, multi-year effort to magnify BIPOC
voices including live events, book groups, podcasts, blogs, virtual events, com-
edy, book lists, lectures, documentary screenings, picture book packs, teen
book packs, book discussions, adult book bundles, and partnerships with art-
ists. In addition, the Library has a plan to document the history, as well as the
present experiences, of local Black/ Indigenous/ People of Color.
• Parks and Recreation is currently working with the Marin City Community Cen-
ter to supply transportation between the Mill Valley Community Center and the
Marin City Community Center so that all the children in Southern Marin can play
together.
• The City of Mill Valley’s website history section features a short but prominent
history of the Huimen Community of the Coast Miwok, who now call themselves
The arts and culture history and experience that Mill Valley offers is part of its fabric,
and we are passionate about preserving this history. Studies show that arts and culture
initiatives lead to economic development … amplify a sense of place and abundance …
build community and connections… and bring new visions. …As urbanist and activist Jane
Jacobs wrote in 1961, “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody,
only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” It is incumbent on us to rec-
ognize the indispensable role that racial equity and diversity play in community conversa-
tions and in activating Mill Valley as a place of belonging that serves the collective good.
Bonnie Powers, Co-Founder and Co-Curator at Poet and the Bench
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the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria. In the Arts and Culture section
of its website, the City includes information on groups such as the Queer Writ-
ers of Color Relief Fund and Pillars Rapid Response Fund, which offers grants
for Muslim artists and activists whose livelihoods are negatively impacted by
COVID-19.
• Diversity in the arts is an important component of the Arts and Culture section
of the Mill Valley General Plan.
We applaud these successes, and believe we have much more to do. A community is orga-
nized by its shared values. Thinking about all of our common spaces as multicultural, and
then making that a reality will take effort, but a multicultural community space will deeply
enrich the fabric of the town. The vibrancy of this community space will be an economic at-
traction, as well as a social one.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to become a diverse and welcoming place, Mill Valley must find ways to attract,
reflect and serve the diverse elements of our surrounding community. We can begin by
developing multicultural common spaces through public art, events and engagement. A
vibrant multi-cultural environment promotes creativity, innovation and economic activity.
The City Council, Arts Commission, DEI Commission, City Departments and the private sec-
tor all have important roles to play in bringing about this transformation.
1. IMPLEMENT ARTS & CULTURE GOALS OF GENERAL PLAN FOCUSING ON
CULTURAL DIVERSITY (SHORT TERM)
The one area of the MV2040 General Plan we have found that addresses racial and cultural
diversity is the Arts & Culture section of the Community Vitality chapter. That section notes
the crucial role of diversity in building community and a vibrant creative environment.14 Goal
Art.9, titled “Artistic Diversity and Variety” directs the City to:114
Support and encourage a wide variety of established and emerging art forms
and artists that include varied ethnic, cultural, age, gender, and economic
populations among the users and providers of the City’s arts, culture, and
arts education offerings.
The plan offers the following programs in support of this goal:115
ART.9-1 When enacting City regulations, ensure support for artistic freedom, variety, and eclecticism.
ART.9-2 When promoting the arts, also promote the value of artistic diversity to encourage creativity,
expand horizons, and accommodate a wide variety of artistic tastes.
ART.9-3 Provide low-cost opportunities for artists to display and sell their work in public and at
events.
ART.9-4 Host and support multi-cultural arts events, performances, and displays.
ART.9-5 Encourage local arts community leaders and providers that reflect the diversity of estab-
lished and emerging art forms and artists.
ART.9-6 Support and reflect artistic expression that draws upon the cultural diversity found in the
community’s workforce
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We urge the City, through the Arts and DEI Commissions and all City Departments, to priori-
tize the realization of these goals with a heightened focus on expanding cultural diversity
in public and private artistic offerings and opportunities throughout the City. Mill Valley can
invite and support interracial interchange and connections in our community through such
multi-cultural artistic engagement. The Task Force recommends consideration of the follow-
ing proposals, among others.
• Adapt the Perspectives: Past, Present, Future into a rotating public education
and art space with a DEI focus.116 Develop maps and tours to highlight these and
other multicultural installations, landmarks and resources.
• Sponsor a local Folk Arts Festival, bringing cultural diversity through dance,
cuisine, and traditions.
• Develop an annual cooperative Marin City and Mill Valley Pageant Play that
dives into the real history of the area, with local citizens performing. Lenora
Lee’s dance performance on Angel Island captures the spirit of what we would
like to create.
• Identify a City-owned property that can serve as a Multicultural Community
Center. If a space cannot be allocated a small bus could serve as a mobile cen-
ter (like a book mobile), which would allow the DEI Commission and Multicul-
tural Center to participate in many events throughout Mill Valley and Southern
Marin.
• Create a Two-Act Play with the first act being performed in Marin City and the
second act in Mill Valley. Provide a shuttle between acts.
•Add a Cross-Cultural element to the Community Gardens program.117
2. PROVIDE FREE ACCESS FOR MARIN CITY RESIDENTS TO ACTIVITIES AT
MILL VALLEY FACILITIES (MEDIUM TERM)
We must make Mill Valley an inviting and accessible place for Marin’s BIPOC communities.
We can begin with our nearby Marin City neighbors. To this end, Mill Valley should provide
free access to Park and Recreation facilities and classes for anyone residing in the Marin
City Community Services District.118 Access must be simple and inviting: an ID or other proof
of residence at check in or registration, for example. The Parks and Recreation Department
could coordinate with Marin City Community Services District to publicize and promote the
program as part of a “Sister City” arrangement.
This benefit should be extended to any activities, public or private, that utilize City facilities
(e.g., Marin Cyclists Club, MCBC, Tamalpais Outrigger Canoe Club Mill Valley Little League,
Mill Valley Soccer, and Mill Valley Lacrosse.) If necessary, the City should investigate funding
sources to subsidize the provision of scholarships.
3. SUPPORT INDIGENOUS GROUPS IN DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES
(MEDIUM TERM)
Work with local Indigenous groups to support their vision for the protection of cultural
spaces and the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives and history in cultural and athletic pro-
grams. Designate a City employee to serve as the official liaison with the Graton Rancheria
(the Coast Miwok are now a part of the GR) to update them regularly on City matters, to seek
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their advice on initiatives and to amplify the voices of the original stewards of this land. Cre-
ate an official City of Mill Valley Land Acknowledgement Statement in partnership with Vice-
Chair of Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Lorelle Ross. Encourage its display and use at
meetings and events.119
Additional Resources120 & Cost Estimates121 for Culture & Recreation Section.
V. EQUITABLE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
A city where communities of color thrive and race is never a barrier to economic opportunity
A. BACKGROUND & CONDITIONS
Mill Valley’s predominantly White business community appears to reflect the County’s deep
racial disparities in economic opportunity. According to Race Counts, Whites in Marin sub-
stantially outscore Blacks on all economic indicators122 For example: 61% of White people
in Marin are employed, compared with 48% of Black people; 94% of Whites have internet
access compared with 87% of Blacks; 28% of Blacks live in poverty, compared with 8% of
Whites; and, when it comes to business ownership, 31.4 out of every1000 White Marin resi-
dents owns a business, while the numbers for Black business ownership are insufficient to be
included in the tally.
Mill Valley will never be a diverse and welcoming community until we bridge the racial
barriers to economic opportunity.
B. BEST PRACTICES FOR ECONOMIC EQUITY
Cities employ a wide range of strategies to promote economic opportunity for BIPOC busi-
nesses and individuals. In addition to those identified below, many are recommended on
Policy Link’s All-In Cities website and Toolkit,123 at Growth & Justice,124 and by the Associa-
tion for Neighborhood Housing and Development.125
1. EQUITABLE CONTRACTING AND PROCUREMENT
Cities can leverage their public spending to promote equitable economic development. Ac-
cording to the Mill Valley 2016-2018 Budget Workplan, Mill Valley spent over $22 million on
non-employee supplies services and equipment in fiscal 2017-2018, and even more (over $32
million) in fiscal 2016-2017. These dollars represent a valuable opportunity to bring minority-
owned businesses and BIPOC workers into our community and begin to correct past dis-
criminatory practices.
Through equitable contracting and procurement policies, cities can ensure that underrepre-
sented entrepreneurs have access to these business opportunities — those who are under-
represented include minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs; defined as at least 51
percent owned by people of color) and disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs; owned by
people of color, women, and other economically disadvantaged groups).
Policy Link, All-In Cities Toolkit.126
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Such spending can have exponential benefits for local communities of color, and for our
overall local economy.127
Equitable public spending is critical to the strength of cities, as businesses owned by people
of color are more likely to hire people of color than other firms and generate increased
economic activity in communities of color. Local governments often fail to provide fair
contracting opportunities for MBEs and DBEs, who compete with larger companies that are
politically connected, able to access financing, and more familiar with navigating the bu-
reaucratic processes of working with governments.
2. FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT CENTERS
Financial empowerment centers are city-managed programs that offer free, professional,
one-on-one financial counseling to help residents address their financial needs and plan
for their financial futures. The need for such services is real — in 2016, the Federal Reserve
reported that nearly half of Americans would not be able to come up with $400 in savings
for an emergency expense.128 Cities seeking to help residents build wealth and financial
security can establish financial empowerment centers to offer training and services for
money management, budgeting, reducing debt, establishing and improving credit, con-
necting to safe and affordable banking services, and building savings.129
Through financial empowerment centers, residents can access resources and support to
build savings to weather financial emergencies, invest in their futures, avoid predatory
financial products that can entrap them in cycles of debt, and increase their financial acu-
men. Implementing a financial empowerment center requires upfront investments deter-
mined by its structure, the services it delivers, and the costs of specific programs and
incentives (e.g., matched savings accounts). But because these centers can be integrated
into other public services — including housing and foreclosure prevention services, work-
force development, prisoner reentry, benefits access, and domestic violence prevention
— they can actually save cities money. Research shows that financial insecurity can strain
city budgets, while people with stable finances need fewer ongoing support services.130
3. WORKER COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
The City of Berkeley offers a good example of a Worker Cooperative Development Program.
Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development launched its program in 2019 to provide suc-
cession planning and support for cooperative conversion for businesses at risk of closure.
The program advances BIPOC business ownership while providing substantial economic
benefits for the City.
A study commissioned by the City’s Office of Economic Development and conducted by
Project Equity reveals that more than 1,200 Berkeley businesses will be in need of succes-
sion planning services over the next 15 years. Those 1,200 businesses account for $1.6
billion, or 60% of Berkeley’s small business revenue, and one in three local jobs. Berkeley,
like most US cities, will need to redouble its investments in succession planning in order to
preserve even a fraction of its local businesses as primarily Baby Boomer business owners
reach retirement.131
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4. GRANTS
A City can provide direct grants to BIPOC individuals and businesses in need. San Francisco
recently launched such a program that aims to address some of the economic devastation
felt by its Latinx community due to COVID. Among other things, the program will provide
support for small businesses and struggling workers.132 Special project grants, in the areas
of the arts and humanities for example, can promote equitable economic opportunity while
advancing identified civic needs.133
C. RECOMMENDATIONS
1. DEVELOP EQUITABLE CONTRACTING & PROCUREMENT POLICIES TO
SUPPORT BIPOC BUSINESSES (SHORT TERM)
The City should adopt equitable contracting and procurement policies to alleviate the ad-
vantages of large, White-owned businesses and provide opportunities for minority-owned
businesses and workers to supply the City’s contracting and procurement needs.
2. EXPLORE DEVELOPMENT OF A FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT CENTER
UTILIZING COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS (MEDIUM TERM)
Financial empowerment centers provide free, professional, one-on-one financial counseling
to assist underserved residents to build wealth and financial security. Mill Valley should
explore a pilot program in which local financial professionals volunteer to provide such
services.
3. EXPLORE COOPERATIVES, GRANTS & OTHER ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT
NEW & STRUGGLING BIPOC ENTREPRENEURS (MEDIUM TERM)
The City, through the DEI Commission, should explore available options to attract, promote
and support BIPOC businesses in our community.
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Mill Valley DEI Task Force: Report & Recommendations 12 | 07 | 202047
HA.JNESS
.· c••erNs
JUST
G
VI. EQUITABLE EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Our schools need support for their anti-racist work
both within and outside the school setting
Our recommendations offer a pathway for the Mill Valley community, including its leader-
ship, to move toward an inclusive, racially just, and anti-racist Mill Valley.
(1) They offer a pathway for the Mill Valley Council and City Government to exercise leadership in demonstrating
a commitment to racial justice and the practice of anti-racism in the community and hold ourselves and each
other accountable for meaningful change.
(2) They are based on the concept of shared learning: At all levels of our community -- from kindergarten through
high school, young adults, families, retirees and senior residents – we engage in the learning about racial
justice, implicit biases and anti-racism together and alongside each other, supporting and informing one
another’s growth and learning.
(3) They focus on three spheres of influence of the City Council relevant to education:
a. Areas under the direct jurisdiction of the City Council;
b. Partnerships with the schools, which are integral to the Mill Valley community; and
c. Collaborations and coordination with Marin City and its schools.
A. RACIAL JUSTICE IN MILL VALLEY SCHOOLS & THE ROLE OF CITY GOVERNMENT
The City Council does not have direct jurisdiction over the Mill Valley educational system.
However, the City has a crucial leadership role to play in promoting racial justice in Mill
Valley schools by demonstrating a commitment to the practice of anti-racism in the com-
munity and in partnership with the schools.
We are guided in our discussion by the following premises:
(1) Our children must experience inclusive education and anti-racist curriculum from the earli-
est grades on, starting in Kindergarten and continuing all the way through High School;
(2) BIPOC students, families, faculty and staff must have equal opportunities and access to all
the necessary resources to thrive in the Mill Valley school system;
(3) BIPOC students, families, faculty and staff must experience a sense of belonging, and feel
that their contributions are valued and compensated in the Mill Valley school system;
(4) Our schools must foster a school community and school culture that is explicitly anti-
racist and that is intentionally and transparently inclusive; and
(5) Our Mill Valley community, at all levels, including families, neighborhoods, after school organiza-
tions, and businesses, must provide a racially just environment to support and amplify the work
that the schools are doing to establish inclusion, equity and diversity in the educational setting.
The racial inequities in the Mill Valley public schools are well-documented. There are two
areas of major concern: the achievement gap and disparities in discipline. We present these
data to anchor our discussion in the reality of racial inequities in our schools. The leader-
ship at the high school, middle and elementary schools is acutely aware of these problems
and have committed themselves to making systemic changes to address them. While a
great deal of the responsibility to address these problems lies with the School Districts’
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leadership, they can’t do it alone. Addressing longstanding and pervasive inequities in our
schools requires a comprehensive and consistent commitment from our community and
City leadership.
1. TAMALPAIS HIGH SCHOOL
Tables E (Tam High) and Table F (Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD)) present the
2019 outcome data on academic achievement and suspension rates at Tam High specifically
and at the TUHSD overall (five campuses combined). These data document the serious ineq-
uities by race and socioeconomic disadvantage in our education system.
TABLE E: TAMALPAIS HIGH SCHOOL - 2019
Academic Performance & Suspension Rates by Race & Socioeconomic Disadvantage
(Source: California Schools Dashboard)
ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
AFRICAN AMERICAN LATINX ASIAN AMERICAN CAUCASIAN MORE THAN ONE RACE FILIPINO SOCIO-ECONDISADVANTAGE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ARTS
---*25 pts
> standard
42 pts
> standard
55 pts
> standard
8 pts
< standard
MATHEMATICS ---*28 pts
< standard
14 pts
> standard
15 pts
> standard
56 pts
< standard
GRADUATION RATE 100%95%93%98%93%
COLLEGE/CAREER
PREPARED 47%51%62%76%39%
DISCIPLINE
SUSPENSIONS 14%3%2%4%4%17%7%
* fewer than 11 students reported; data not displayed for privacy
TABLE F: TUHSD - 2019
Academic Performance & Suspension Rates by Race & Socioeconomic Disadvantage
(Source: California Schools Dashboard)
ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
AFRICAN
AMERICAN LATINX ASIAN
AMERICAN CAUCASIAN MORE THAN
ONE RACE FILIPINO SOCIO-ECON
DISADVANTAGE
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS
43 pts
< standard
12 pts
> standard
55 pts
> standard
64 pts
> standard
7 pts
< standard
MATHEMATICS 113 pts
< standard
36 pts
< standard
33 pts
> standard
26 pts
> standard
52 pts
< standard
GRADUATION RATE 94%95%95%96%89%
COLLEGE/CAREER
PREPARED 28%47%73%73%37%
DISCIPLINE
SUSPENSIONS 13%2%2%2%2%5%6%
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(a) Achievement Gap
African American students experienced a substantial gap in both the English and Language
Arts and in Math. Using the TUHSD data as a proxy in these two areas (see * in Table E), the
achievement gaps were 85-98 points in English and Language Arts, and 127 points in Math.
While 100% of African American students at Tam High graduated in 2019, less than one-half
were college or career prepared, compared to two-thirds of the Asian American students
and three-fourths of the White students.
Latinx students performed above standards in English and Language Arts, yet still 17-30
points below Asian American and White students. In Math, this group experienced a gap of
43 points compared to Asian American and White students. While 95% of Latinx students
at Tam High graduated in 2019, only one-half were college or career prepared, compared to
two-thirds of the Asian American students and three-fourths of the White students.
The data show an equally concerning gap for students from socially disadvantaged back-
grounds. Their performance was below standards in both English and Language Arts and in
Math. In Math there was an especially large gap of 71 points compared with Asian American
and White students. Their graduation rate was somewhat lower than their peers, but most
concerning was that less than 40% were college or career prepared.
(b) Suspension Rates
African American students were 4 to 7 times more likely to be suspended compared to
White, Latinx, or Asian American students. A concerning data point in 2019 was the high rate
of suspensions among Filipino students, almost 4 to 9 times higher than White, Asian Ameri-
can and Latinx students. Students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were 2
to 3 times more likely to be suspended compared to the rates of White, Asian American and
Latinx students. These racial disparities in suspension rates should be of great concern,
especially because of the serious educational and life altering consequences that are as-
sociated with these experiences. We know that disciplinary actions such as suspensions and
expulsions often set in motion a downward spiral for the student and lead to more punitive
disciplining including juvenile detention.
2. MILL VALLEY SCHOOLS - 3RD THROUGH 8TH GRADES
Table G presents the 2019 outcome data on academic achievement at the Mill Valley School
District, 3rd through 8th grades.
TABLE G: MVSD - 2019
Academic Performance by Race and Socioeconomic Disadvantage
% of students meeting state standards
ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
AFRICAN AMERICAN LATINX ASIAN AMERICAN CAUCASIAN MORE THAN ONE RACE SOCIO-ECONDISADVANTAGE
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS 82%69%66%86%87%57%
MATHEMATICS 45%65%71%81%85%54%
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In Mathematics, far fewer African American and Latinx students met the state standards
compared to White students. This was especially pronounced for African American students.
In English and Language Arts, fewer Latinx and Asian American students met the state
standards compared to White and African American students. Of great concern should be
that children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds performed substantially
behind their peers. In both English and Math, just over half of this group of students met
state standards.
The metric presented here is % of students meeting the California state standard. This
particular metric is useful in showing in what areas and between what groups there is an
achievement gap. This particular metric is not able to tell us how far below standard each
group is performing, or how wide the achievement gap is between the various racial groups.
B. EVIDENCE & EXPERT OPINIONS
The Task Force collected data and expert recommendations from the following sources:
• INTERVIEWS WITH:
•Tara Taupier, Superintendent, TUHSD
•Kimberlee Armstrong, Assistant Superintendent, TUHSD
•J.C. Farr, Principal Tamalpais High School
•Kimberly Berman, Superintendent, MVSD
•Rod Septka, Global Studies Coordinator, MVSD
•Julie Harris, Director Student Services, MVSD
• COMMENTS BY STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS DURING THE TWO RACIAL
JUSTICE FORUMS CONDUCTED BY THE TUHSD (8/5/20; 9/2/20)
•Comments made by community members during the DEI Public Engagement meeting (11/5/20)
•Comments/suggestions received by the MVCC from the community over the past 4 months
•Review of the California Schools Dashboard for the TUHSD
The common theme in all of the conversations we had and comments we received is that
Mill Valley has a terrible reputation regarding racial justice and racial tolerance. At the two
Racial Justice Forums held by the THUSD this past fall, the students were especially coura-
geous in conveying their experiences of racism and intolerance in the school culture. Par-
ents were equally articulate about their experiences and observations of the work that still
needs to be done, both in the schools and in the community.
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1. WHAT WE HEAR FROM STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND THE COMMUNITY
• FROM STUDENTS (selection):
• The White community continues to blame BIPOC students for not doing enough. We are told:
you have to report; you have to speak up; you have to just trust us. But we don’t have a reason
to trust. We have been reporting and speaking out for a long time, but we are not listened to.
We are not taken seriously. Speaking up again and again is a retraumatizing experience.
• White students have to get on board without expecting BIPOC students to endure re-
traumatization. The White people have to organize. They are the ones that have and
continue to do harm.
•How do we get White students and White families to care?
• From a student who attended both High School 1327 and Tam High: High School 1327
and Tam High have very similar racist cultures. While Tam High has done a lot of work
on addressing the problem in the culture and in the curriculum (Tam High is the only
school that has Black staff members, a Black principal, and has worked extensively on
anti-racist curriculum, anti-racism training of teachers and staff, etc.), the level of rac-
ism experienced at both schools is similar. All the things that Tam High is doing are not
working. What is the district going to do about it?
• BIPOC students more often have to take buses to school. Due to the unpredictable bus
system students sometimes are late and miss class. This is dealt with by the school in a
punitive way which leads to more punitive experiences by BIPOC kids. Why are we punish-
ing students for things that are outside their control?
• Inequities in disciplinary actions; a much higher percentage of BIPOC students are referred
for disciplinary action, and are referred to “continuation” schools (San Andreas, Madrone)
• The school-to-prison pipeline is a major systemic problem; the stats in Marin County for
suspensions and expulsions of Black and brown students are horrific and are worse than
the country’s averages; these disciplinary actions set in motion a pathway to juvenile
detention and prison
• Restorative justice programs are underutilized. We need restorative justice approaches
in the elementary and middle schools as well as in our high schools.
• “Dress your next step” is a complete display of elitism and wealth disparity.
• When listening to stories of people who are incarcerated, their history of interactions
with teachers often played a significant part in their ending up in prison. Teachers need
much more training in recognizing signs of trauma, and how to handle these.
• Counselors and coaches have a huge impact on a person of color’s future, affecting stu-
dents’ mindsets about their future education in negative and limiting ways
• School police or “School Resource Officers” in full uniform with tasers, guns, and police
cars are intimidating with a disparate effect on BIPOC students. This creates a hostile and
scary environment that reinforces differential treatment.
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• FROM PARENTS (selection):
• Biracial students have figured out that there are major benefits to “passing”, but this
completely erases part of who they are.
•What % of the budget will be spent on these anti-racism projects?
•Will there be a staff member devoted to DEI?
• We need training on upstanding for everyone. Parent education topics need to include
antiracism and how to be an upstander.
• Lack of diversity in elementary and middle schools is deep concern. Antiracism edu-
cation/training/practices have to start in preschool, and the elementary and middle
schools.
• There is a great need for the district to hire more faculty of color. They also need to
address retention of faculty of color and create an inclusive environment. But in addi-
tion to hiring BIPOC individuals the schools have to work on making the environment
less hostile to BIPOC individuals.
• FROM THE COMMUNITY (selection):
• Effect of law enforcement on school grounds? We should be reallocating funds to other
services that support students’ mental and emotional needs; create a different model.
•We should enlist neighbors and residents to hold the school district accountable.
•We need to get the teenagers involved in the schools’ efforts to address racial justice.
• Achievement gap in the MVSD is one of the highest in the nation; it is ruining children’s lives.
•Diversify the school system.
•Support integrating K-8 schools with Sausalito-Marin City and Mill Valley.
•Require professional development for teachers, staff, and administration.
• Curriculum overhaul: Make anti-racist textbooks mandatory in social studies classes
(K-12); encourage elementary and middle school courses to teach anti-racism prin-
ciples, such as how to respond to and interrupt racist interactions; required readings
for teachers and students - such as “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain.”
•Address institutionalized racism and segregation at Tam High.
•Review how the City can partner better with the School District and High School District.
• Set up a scholarship fund for African-American students; scholarships for science,
technology, engineering, math, arts, music, and recreation programming; THUSD food
bag and school supplies programs.
•Increase schoolteacher pay and pour more funding into education system.
2. PROGRESS & CHALLENGES ACCORDING TO SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS & STAFF
(a) Racial Justice Initiatives
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For the past 3-5 years both Tam High and MVSD have been engaged in well-informed, con-
certed and in-depth efforts to address the overt and implicit racial biases and discrimina-
tion in the school systems. At both school districts, the leadership for racial justice work
comes from the top with clear commitments, goals, and plans for implementation and
assessment against outcome measures. Notwithstanding the serious disruptions due to the
pandemic, the past work on racial justice has put the schools in a better position to respond
to the current national crisis of systemic racism.
At Tam High, starting five years ago, under the direction of Mr. J.C. Farr, the school has been
involved in a wide-ranging effort to develop and implement anti-racist curriculum, offer
anti-racism resources for teachers, require DEI professional development of all teachers and
staff, support student engagement and activism, hold courageous conversations about race
and racial justice across the school, and institute hiring practices to increase the number
of BIPOC teachers. At the TUHSD, under the direction of Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong, the TUHSD
has formed a Racial Justice Task Force of 106 students, parents, community members and
staff to study nine areas of racial justice and anti-racism at the high schools. The TUHSD
has partnered with outside education groups, such as the Pacific Education Group (with
Deborah Knight, Lori Watson) and with Beyond Diversity to implement training across all
levels of staff at the school. They have instituted districtwide Equity Leadership Training
and Racial Consciousness and anti-racism education for their leadership team and their
teaching and administrative staff, including the school board.
At the middle and elementary schools, starting about three years ago, similar efforts have
been underway to review curriculum for racial bias and inclusivity, require teacher train-
ing of all teaching staff, offer teacher support networks, introduce a program of culturally
responsive teaching across all the schools, and develop special projects between Mill Valley
and Marin City schools. Racial Justice Task Forces have been formed at Strawberry Point,
Edna McGuire and Tam Valley Schools. The MVSD has partnered with the Pacific Education
Group and with Courageous Conversation training resources.
(b) Continuing Challenges
Apart from the additional layers of complexity brought on by COVID, both school districts
identify a number of common challenges.
Inability to attract and retain BIPOC faculty. At both Tam High and MVSD a major concern
is the difficulty of attracting BIPOC individuals to even apply for teaching positions. In spite
of consistent outreach and extensive work with services like Nemnet, the schools receive
virtually no applications from individuals of color. Moreover, it has been difficult to retain
the few teaching staff of color that have ventured to work in our school system. All school
leadership we talked to report that the reputation of Mill Valley as an elitist, intolerant
community where overt and covert acts of microaggression and racism go unchecked and
unaddressed is a great disincentive for BIPOC individuals to seek teaching employment in
the Mill Valley schools.
Divide between what happens in the classroom and what happens outside of the school.
Both school districts emphasized that the lack of intention and awareness around racial
justice, equity and inclusion in the broader community works against the schools’ efforts
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of making systemic changes and addressing school culture. There is a wide divide between
what is happening at school in the classroom and what is happening outside of the school.
The ability of the school to have an impact on the school culture and to interrupt and pre-
vent acts of racism will remain limited without the students experiencing a more consistent
anti-racist message coming not only from within the school, but also the families and from
the larger Mill Valley community outside the school.
Lack of consistency in implementation of anti-racist curriculum and pedagogy across class-
rooms. At the end of the day a school is students and teachers. Teachers need to be well
grounded in anti-racist pedagogy and curriculum. There is an ongoing need for professional
development to ensure all teachers continue to be solid in this work.
Extensive Task Force outreach confirms a community consensus—among students, parents,
teachers, administrators and residents—that our community must do more to learn about,
embrace, and reflect social and racial justice values. We must extend the concept of shared
learning across all the levels of our community that impact the education of our children:
from kindergarten teachers all the way through our Mill Valley residents and leadership.
C. RECOMMENDATIONS
Racial justice and healing in our educational system must begin with a true understanding
and acknowledgement of past and ongoing harms. We must take time to listen, apologize,
own, and begin to repair painful patterns and practices that have existed and persisted in
our community. The City should publish a clear, outward facing statement acknowledging
past wrongs and stating its clear and unequivocal commitment to advancing racial justice
in all areas of City government, including in relation to the Mill Valley educational system.
1. PARTNER WITH DISTRICT LEADERSHIP TO COORDINATE DEI INITIATIVES
ACROSS THE MVSD (SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
Mill Valley, through its DEI Commission, should work in partnership with MVSD leadership to
offer and coordinate the DEI initiatives across the five Mill Valley elementary schools and
Mill Valley Middle School.
2. PARTNER WITH TAM HIGH SCHOOL & TUHD TO BUILD MECHANISMS
FOR COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION ON DEI INITIATIVES (SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
Tam High School is working to address racial equity issues on a variety of fronts. But the
school needs community support for its anti-racist work both within and outside the school
setting. Mill Valley, through its DEI Commission, can establish a supportive partnership with
the High School to develop and implement collaborative DEI solutions. Consider, for example,
a “World Café”, that brings together students, community members, DEI Commission, Mill
Valley leadership to communicate and offer feedback across town and across areas of juris-
diction on topics and issues that are related to racial justice in the schools.
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3. PARTNER WITH THE SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SHARED
LEARNING ON RACIAL JUSTICE FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY (SHORT/MEDIUM TERM)
These efforts should include—
• In partnership with Tam High School and the TUHSD offer and extend the Community
racial justice workshops (”Call to Action”) that are offered within the school districts
to the larger Mill Valley community;
• Present series of films on racial justice through the City website for streaming. Screen-
ings could be held at the community center when COVID restrictions permit this. Offer
Q&A sessions with film producers.
• Hold Speaker events that include community conversations with panels of represen-
tatives from Marin City.
• Other opportunities for education might include the Eddie Moore 21-Day Racial Equity
Habit Building Challenge134 and stickers for people who complete particular courses as
a way to encourage conversation.
4. ENCOURAGE A COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MILL VALLEY
AND MARIN CITY SCHOOLS (MEDIUM/LONG TERM)
Racial inequities in Mill Valley schools must be addressed in the larger context of the edu-
cational inequities across Marin County, and specifically between Mill Valley and Marin City
whose residents attend Tam High. We must encourage and support collaborative approaches
that engage our Marin City neighbors and affected communities of color.135
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. . . . . . . . . . . . .............. . . . . . .. . .. . . . ..
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . ..
TABLE OF DEI TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS
SUBJECT RECOMMENDATIONS TERM
I. DEI Leadership & City Government
1. Create a Permanent DEI Commission IMMEDIATE
TOP PRIORITY
2. Develop a Comprehensive Racial Equity Plan IMMEDIATE
TOP PRIORITY
II. Safe & Equitable Law Enforcement
Bias Free Policing
1. Initiate RIPA Data Collection by January 1, 2021 URGENT
2. Adopt RIPA Model Policies for Bias-Free Policing (Appendix A)Short
3. Align MVPD Training with RIPA Best Practices (Appendix B)Medium
4. Adopt RIPA Best Practices to Prevent Bias by Proxy (Appendix C)Med/Long
5. Align MVPD Policy Manual with Procedural Justice Best Practices Med/Long
Preventing Unnecessary & Excessive Force
1. Align Use of Force Policies & Practices with 21st Century Policing (Appendix D)Short
Building Trust & Legitimacy
1. Collect & Publicize Comprehensive Data on MVPD Website Short
2. Improve Community Access to Civilian Complaint Process Short
3. Develop Civilian Oversight of MVPD Medium
4. Investigate & Consider Prior Misconduct in MVPD Hiring Decisions Short
Tailoring Police Functions & Funding to Community Needs
1. Replace School Police with Service Worker(s)Short/Med
2. Review MVPD Functions & Funding Short/Med
3. Develop Need-Based Model & Budget for a City Services Team Med/Long
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TABLE OF DEI TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS
SUBJECT RECOMMENDATIONS TERM
III. Ample Affordable Housing
1. Explore Regulatory Options to Expand Affordable, Equitable Housing Opportunities Short/Med
2. Regulate Rental Inspection, Maintenance, Increases & Short-Term Rentals Short/Med
3. Investigate & Redress Historical Inequities Med/Long
4. Support Integration of Affordable Housing in Commercial & Public Properties Short
5. Explore Funding Opportunities for Affordable, Equitable Housing Short
IV. Equitable Cultural & Recreational Opportunity
1. Implement Arts & Culture Goals of General Plan Focusing on Cultural Diversity Short
2. Provide Free Access for Marin City Residents to Mill Valley Facilities Medium
3. Support Indigenous Groups in Development of Cultural Opportunities Medium
V. Equitable Economic Opportunity
1. Develop Equitable Contracting Policies to Support BIPOC Businesses Short
2. Explore Development of a Financial Empowerment Center Medium
3. Explore Cooperatives, Grants & Other Assistance to BIPOC Entrepreneurs Medium
VI. Equitable Education Through Community Partnerships
Coordinating DEI Strategies in Schools and Community
1. Partner with District Leadership on DEI Initiatives Throughout the Community Short/Med
2. Build Mechanisms for Collaboration with High School on DEI Initiatives Short/Med
3. Partner with the Schools on Community Racial Justice Learning Opportunities Short/Med
4. Encourage a Partnership Between Mill Valley & Marin City Schools Med/Long
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61
Endnotes
1 Mill Valley City Council, Resolution No. 20-37 (July 6, 2020).
2 See Race Counts, https://www.racecounts.org/county/marin/.
3 The vast majority of population growth in Mill Valley occurred between 1940 and 1970 under the influence of purposeful segregationist policies and practices. In the 1940’s housing boom, Whites-only subdivisions sprang up
across Mill Valley—as they did throughout the country—enforced by racially restrictive covenants that remain on those Mill Valley home titles today. These covenants were enforced by banks, realtors and community members in
Marin through the 1960s despite having been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1948. Othering &
Belonging Institute, Roots Race and Place https://belonging.berkeley.edu/rootsraceplace/raciallyrestrictivecovenants; see also L. Dillon, Marin County
Segregation Persist[s], Los Angeles Times (Jan 7, 2018). 4 “Racial residential segregation … means that African Americans are more likely to be steered toward high-poverty
neighborhoods, further contributing to the opportunity gap. Typically, families with higher levels of income have access to more-affluent neighborhoods, which tend to have more amenities, and, in particular, higher-performing
public schools. Yet persistent racial residential segregation (and the wealth gap it creates) means even middle-
class Black families are more likely to live in concentrated poverty, and thus are more likely to send their children to high-poverty schools than are low-income Whites.” Quick, Attacking the Black-White Opportunity Gap That Comes
from Residential Segregation, The Century Foundation (Jun 25, 2019) https://tcf.org/content/report/attacking-Black-White-opportunity-gap-comes-residential-segregation/?session=1 ; see Rothstein, Housing Segregation Undergirds the Nation’s Racial Inequities, Economic Policy Institute (May 9, 2016), https://www.epi.org/blog/housing-
segregation-undergirds-the-nations-racial-inequities/.
5 “[Black-White residential segregation] creates its own justification. As communities of color suffer under the deprivations that come with segregation—economic disinvestment, political disenfranchisement, educational inequity, and unfair policing practices—those who build and install resilient and enduring racist systems that sustain
segregation explain their decisions in terms of protecting and promoting safety, strong schools, and stable housing markets—the very attributes that the conditions of segregation disrupted for Blacks.” Kahlenberg & Quick, supra.
6 Mill Valley’s current standing Commissions operate in the areas of the Arts, Bicycles and Pedestrians, Emergency Preparedness, Library, Parks and Recreation, and Planning.
7 See Race Counts, https://www.racecounts.org/county/marin/. The one area in which the City has focused on equity issues is in the realm of affordable housing, which is subject to State mandates and oversight. Until recently,
however, progress on this issue was negligible. There has not been a new affordable housing development in Mill Valley for roughly 30 years.
8 . See MV2040 Plan. The word “diversity” appears in the goals and values of the General Plan, but only in the context of preserving diverse housing styles in our neighborhoods. MV2040 Plan, Introduction, p. 5.
9 Apparently in response to the June 2020 community protests, the Mill Valley Parks and Recreation Department has recently begun working with Marin City representatives to identify collaborative opportunities. See Parks and
Recreation Commission, Meeting Minutes (Aug 5, 2020), item 6.
10 City Council Resolution No. 20-37 (July 6, 2020). 11 See e.g., Oakland (https://www.oaklandca.gov/departments/race-and-equity); City of Elk Grove
(https://www.elkgrovecity.org/city_hall/city_government/commission_and_committees/multicultural_committee); Toledo OH (https://toledo.oh.gov/services/diversity-inclusion); Ogden UT
(https://www.ogdencity.com/1406/Commissioners); Lynwood WA
(https://www.lynnwoodwa.gov/Government/Boards-and-Commissions); Temecula (https://myvalleynews.com/temecula-city-council-gives-go-ahead-on-potential-diversity-commission-other-steps-to-
address-race-equity/); El Segundo (https://www.elsegundo.org/government/departments/committees-commissions-boards); Mountlake Terrace (https://www.cityofmlt.com/2084/Diversity-Equity-Inclusion-Commission); Jackson MI (https://www.cityofjackson.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=598).
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62
12 See e.g., Government Alliance on Race and Equity [GARE] https://www.racialequityalliance.org/; All-In Cities (a
project of Policy Link) https://allincities.org/toolkit; Living Cities, Working to Embed a Racial Equity and Inclusion Lens at Living Cities (Jan 23, 2014) https://www.livingcities.org/blog/422-working-to-embed-a-racial-equity-and-
inclusion-lens-at-living-cities-early-exploration; Race Forward (united with Center for Social Inclusion in 2017) https://www.raceforward.org/about.
13 See e.g., Office of Equity and Human Rights, City of Portland, Promising Practices for Advancing Racial Equity
(2016) (providing a survey of government racial equity plans) https://www.portlandoregon.gov/oehr/article/564991; Center for the Study of Social Policy One Fairfax: A Brief History of a County-Wide Plan to Advance Equity and
Opportunity (December 2018) [One Fairfax] https://cssp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/One-Fairfax-FINAL.pdf.
14 GARE has launched the second of two year-long cohorts of local California jurisdictions to achieve racial equity. Participating jurisdictions include: Alameda County, City of Oakland, City of Berkeley, City of Richmond, California
Department of Public Health, City and County of Sacramento, Contra Costa County, City of San Francisco, Marin County, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Merced County, Santa Clara County, Napa County, Solano
County. https://www.centerforsocialinclusion.org/press/national-group-brings-together-local-government-jurisdictions-in-california-to-achieve-racial-equity/
15 GARE, Approach, https://www.racialequityalliance.org/about/our-approach/; see also GARE, Racial Equity:
Getting to Results (July 2017) [Getting to Results] https://www.racialequityalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/GARE_GettingtoEquity_July2017_PUBLISH.pdf.
16 See GARE, Racial Equity Toolkit: an Opportunity to Operationalize Equity (2016) (tools “ensure that all decisions
are aligned with organizational racial equity goals and desired outcomes”) https://racialequityalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/GARE-Racial_Equity_Toolkit.pdf; see also (re: centering equity): Race Forward
https://www.raceforward.org/practice/tools/principles-racially-equitable-policy-platforms; Living Cities (Mar 2020) https://www.livingcities.org/resources/364-achieving-results-by-centering-race-internally-and-externally; Actionable
Intelligence for Social Policy [AISP], Centering Racial Equity Through Data Integration Toolkit (2020) https://www.aisp.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AISP-Toolkit_5.27.20.pdf.
17 Mill Valley Municipal Code Chapter 2.08, section 2.08.020.
18 J. Lepore, The Invention of the Police, The New Yorker (July 13, 2020) [Invention of Police], (“in eighteenth-
century New York, a person held as a slave could not gather in a group of more than three; could not ride a horse; could not hold a funeral at night, could not be out an hour after sunset without a lantern; and could not sell ‘Indian corn, peaches, or any other fruit in any street or market in the city. Stop and frisk, stop and whip, shoot to kill.” When centralized municipal police departments began showing up in cities like New York, Philadelphia and
Chicago, they were overwhelmingly White and were similarly focused more on perceived “disorder” than on crime; officers were expected to control a “dangerous underclass” that included Blacks, immigrants and the poor.)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/the-invention-of-the-police; see also, C, Hassett-Walker, The Racist Roots of American Policing, The Conversation (June 2, 2020) [Racist Roots]
https://theconversation.com/the-racist-roots-of-american-policing-from-slave-patrols-to-traffic-stops-112816)
19 Invention of Police, supra.
20 “Police patrolled Black neighborhoods and arrested Black people disproportionately; prosecutors indicted Black people disproportionately; juries found Black people guilty disproportionately; judges gave Black people
disproportionately long sentences; and, then, after all this, social scientists, observing the number of Black people in jail, decided that, as a matter of biology, Black people were disproportionately inclined to criminality.”
Id. (citing K.G. Muhammed, The Condemnation of Blackness (2010).)
21 “The greatest race-based disparities in California exist in the realm of criminal justice, a reflection of the fact that the justice system is built on discretionary decision-making—i.e., picking who to stop, who to arrest, who to charge,
and what sentence to hand down. This has turned individual bias into systemic racial injustice.” Race Counts, https://www.racecounts.org/issue/crime-and-justice/.
22 See e.g., National Institute of Justice, Racial Profiling and Traffic Stops (2013),
https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/racial-profiling-and-traffic-stops; Black Drivers in America Face Discrimination by the Police, The Economist (Mar 15, 2019). See also D. Harris, Racial Profiling: Past, Present, and Future?, ABA
Feature (Jan 21, 2020) (outlining the history, causes and manifestations of racial profiling in the U.S.),
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63
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/criminal_justice/publications/criminal-justice-magazine/2020/winter/racial-
profiling-past-present-and-future/; Amnesty International, Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, Domestic Security and Human Rights in the United States (2004), https://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/rp_report.pdf.
23 The Stanford Open Policing Project , which is collecting and standardizing data on vehicle and pedestrian stops
from law enforcement departments across the nation (over 200 million records to date), confirms these racial disparities. For example, comparing stop rates for Whites and Blacks, the data shows: (1) SFPD stops 35 of every
100 Black drivers compared with 9 of every 100 White drivers; (2) LA stops 32 of every 100 Black drivers compared with 11 of every 100 White drivers; and (3) Oakland PD stops 14 of every 100 Black drivers compared with 3 of
every 100 White drivers. Once a driver is stopped, there is a substantially higher likelihood in these same cities that s/he will be searched. https://openpolicing.stanford.edu/findings/.
24 Picheta, CNN (June 8, 2020) https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/08/us/us-police-floyd-protests-country-comparisons-
intl/index.html; see also, Bureau of Justice Statistics (data on police use of excessive force from 1972-2020) https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=84.
25 See Mapping Police Violence (October 14, 2020) https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/.
26 State and federal governments have invested nearly $2 billion deploying police to schools since 1999. Strategies
for Youth, Two Billion Dollars Later (Oct 2019), p. 4 [Two Billion Dollars Later], https://strategiesforyouth.org/sitefiles/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/SFY-Two-Billion-Dollars-Later-Report-
Oct2019.pdf.
27 “Police officers are primarily trained to interact with young people as victims (e.g. of child abuse) or as perpetrators (e.g. status offenders and juvenile offenders). Schools, on the other hand, are highly regulated arenas mandated to focus on achieving successful student outcomes.” Two Billion Dollars Later, supra, p. 7. Studies show that this application of a law enforcement mindset in an educational setting results in “undue reliance on arrest, use
of restraints, unreasonable and excessive use of force, and the unnecessary and traumatizing use of police powers to handle school discipline and related conduct” Id. at 5.
28 Id. at 7.
29 For example: A. Bias in Policing—(disproportionate levels of police contact with Black people; “broken windows” and “stop and frisk” policies implemented in minority neighborhoods; official disregard for officers’ racially biased enforcement; racially biased vehicle stops); B. Bias in Pretrial Proceedings—(disproportionate denial of bail to
Black and Latinx defendants, and the role of pretrial detention in increasing the odds of conviction); C. Bias in Sentencing—(prosecutors disproportionately charge Black people with crimes that carry higher sentences than
similarly situated Whites; sentencing enhancement laws that disadvantage those in high density urban areas such as “drug-free school zones”; insufficient attorneys and attorney resources to represent indigent defendants who are,
disproportionately BIPOC); D. Bias in Parole—(racial bias among correctional officers resulting in divergent disciplinary records for BIPOC inmates; racial bias among parole boards; underinvestment in community
supervision and disproportionate parole revocation BIPOC compared with Whites for comparable behavior). UN Report, supra, pp. 2-9.
30 Cal. Gov. Code Sec. 12525.5.
31 For example, Minority actors employed by the Marin Theatre Company routinely report being followed and
stopped by Mill Valley police when traveling to and from the theatre. Jasson Minadakis, Open Comment, Mill Valley City Council Meeting (June 15, 2020); Benson Kaukonen, Email Comment, (noting “disproportionate traffic stops of
Hispanic service providers”); Jack Gallagher, Email Comment, (noting complaints from African American Marin City residents about police harassment on “Miller Avenue anywhere past the high school.”); Community Comments, City
Council Meeting on Equity and Justice (June 15, 2020): Rebecca Law Stone, Email Comment (Neighbors called police to report a “suspicious Black man”—Stone’s husband—walking near his Shelter Ridge home at lunch time.
Stone’s daughter, the only Black child in her Mill Valley First Grade class, has been frequently made fun of and commented on by other children because of her skin color. A Guatemalan friend has been told to “go back to
Mexico” and to “learn to speak English” at various stores and parks in Mill Valley.); Mimi Fretes, Email Comment (Growing up in the “White town” of Mill Valley, Fretes learned to be ashamed of her brown skin.); Brian Tada, Email
Comment (An American of Japanese ancestry “definitely notices a lingering attitude of discrimination.” While walking in Mill Valley, for example, Tada was pressed repeatedly by a White man: “Where are you from?”; “What
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64
country?”; Where are you from ethnically?”); Joselita Quinto, Email Comment (Quinto lives in Marin, has worked in Mill Valley for 20 years, and feels “ a lot of discrimination [in Mill Valley] for being a foreigner.”)
32 For example, Elspeth Mathau, whose family has lived in Mill Valley for 35 years, reports that her brother and father—both Black—have been repeatedly stopped in their cars by police with no justification: “This is blatant racial
profiling and an intimidation tactic meant to make BIPOC feel ‘other’ and unwelcome in their home town.”
33 Race Counts, https://www.racecounts.org/county/marin/
34 13.8% of all Black students at Tam High have been suspended at least once, compared with just 3.5% of White Students. California School Dashboard (2019)
https://www.caschooldashboard.org/reports/21654822133692/2019/conditions-and-climate#suspension-rate.
35 Id. 36 “Those who experience [racial] profiling pay the price emotionally, psychologically, mentally and in some cases even financially and physically… The American Psychological Association … research psychologists have … found that “victim effects” of racial profiling include post-traumatic stress disorder and other forms of stress-related
disorders, perceptions of race-related threats and failure to use available community resources…. Research psychologists have also examined the effects of racial profiling on broader society and have learned that societal effects include confirmation of feelings of racism, fear and financial costs.” Ontario Human rights Commission, The Effects of Racial Profiling (2020) [hereafter Effects of Racial Profiling], http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/paying-price-
human-cost-racial-profiling/effects-racial-profiling.
37 Id.
38 S. Karlsen & J. Nazroo, Relation between racial discrimination, social class, and health among ethnic minority groups (2002) 92 Am J Public Health 624; N. Krieger, Discrimination and Health, Social Epidemiology, Oxford
University Press (2000), p. 36.
39 Effects of Racial Profiling, supra.
40 Turner & Rawlings, Promoting Neighborhood Diversity, Urban Institute (2009), p. 4, https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/30631/411955-Promoting-Neighborhood-Diversity-Benefits-
Barriers-and-Strategies.PDF.
41 “It is important to encourage the growth of diversity among cities. Although we often recognize cultural aspects of diversity, it's also important to appreciate the value of this diversity in the talent pool: without cultural diversity,
important economic aspects such as innovation, entrepreneurship or technological advancement and urban agglomerations would not have been possible. This exact growth in diversity in people and places is what makes a
great city.” Urban Times, Promoting Diversity in a Globalized World, https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/promoting-diversity-globalized-world/129576/
42 See 21st Century Policing Final Report, p. v (identifying Task Force members);
https://oag.ca.gov/ab953/board#members (membership criteria and biographies of current RIPA Board members).
43 See Task Force on 21st Century Policing, Final Report (2015) [21st Century Policing Final Report], https://www.nacole.org/president_s_task_force_on_21st_century_policing; and Task Force of 21st Century,
Policing Implementation Guide (2015) [21st Century Policing Implementation], https://www.nacole.org/president_s_task_force_on_21st_century_policing
44 AB 953; Gov Code Sec 12525.5 (and amending Penal Code Secs 13012 and 13519.4)
45 See, e.g., 2019 RIPA Board Report, https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/ripa/ripa-board-report-2019.pdf ;
and 2020 RIPA Board Report, https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/ripa/ripa-board-report-2020.pdf.
46 21st Century Policing Final Report, supra, p. 11.
47 21st Century Implementation Guide, supra, p. 2
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65
48 Cal. Gov. Code Sec. 12525.5; 11 Cal. Code of Regs., Secs, 999.226 and 999.227 (detailing general reporting requirements and specific items of information that must be collected.)
49 At its October 5, 2020 meeting, the MVPD pledged to accelerate its efforts in order to begin collecting RIPA data
in 2021, one year in advance of the statutory mandate for a department its size.
50 See, 21st Century Policing Final Report, supra, p. 27-28; Model Policies for Bias Free Policing, 2020 RIPA Report, supra, pp. 44-48 [set forth at Appendix A of this report].
51 “While it is difficult to eliminate completely racial bias at the individual level, studies have repeatedly shown that it
is possible to control for the effects of implicit racial bias on individual decision-making. In other words, while it may be impossible in the current culture of the United States to ensure that individuals are cognitively colorblind, it is possible to train individuals to be behaviorally colorblind.” UN Report, supra, p. 12; see also Ashby Plant & Michelle Peruche, The Consequences of Race for Police Officers’ Response to Criminal Suspects, 16 Psy. Sci. 180, 183
(2005).
52 According to MVPD Interim Chief Haynes, MVPD utilizes the training prescribed and provided by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training [POST].That training, as described by Chief Haynes,
includes content related to race or bias in just two areas: (1) coursework “in cultural diversity and discrimination” (nature and duration unspecified) is included in the 664 hours of Basic Police Academy Training; and (2) two hours
of training on “Racial and Cultural Diversity” is required every five years thereafter as part of an officer’s Continuing Professional Training. Haynes, MVPD Use of Force Training and Policy Report (August 3, 2020) [MVPD Report].
53 “In its 2018 report, the [RIPA] Board analyzed … the POST courses, Racial and Cultural Differences, Bias-Based
Policing: Remaining Fair and Impartial, and Principled Policing: Implicit Bias and Procedural Justice. The Board found that several of the trainings did not meet all of the curriculum requirements under Penal Code section
13519.4. [governing racial and cultural differences training]. The Bias-Based Policing training has since been removed for this reason and POST is in the process of being replaced with a training that does meet the
requirements. The Board will work closely with POST on the creation and implementation of this new training.” RIPA Board, 2019 Report, p. 45. [2019 RIPA Report] https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/ripa/ripa-board-
report-2019.pdf.
54 For an update on the status of the POST compliance efforts, see 2020 RIPA Report, p. 91-94. Among the improvements to the POST trainings under considerations are: “1) an 8-hour principled policing basic course to be
piloted in January 2019; 2) an update and review of the existing 8-hour Principled Policing Course; 3) exploring the potential of including in trainings the Curriculum Augmentation Videos (CAV) created by nationally recognized
experts; 4) exploring the potential to use virtual reality or augmented reality as a training tool; 5) the potential of auditing courses to ensure curriculum and facilitation continuity statewide; and 6) researching online learning
platforms to deliver the principled policing training in a cost-effective manner.” 2019 RIPA Report, p. 45.
55 2019 RIPA Report, pp. 46-50.
56 RIPA recommends frequent short trainings “for example… a series of two-hour trainings several times a year rather than an eight-hour training every four or five years. 2019 RIPA Report, p. 47. By comparison, Mill Valley
requires two hours of “racial and cultural diversity training” every five years. MVPD Report.
57 RIPA recommended methodologies include “scenario-based training to provide officers with opportunities to develop skills in realistic settings.” 2019 RIPA Report, p. 47. 58 See Appendix B (setting forth the recommendations from 2019 RIPA Report, pp. 46-50). 59 The City reported in a recent email that some officers completed the following training in the past month: Bias Based Policing – (4) MVPD Officers; Bias & Racial Profiling – (8) MVPD Officers; Principled Policing, Train the Trainer – (1) MVPD Officer. 60 Abdollah, Sanctity of Life Policy, Seattle Times (Feb. 1, 2016) (citing Dallas and Camden examples) (https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/law-enforcement-leaders-examine-new-use-of-force-principles/ 61 Friedman et al, Proportional Use of Force, the Ali Adviser (March 23, 2017), http://thealiadviser.org/policing/proportional-use-force/.
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62 See Campaign Zero.org/force (with examples from Seattle, Tennessee, Philadelphia and Las Vegas. “Police
should have the skills and cultural competence to protect and serve our communities without killing people - just as police do in England, Germany, Japan and other developed countries. In 2014, [U.S.] police killed at least 253
unarmed people and 91 people who were stopped for mere traffic violations.”); see also, Speri, The Intercept, …Eight Polices that Can Prevent Police Killings (Sep 21, 2016) (Recommending: require officers to de-escalate
situations before resorting to force; limit the kinds of force that can be used to respond to specific forms of resistance; restrict chokeholds; require officers to give verbal warning before using force; prohibit officers from
shooting at moving vehicles; require officers to exhaust all alternatives to deadly force; require officers to stop colleagues from exercising excessive force; require comprehensive reporting on use of force),
https://theintercept.com/2016/09/21/here-are-eight-policies-that-can-prevent-police-killings/.
63 See Campaign Zero, Police Use of Force Policy Analysis (Sept. 20, 2016) pp. 11-13 (21 examples of jurisdictions that ban chokeholds)
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56996151cbced68b170389f4/t/57e1b5cc2994ca4ac1d97700/1474409936835/Police+Use+of+Force+Report.pdf
64 http://useofforceproject.org/#review (identifying 44 cities that have banned chokeholds since June 2020).
65 Id.
66 2019 RIPA Report, pp. 61-62 (citing Sam Sinyangwe 2018 presentation to RIPA Board,
https://oag.ca.gov/ab953/ Board); see also Fyfe, Administrative Interventions on Police Shooting Discretion: An Empirical Examination (1979) 7 J. Brim. Just. 309, reprinted in Readings on Police Use of Deadly Force, p. 277-
279.
67 Id.
68 MVPD reports generalized crime statistics (https://www.cityofmillvalley.org/police/comminfo/statistics.htm), but none of the detailed information offered, for example, on the website of Fairfax Police Department: a press log;
monthly activity reports; yearly crime statistics; use of force and restraints statistics; racial and identity profiling data; and information on civilian and internal complaints. https://www.townoffairfax.org/statistics-police/
69 Seven complaints were deemed “unfounded” and one was “not sustained”. MVPD Internal Affairs Public Log,
Oct. 21, 2016 – Oct. 21, 2020.
70 Police agencies with civilian review boards receive a substantially higher rate of complaints, both in the aggregate and on a per officer basis, than do comparable agencies with wholly internal review (158 per agency
versus 18 per agency; 11.9 per 100 officers versus 6.6 per 100 officers). Jurisdictions with citizen review were also less likely to find complaints to be unfounded (23% versus 31%) or exonerate officers (18% versus 26%). DOJ
Office of Justice Programs, Citizen Complaints About Police Use of Force (June 2006) p. 4, https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ccpuf.pdf
71 MVPD Policies1000.4 and 1000.5.
72 Rozema & Schanzenbach, Good Cop, Bad Cop: Using Civilian Allegations to Predict Police Misconduct,
American Economic Journal (2019), https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/pol.20160573; Grunwald & Rappaport, The Wandering Officer (April 2020) 129 Yale Law Journal 6, https://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/the-wandering-officer. 73 21st Century Policing Final Report, supra, p. 12 (police agencies should regularly post on their websites “information about stops, summonses, arrests, reported crime, and other law enforcement data aggregated by demographics.”); RIPA requires collection and reporting of comprehensive demographic data on pedestrian and vehicle stops, use of force, civilian complaints and other matters. See Cal. Gov. Code Sec. 12525.5; 11 Cal. Code of Regs., Secs, 999.226 and 999.227 74 https://www.townoffairfax.org/statistics-police/ 75 Id. at 12.
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76 21st Century Policing Final Report, supra, p. 26; see also RIPA Recommendations, Appendix D ( “Agencies
should consider the appropriateness of independent oversight models such as aa civilian review board of independent auditor.”)
77 See National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement [NACOLE], (providing links to civilian
oversight bodies of dozens of departments across the U.S.) https://www.nacole.org/police_oversight_by_jurisdiction_usa .
78 Among the “key elements of an effective police accountability system,” the United Nations Criminal Justice
Handbook series identifies “independent bodies” and “external organs” to monitor police actions and operations and to receive and decide complaints. UNODC, Handbook on Police Accountability, Oversight and Integrity (2016), pp.
iv-v, https://www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal_justice/Handbook_on_police_Accountability_Oversight_and_Integrity.pdf.
79 See 79 https://www.nacole.org/oversight_models; DOJ, Citizen Review of Police: Approaches and Implementation (March 2001), https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/184430.pdf; Clarke, Comparative Analysis of How Oversight of
Police Should Function and How it Fails, Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55ad38b1e4b0185f0285195f/t/5f7f39332ad7043a7c3e75ff/1602173236105/
Arrested+Oversight-+A+Comparative+Analysis+and+Case+Study+of+How+Civilian+Oversight+of+the+Police+Should+Function+and+How+it+Fails.pdf. 80 NACOLE, Guidebook for the Implementation of New or Revitalized Police Oversight (2016) https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/nacole/pages/175/attachments/original/1534263107/Guidebook_for_the_Implementation_of_New_or_Revitalized_Police_Oversight_2016_FINAL.pdf?1534263107.
81 21st Century Final Report, supra, p. 29.
82 See e.g., Steven Levitt, et al., Economic Contributions to the Understanding of Crime, Annual Review of Law and Social Science, (Dec. 2006); John Eck, et al., Have Changes in Policing Reduced Violent Crime? An Assessment
of the Evidence, in The Crime Drop in America (2000); Thomas B. Marvell, et al. Specification Problems, Police Levels, And Crime Rates (Mar. 2006); Samuel Cameron, A Disaggregated Study of Police Clear-up Rates for
England and Wales, Journal of Behavioral Economics (1988);
83 https://www.cityofmillvalley.org/police/faq.htm.
84 https://www.marinij.com/2018/03/05/marin-voice-mental-illness-homelessness-and-the-court-system/.
85 At the County level, a 2010 Grand Jury Report found that domestic violence was “the number one violent crime.” A “pro-arrest” approach to domestic violence in the County had “unintended negative consequences for the abused and their families” and was contributing “to widespread underreporting.”
86 Piombo, Update and Overview of Proposed Budget for Fiscal years 2020-2022 (July 6, 2020) Attachment 1, p. 3 [FY 2020-2022 Budget Overview]; City of Mill Valley, 2020-2022 City Budget Detail, pp. 39-51 (2016-2018). The lion’s share of this budget goes to personnel ($3.1 million for salaries and overtime and $2 million for employee benefits). These amounts are independent of the parking enforcement budget which totals $778,036 in additional
expenses.
87 See 2020-2022 Budget Overview, supra, p. 2.
88 The FY 20-21 Planning and Building Department budget is $2,331,630; the Library budget is $2,393,489. Id.
89 Today, there are nearly 700,000 armed police officers in the U.S., about one for every 500 people. UN Report, supra.
90 “[T]oday’s community policing efforts inevitably provide citizens with services that go well beyond enforcing laws
or maintaining public safety and order. Police are first line, around-the-clock, emergency responders, mediators, referral agents, counselors, youth mentors, crime prevention actors, and much more.” Council of State
Governments, Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project (2002), p. 34, [Council of State Governments]
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https://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Free_Online_Documents/Mental_Illness/criminal%20justice-
mental%20health%20consensus%20project%202002.pdf
91 Traditionally, communities have used a variety of methods to determine the size of their police departments focusing on local population, historic workload, and other factors. SF Budget and Legislative Analyst’s Office, Best
Practices Related to Police Staffing and Funding Levels (Jan. 26, 2016) https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/FileCenter/Documents/54867-
012616%20Police%20Staffing%20Methodology.pdf.
92 Since June 2020: Oakland cut $14.3 million from its police budget and vowed to go farther; the Berkeley City Council approved a budget with $9.2 million of cuts to police, much of it redirected to social programs; San
Francisco City leaders, backed by the Chief of Police, announced they are looking to move funding away from police and into other services; and BART diverted $2 million away from police and fare inspectors toward unarmed
ambassadors. Swan, California Cities Redirect Millions from Police Budgets, San Francisco Chronicle (July 2, 2020); see also J Schuppe, What Would it Mean to Defund the Police?, NBC News(June 11,
2020) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/what-would-it-mean-defund-police-these-cities-offer-ideas-n1229266
93 Patterson, Police Social Work, National Association of Social Workers (Jul 2008) https://www.naswnyc.org/page/77/Police-Social-Work.htm; see also, Why Police Officers are Taking on
Social Work Responsibilities, Tulane University School of Social Work (Jan 19, 2019) https://socialwork.tulane.edu/blog/why-police-officers-are-taking-on-social-worker-responsibilities; Gould & Williams, Want to Reform the Police? Look to Social Work for Lessons, The Crime Report (June 17, 2020) https://thecrimereport.org/2020/06/17/want-to-reform-the-police-look-to-social-work-for-lessons/; Redmond, Cops Morphing Into Social Workers Not a Solution, Filter (Apr 23, 2019) https://filtermag.org/cops-morphing-into-social-workers-is-not-a-solution/
94 “The four main duties [of an SRO] are: one of a counselor by talking with students and staff and offering guidance and assistance; one of teacher by providing classroom presentations, support On-Campus Intervention (OCI) or Saturday School through discussions and lessons, staff development and informational sessions for parents; one of social worker by linking students, parents and staff with resources and services; lastly, as a law enforcement
professional when all other options are exhausted or the case warrants tier three interventions or arrest. The majority of SRO – student contacts are positive in nature and serve to connect the student with another caring adult
on campus or to provide mentoring, guidance and connections to needed services.” https://csroa.org/
95 Treatment Advocacy Center, Overlooked in the Undercounted (Dec. 2015) [Overlooked] https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/storage/documents/overlooked-in-the-undercounted.pdf
96 Reuland, et al, Law Enforcement Responses to People with Mental Illnesses: a Guide to Research Informed
Policy and Practice (2009) p. 7, [Reuland] https://www.nccpsafety.org/assets/files/library/LE_Responses_to_Mental_Illnesses_-_Policy_and_Practice.pdf
97 Reuland, supra, p. 4.
98 Overlooked, supra.
99 Council of State Governments, supra, at 26.
100 See also The People’s Budget, (in depth analysis of Los Angeles Police budget, services and community needs)
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_5OVZwYRBwsA0pekaQcOrR7Ms6Z02R8y0U6fSNhDnso/present?slide=id.g81d64d5646_0_110
101 Eugene Oregon, CAHOOTS program, https://Whitebirdclinic.org/what-is-cahoots/.
102 Denver Colorado, STAR Program, https://www.denverpost.com/2020/09/06/denver-star-program-mental-health-
police/; https://denverite.com/2020/06/08/a-long-planned-program-to-remove-police-from-some-911-calls-launched-as-denvers-streets-erupted-in-police-brutality-protests/.
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103 Out of 24,000 annual community responses, CAHOOTS service workers request police backup only about 250
times. each only rarely requesting police backup (150 times per year.) https://Whitebirdclinic.org/what-is-cahoots/.
104 Id.
105 https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/us/or/eugene/crime-rate-statistics.
106 See notes 25 and 26, and accompanying text, supra.
107 Potential collaborators and resources in Marin include: Marin County Mental Health Services; Marin Abused Women’s Services; Center for Domestic Peace; Lifehouse; Child Abuse Prevention Council; and Family and Children’s Law Center.
108 See note 3, supra, see also Singletary, Being Black Lowers the Value of My Home: The Legacy of Redlining, Washington Post (Oct. 23, 2020) https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/10/23/redlining-Black-
wealth/?arc404=true; Menendian et al., Single-Family Zoning in the San Francisco Bay Area: Characteristics of Exclusionary Communities, Othering & Belonging Institute (Oct.7, 2020) https://belonging.berkeley.edu/single-
family-zoning-san-francisco-bay-area.
109Turner & Rawlings, Promoting Neighborhood Diversity, Urban Institute (Aug. 2009) https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/30631/411955-Promoting-Neighborhood-Diversity-Benefits-
Barriers-and-Strategies.PDF
110 The BCLT study findings for each of the criteria were as follows--(1) Affordability—A household earning 62% of Area Median Income (AMI) could afford the average BCLT home when it was initially sold. The affordability
increased at the time of resale, becoming affordable for a household earning 57% of AMI. BCLT, like other Community Land Trusts, has certain rights and responsibilities in perpetuity. Its leases and covenants allow it to
intervene to make necessary payments, such as utilities and mortgage payments. BCLT has the right not only to cure a default but also to repurchase the property from the mortgagee. Thus, the CLT works to ensure that homes
are affordable and remain in the trust.(2) Retain Community Wealth—Public subsidies invested in these homes are not only retained in the properties, they often increase in value. In the case of the BCLT homes, a public investment
of $1,525,148 increased at resale by $574,442. (3) Create Individual Wealth—Resale restrictions imposed by CLTs mean that the homeowner does not make the same profit that they would selling a market rate home, but the
average annualized rate of return across 97 resales was 17%. This is more than if the homeowners had invested their down payments in the stock market during the same period of time. Thus, the CLT helps to build individual
wealth. (4) Enhance Residential Stability—Ninety-five percent of the 259 homes in the BCLT portfolio remained in trust, forming stable, affordable neighborhoods. Even in the five percent that were lost as affordable housing, BLCT
retained ownership of the underlying land and continued to collect fees for its use. (5) Expand Home Ownership—Community Land Trusts consistently broaden access to homeownership for households earning low to moderate
incomes. The majority of BLCT homes were sold to those earning considerably less than 80% of AMI and all earned less than the median income. (6) Enable Residential Mobility—Here, Davis and Demetrowitz found
surprising results: the majority of homeowners (74%)` bought market-rate houses within six months of leaving BCLT. Davis & Demetrowitz, Does the Community Land Trust Deliver on Its Promises (2002). 111 Montojo and Barton on Rent Control, Podcast (Oct. 9, 2018)
https://belonging.berkeley.edu/whobelongs/rentcontrol.
112 Additional resources concerning affordable housing: EPI, Reconstruction 2020: Valuing Black Lives & Economic Opportunities, https://youtu.be/uqaRiebokZw; Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law; Philip Deloria, Defiance, The
New Yorker, November 2, 2020, p.76; Bay Area Community Land Trust (BACLT), https://www.bayareaclt.org/; Hello Housing www.hellohousing.org; http://www.hellohousing.org/777/hamilton/;
Santa Clara Teacher Housing Foundation www.santaclarausd.org; Foundation House www.charterforcompassion.org; Sustainable Economies Law Center www.theselc.org; Lincoln Institute of Land
Policy (2008) www.lincolninst.edu; The Urban Institute (2010) www.urban.org; The Urbanist www.theurbanist.org; PolicyLink https://policylink.org.
113 “Diverse artists and art forms are essential to a vibrant creative environment. Variety and invention are necessary to reflect and serve our community’s wide range of artistic appreciation and to expand artistic horizons. Cultural activities encourage community spirit and a heightened appreciation for diversity, thereby strengthening
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community cohesiveness. The provisions of this General Plan promote and encourage artistic diversity and free artistic expression.” 2040 General Plan, Community Vitality, Arts & Culture, p. 87
114 Id.
115 See also, ART.3-1 “Develop gateway and informational signs and other media to support and promote the City’s cultural identity and resources;” ARTS.6-3 “Provide supportive services and other incentives to facilitate the delivery and enjoyment of the arts, culture, and arts education, where feasible;” ART.7-1 “Initiate a program for temporary public art, with varied and changing art installations and performances Citywide;” and ART.7-3 “Support
performances and events in public spaces and non-traditional settings.” Arts & Culture Section, Community Vitality Chapter, Mill Valley 2040 General Plan.
116 Consider expanding to other locations (such as the library, parks, schools and the golf course) where
Perspectives (3-door set) and another 5 to 10 single doors can be placed and used for community education about local DEI issues, Indigenous land acknowledgement, and local history. Develop educational tours incorporating
existing sculptures, landmarks, and Perspectives Project sites.
117 Create a variety of different gardens from small sections to larger scale “little farms” in easily accessible areas of Mill Valley and Marin City. Bring people together for a common goal. Use Indigenous plants including vegetables
and botanicals. Use City funding to subsidize or waive fees for both personal & communal plots.
118 The parameters of the Marin City Community Services District are delineated on the Local Agency Formation Commission [LAFCo] website.
http://www.marinmap.org/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer=Lafco2.Lafco_H5&runWorkflow=StartUp&MapID=0&Layer=Community%20Service%20District&Query=(LOWER(District)%20LIKE%20LOWER(%27%25MARIN%20CITY
%20COMMUNITY%20SERVICES%20DISTRICT%25%27)).
119 “We can’t reverse time and change what was done to our people or change the systems that were put in place which are still affecting us today. But we can choose how our legacy will continue moving forward. Do whatever you
can to participate in the culture, through values, song, dance, kinship, art and language. Support and love one another, our very existence is at stake!” Billy Ills aka Supamanhiphop, from the forthcoming album "Frequency".
https://youtu.be/DohI_aVl7eY https://www.christensenfund.org/2015/02/16/california-native-americans-reclaiming-role-expert-land-managers/
120Additional resources concerning culture and recreation: Marin Miwok Daily Lessons Program - as created by
Marin Miwok organization https://www.marinmiwok.com/marin-miwok; Indigenous Peoples Movement and Indigenous perspectives https://indigenouspeoplesmovement.com/;
https://www.christensenfund.org/2015/02/16/california-native-americans-reclaiming-role-expert-land-managers/; Sports--https://www.marinbike.org/ https://marincyclists.com/ https://www.tamoutrigger.org/
https://playmarin.netlify.app/; Gardening--https://www.cityslickerfarms.org/farmpark/; https://theconversation.com/growing-a-garden-can-also-bloom-eco-resilient-cross-cultural-food-sovereign-
communities-121543; https://www.millvalleyrecreation.org/facilities/community_gardens.htm; Performing Arts--https://cornerstonetheater.org/about/history/; https://www.sfchronicle.com/performance/article/Immigrants-torment-
as-Angel-Island-detainees-12198419.php, http://www.weplayers.org/home; Visual Art--https://www.seattle.gov/arts/programs/racial-equity, https://theintrovertscollective.com/perspectives; Walking Tour--
https://sfcityguides.org/. 121 Short Term Financials for Perspectives Project: (1) Rotating Public Art in Depot Plaza (6-month to 1-year pilot)-- One-time Door Stand Fabrication $1,500 (Cost per rotation: Door Insert $100 (unless donated)Two Artists material/time stipends $600 (2x $300)); (2) Single Door Installations in Parks, etc.-- Metal fabrication (dirt/fence post style installation) $200; Project Manager Consultant $25 per hour; Door Insert w/hardware $100 (unless donated); Foam for footing $35; Vinyl Printing per side $275* (*Graphic Design stipend $200 (unless donated)); Artist material/time stipend per side (painting) $300.
122 https://www.racecounts.org/county/marin/
123 https://allincities.org/
124 https://www.growthandjustice.org/
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125 https://anhd.org/issue/equitable-economic-development
126 https://allincities.org/toolkit/contracting-and-procurement
127 “As America undergoes a profound demographic shift amidst rising inequality, equity is both a moral imperative
and the path to a prosperous, new economy. Cities – with their economic power, diversity, and policy innovation – can lead the nation forward. The All-In Cities initiative at PolicyLink supports local leaders and community coalitions
with the policy ideas, data, and strategy support to build equitable cities for all. By putting equity at the center of municipal policies, American cities can help create a future of shared prosperity in which all can participate and
thrive. The All-In Cities Toolkit offers actionable strategies that advocates and policymakers can use to advance racial equity.” https://allincities.org/toolkit
128 Federal Reserve Board, Report on the Economic Well-being of U.S. Households in 2015 (May 2016)
https://www.federalreserve.gov/2015-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201605.pdf
129 Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, https://cfefund.org/approach/
130 All-In Cities Policy Toolkit, supra; see also Elliot, Financially Insecure Residents Can Cost Cities Millions, Urban Institute (Jan 21, 2017) https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/financially-insecure-residents-can-cost-cities-millions
131 https://www.theselc.org/berkeley_commits_two_years_of_funds_to_worker_coops
132 https://sfmayor.org/article/mayor-london-breed-announces-over-28-million-expanded-covid-19-support-san-
franciscos-latino
133 See e.g., Cal Humanities Grants, https://calhum.org/about-us/history-mission/.
134 https://www.eddiemoorejr.com/21daychallenge
135 Consideration might be given to combining the districts and/or providing students a choice of inter-district transfers. We understand that students from Muir Beach, which shares the 94965 zip code with Marin City, are
currently assigned to the Mill Valley School District, while Marin City students do not have this option.
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i
APPENDICES
Appendix A
MVPD Policy Amendments Based on
RIPA Model Policies for Bias-Free Policing
Appendix B
RIPA Training Best Practices for Bias-Free Policing
Appendix C
RIPA Best Practices to Prevent Bias by Proxy
Appendix D
MVPD Use of Force Policy Amendments based on
21st Century Policing & Procedural Justice
ii
Appendix A
MVPD Policy Amendments Based on
RIPA Model Policies for Bias-Free Policing
RIPA Board Model Policies for Bias-Free Policing
2020 RIPA Board Report, pp. 44-48
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/ripa/ripa-board-report-2020.pdf
Legend:
Black text = Existing MVPD Policy
Strikethrough = Proposed deletions from existing MVPD Policy
Blue text = Additional and substitute policies from RIPA Board Model Policies
Underline = MVPD Policy language inserted in RIPA Board Model Policies
[Bracket] = Editorial comment
Policy 402
Bias-Based Free Policing
402.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
This policy provides guidance to department members that affirms the Mill Valley Police
Department's commitment to policing that is fair and objective.
Nothing in this policy prohibits the use of specified characteristics in law enforcement activities
designed to strengthen the department's relationship with its diverse communities (e.g., cultural
and ethnicity awareness training, youth programs, community group outreach, partnerships).
402.1.1 DEFINITIONS
Definitions related to this policy include:
Bias-based policing - An inappropriate reliance on characteristics such as race, ethnicity,
national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, economic
status, age, cultural group, disability or affiliation with any non-criminal group (protected
characteristics) as the basis for providing differing law enforcement service or enforcement
(Penal Code § 13519.4).
Definitions Related to Bias
• Racial or Identity Profiling: the consideration of, or reliance on, to any degree, actual or
perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, gender identity or
expression, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, cultural group, economic
status, or affiliation with any non-criminal group (protected characteristics) in deciding
which persons to subject to a stop or in deciding upon the scope or substance of law
enforcement activities following a stop, except that an officer may consider or rely on
characteristics listed in a specific suspect description. Such activities include, but are not
limited to, traffic or pedestrian stops, or actions taken during a stop, such as asking
questions, frisks, consensual and nonconsensual searches of a person or any property,
iii
seizing any property, removing vehicle occupants during a traffic stop, issuing a citation,
and making an arrest
• Bias-Based Policing: conduct by peace officers motivated, implicitly or explicitly, by the
officer’s beliefs about someone based on the person’s actual or perceived personal
characteristics, i.e., race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, gender identity or
expression, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, cultural group, economic
status, or affiliation with any non-criminal group (protected characteristics.
• Implicit Bias: the attitudes or stereotypes that affect a person’s understanding, actions,
and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both
favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an
individual’s awareness or intentional control. Implicit biases are different from known
biases that individuals may choose to conceal.
• Bias by Proxy: when an individual calls/contacts the police and makes false or ill-
informed claims of misconduct about persons they dislike or are biased against based on
explicit racial and identity profiling or implicit bias. When the police act on a request for
service based in unlawful bias, they risk perpetuating the caller’s bias. Members should
use their critical decision-making skills, drawing upon their training to assess whether
there is criminal conduct.
[RIPA Model Policy, Definitions, 2020 RIPA Board Report, p. 45]
402.2 POLICY
The Mill Valley Police Department is committed to providing law enforcement services to the
community with due regard for the racial, cultural or other differences of those served. It is the
policy of this department to provide law enforcement services and to enforce the law equally,
fairly, objectively and without discrimination toward any individual or group.
402.3 BIAS-BASED POLICING PROHIBITED
Bias-based policing is strictly prohibited.
However, nothing in this policy is intended to prohibit an officer from considering protected
characteristics in combination with credible, timely and distinct information connecting a person
or people of a specific characteristic to a specific unlawful incident, or to specific unlawful
incidents, specific criminal patterns or specific schemes. [Addressed in paragraph 6 of Policy
402.4.1, as amended]
402.3 BIAS-FREE POLICING POLICY
The Mill Valley Police Department expressly prohibits racial and identity profiling.
• The Mill Valley Police Department is committed to providing services and enforcing laws
in a professional, nondiscriminatory, fair, and equitable manner that keeps both the
community and officers safe and protected.
• The Mill Valley Police Department recognizes that explicit and implicit bias can occur at
both an individual and an institutional level and is committed to addressing and
eradicating both.
iv
• The intent of this policy is to increase the Mill Valley Police Department’s effectiveness as
a law enforcement agency and to build mutual trust and respect with the city and county’s
diverse groups and communities.
• A fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States is equal
protection under the law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Along with this right
to equal protection is the fundamental right to be free from unreasonable searches and
seizures by government agents as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.
• The Mill Valley Police Department is charged with protecting these rights. Police action
that is biased is unlawful and alienates the public, fosters distrust of police, and
undermines legitimate law enforcement efforts.
• All employees of Mill Valley Police Department are prohibited from taking actions based
on actual or perceived personal characteristics, including but not limited to race, color,
ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation,
mental or physical disability, cultural group, economic status, or affiliation with any non-
criminal group (protected characteristics, except when engaging in the investigation of
appropriate suspect-specific activity to identify a particular person or group.
• Mill Valley Police Department personnel must not delay or deny policing services based
on an individual’s actual or perceived personally identifying characteristics.
[RIPA Model Policy, Bias-Free Policing, 2020 RIPA Board Report, pp. 44]
402.3.1 CALIFORNIA RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT
Members shall not collect information from a person based on religious belief, practice,
affiliation, national origin or ethnicity unless permitted under state or federal law (Government
Code § 8310.3).
Members shall not assist federal government authorities (Government Code § 8310.3):
(a) In compiling personal information about a person’s religious belief, practice, affiliation,
national origin or ethnicity.
(b) By investigating, enforcing or assisting with the investigation or enforcement of any
requirement that a person register with the federal government based on religious
belief, practice, or affiliation, or national origin or ethnicity.
402.4 MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES
Every member of this department shall perform his/her duties in a fair and objective manner and
is responsible for promptly reporting any suspected or known instances of bias-based policing to
a supervisor. Members should, when reasonable to do so, intervene to prevent any biased-
based actions by another member.
402.4.1 REASON FOR CONTACT
Officers contacting a person shall be prepared to articulate sufficient reason for the
contact, independent of the protected characteristics of the individual.
v
• Reasonable Suspicion to Detain: reasonable suspicion is a set of specific facts that would
lead a reasonable person to believe that a crime is occurring, had occurred in the past, or
is about to occur. Reasonable suspicion to detain is also established whenever there is
any violation of law. Reasonable suspicion cannot be based solely on a hunch or instinct.
• Detention: a seizure of a person by an officer that results from physical restraint,
unequivocal verbal commands, or words or conduct by an officer that would result in a
reasonable person believing that he or she is not free to leave or otherwise disregard the
officer.
• Reasonable Suspicion to Conduct a Pat Search: officers are justified in conducting a pat
search if officers have a factual basis to suspect that a person is carrying a weapon,
dangerous instrument, or an object that can be used as a weapon, or if the person poses
a danger to the safety of the officer or others. Officers must be able to articulate specific
facts that support an objectively reasonable apprehension of danger under the
circumstances and not base their decision to conduct a pat search on any perceived
individual characteristics. Reasonable suspicion to conduct a pat search is different than
reasonable suspicion to detain. The scope of the pat search is limited only to a cursory or
pat down search of the outer clothing to locate possible weapons. Once an officer
realizes an object is not a weapon, or an object that can be used as a weapon, the officer
must move on.
• Probable Cause to Arrest: under the Fourth Amendment to the United States
Constitution, arrests must be supported by probable cause. Probable cause to arrest is a
set of specific facts that would lead a reasonable person to objectively believe and
strongly suspect that a crime was committed by the person to be arrested.
[RIPA Model Policy, Definitions, 2020 RIPA Board Report, pp. 45-46]
Mill Valley Police Department members may only consider or rely on characteristics listed in a
specific description of a suspect, victim, or witness based on trustworthy and relevant
information that links a specific person to a particular unlawful incident. Except in these limited
circumstances, Mill Valley Police Department officers shall not consider personal characteristics
in establishing either reasonable suspicion or probable cause.
[RIPA Model Policy, Limited Circumstances in which Characteristic of an Individual May Be
Considered], 2020 RIPA Board Report, p. 46]
To the extent that written documentation would otherwise be completed (e.g., arrest report, field
interview (FI) card), the involved officer should include those facts giving rise to the contact, as
applicable. Except for required data-collection forms or methods, nothing in this policy shall
require any officer to document a contact that would not otherwise require reporting.
402.4.2 ENCOUNTERS WITH COMMUNITY
To cultivate and foster transparency and trust with all communities, each Mill Valley Police
Department member shall do the following when conducting pedestrian or vehicle stops or
otherwise interacting with members of the public, unless circumstances indicate it would be
unsafe to do so:
vi
• Be courteous, professional, and respectful.
• Introduce themselves to the community member, providing name, agency affiliation, and
badge number. Mill Valley Police Department members should also provide this
information in writing or on a business card.
• State the reason for the stop as soon as practicable, unless providing this information will
compromise officer or public safety or a criminal investigation.
• Answer questions that the individual may have about the stop.
• Ensure that a detention is no longer than necessary to take appropriate action for the
known or suspected offense and Mill Valley Police Department member convey the
purpose of any reasonable delays.
• All Mill Valley Police Department personnel, including dispatchers and non-sworn staff,
shall not use harassing, intimidating, derogatory, or prejudiced language, including
profanity or slurs, particularly when related to an individual’s actual or perceived
individual characteristics.
• Dispatchers and sworn personnel shall be aware of and take steps to curb the potential
for bias by proxy in a call for service.
• Officers should draw upon their training and use their critical decision-making skills to
assess whether there is criminal conduct and to be aware of implicit bias and bias by
proxy when carrying out their duties.
• All Mill Valley Police Department personnel, including dispatchers and non-sworn
personnel, shall aim to build community trust through all actions they take, especially in
response to bias-based reports.
[RIPA Model Policy, Encounters with Community, 2020 RIPA Board Report, pp. 46-47]
402.4.2 REPORTING OF STOPS 402.4.3 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
By the year 2022, unless an exception applies under 11 CCR 999.227, an officer conducting a
stop of a person shall collect the data elements required by 11 CCR 999.226 for every person
stopped and prepare a stop data report.
By April of 2021 [date reflects MVPD commitment to accelerated reporting], in accordance with
the California Racial and identity Profiling Act of 2015, the Mill Valley Police Department shall
collect data on: (a) civilian complaints that allege racial and identity profiling, and (b) perceived
demographic and other detailed data regarding pedestrian and traffic stops.
Any officer who conducts a pedestrian or traffic stop shall collect the data elements set forth in
11 CCR 999.226 for every person stopped and prepare a stop data report. When multiple
officers conduct a stop, the officer with the highest level of engagement with the person shall
collect the data elements and prepare the report (11 CCR 999.227). If multiple agencies are
involved in a stop and the Mill Valley Police Department is the primary agency, the Mill Valley
Police Department officer shall collect the data elements and prepare the stop data report (11
vii
CCR 999.227). The stop data report should be completed by the end of the officer’s shift or as
soon as practicable (11 CCR 999.227).
The data to be collected for stops includes, among other things, perceived race or ethnicity,
approximate age, gender, LGBT identity, limited or no English fluency, or perceived or known
disability, as well as other data such as the reason for the stop, whether a search was
conducted, and the results of any such search. (11 CCR 999.226) The Mill Valley Police
Department shall report this data to the California Department of Justice.
The Mill Valley Police Department should regularly analyze data, in consultation with City
leadership, the Mill Valley Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion [if established
pursuant to DEI Task Force recommendations] interested citizen groups and advisories, to
assist in identifying practices that may have a disparate impact on any group relative to the
general population.
[RIPA Model Policy, Data Collection and Analysis, 2020 RIPA Board Report, p. 47]
402.4.4 ACCOUNTABILITY AND ADHERENCE TO POLICY
All Mill Valley Police Department personnel, including dispatchers and non-sworn personnel, are
responsible for understanding and complying with this policy. Any violation of this policy will
subject the member to remedial action, discipline and/or termination, depending upon the
severity of the violation.
Mill Valley Police Department personnel, including dispatchers and non-sworn personnel, shall
not retaliate against any person who complains of biased policing or expresses negative views
about them or law enforcement in general.
All Mill Valley Police Department personnel, including dispatchers and non-sworn personnel,
share the responsibility of preventing bias-based policing. Personnel shall report any violations
of this policy they observe or of which they have knowledge to a supervisor in accordance with
the Personnel Complaints Policy.
[RIPA Model Policy, Accountability & Adherence to Policy, 2020 RIPA Board Report, pp. 47-48]
402.5 SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Supervisors should shall ensure that all personnel under their command, including dispatchers
and non-sworn personnel, understand the content of this policy and comply with it at all times.
Supervisors shall monitor those individuals under their command for compliance with this policy
and shall handle any alleged or observed violations in accordance with the Personnel
Complaints Policy.
(a) Supervisors should shall discuss any issues with the involved officer and his/her
supervisor in a timely manner,[ ] and shall document these discussions, in the prescribed
manner.
(b) Supervisors should shall periodically review MAV recordings, portable audio/video
recordings, Mobile Digital Computer (MDC) data and any other available resource
used to document contact between officers and the public to ensure compliance with
the policy [ ] and shall document these periodic reviews.
viii
1. Recordings or data that capture a potential an alleged or observed instance of
bias-based policing should shall be appropriately retained for administrative
investigation purposes.
(c) Supervisors shall initiate investigations of any actual or alleged violations of this
policy.
(d) Supervisors should shall take prompt and reasonable steps to address any retaliatory
action taken against any member of this department who discloses information
concerning bias-based policing.
[See, RIPA Model Policy, Supervisor Review, 2020 RIPA Board Report, p. 48]
402.6 TRAINING [Policy should be further amended following the modification of MVPD’s anti-
bias training requirements in conformity with RIPA Best Practice Recommendations. See Task
Force Recommendations re: anti-bias training.]
Training on fair and objective policing and review of this policy should be conducted as directed
by the Training Bureau.
(a) All sworn members of this department will be scheduled to attend Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST)-approved training on the subject of bias-based
policing.
(b) Pending participation in such POST-approved training and at all times, all members
of this department are encouraged to familiarize themselves with and consider racial
and cultural differences among members of this community. [References to POST anti-
bias training removed because RIPA Board found the training failed to meet the statutory
anti-bias training requirements. See Task Force Recommendations re: anti-bias training.]
The Mill Valley Police Department will ensure that all officers and employees understand and
are compliant with the policies pertaining to bias-free policing.
(a) All officers shall, at a minimum, be compliant with the statutory requirements for bias-
free policing including those set forth in Penal Code section 13519.4.
(b) The Mill Valley Police Department will ensure that management includes a discussion
of its bias-free policing policy with its officers and staff on an annual basis.
(c) Mill Valley Police Department officers should be mindful of their training on implicit
bias and regularly reflect on specific ways their decision-making may be vulnerable to
implicit bias.
[RIPA Model Policy, Training, 2020 RIPA Board Report, p. 47]
(d) (c) Each sworn member of this department who received initial bias-based policing
training will thereafter be required to complete an approved refresher course every
five years, or sooner if deemed necessary, in order to keep current with changing
racial, identity and cultural trends (Penal Code § 13519.4(i)).
402.7 REPORTING TO CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
ix
The Internal Affairs Bureau Manager shall ensure that all data required by the California
Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding complaints of racial bias against officers is collected and
provided to the Records Supervisor for required reporting to the DOJ (Penal Code § 13012;
Penal Code § 13020). See the Records Bureau Policy.
Supervisors should ensure that data stop reports are provided to the Records Supervisor for
required annual reporting to the DOJ (Government Code § 12525.5) (See Records Bureau
Policy).
x
Appendix B
RIPA Training Best Practices for Bias-Free Policing
Best Practices for Training Related to Racial & Identity Profiling
2019 RIPA Board Report, pp. 46-50,
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/ripa/ripa-board-report-2019.pdf.
(original citations)
II. BEST PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS
The following best practice recommendations are drawn from a range of relevant academic,
governmental, and non-profit organizations that have expertise in this area. For additional
information on the Board's approach to identifying best practices, please see the
introduction.
A. Trainings on Racial and Identity Profiling Should Incorporate Basic Principles
The training should:
• Begin with providing all trainees with relevant definitions and scientific research, including
a sufficient understanding and definitions of implicit and explicit bias and stereotyping.
The training should also emphasize that a great deal of human behavior and brain
processing occurs without conscious perception and that all members of society
frequently act on their biases. The training should present scientific peer-reviewed
research on bias and how it can influence on behavior.1
• Be developed in partnership with academic institutions or consultants with the requisite
expertise to assist in developing and implementing trainings. These institutions or
consultants should have documented experience conducting such racial and identity
profiling trainings for institutional actors (and, ideally, helping design successful
interventions ).2
• Provide all agency personnel with the knowledge and skills to identify bias and minimize
its impact upon law enforcement activities and interactions with members of the public.3
• Reflect the agency’s commitment to procedural justice, bias-free policing, and community
policing.4
• Instill in all officers the expectation they will police diligently and have an understanding of
and commitment to the rights of all individuals they encounter. This includes reinforcing
that protecting civil rights is a central part of the police mission and is essential to
1 Hart, Subjective Decision making and Unconscious Discrimination (2005) 56 Ala. L. Rev., p. 741.; Greenwald and
Krieger, Implicit Bias: Scientific Foundations (2006) 94 Calif. L. Rev. 945-946; Greenwald and Mahzarin, Implicit
Social Cognition: Attitudes, Self-Esteem, and Stereotypes (1995), 102(1) Psych. Review, p. 4-6.; SPARQ (2016)
Principled Policing: Training to Build Police-Community Relations. 2 US. v. Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.; US. v. City of Newark (2016)
2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.
3 US. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l :l 7-cv-00099-JKB.; U.S. v. The City of Ferguson (2016)
4:l 6-cv-000180-CP.
4 US. v. Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH at 1-2; US. v. City of Newark
(2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.
xi
effective policing. All personnel should be made aware of the requirements of the United
States and California Constitutions and relevant federal, state, and local laws related to
equal protection and unlawful discrimination.5
• Provide all trainees with a sufficient understanding and definition of implicit and explicit
bias and stereotyping emphasizing that all members of society frequently act on their
biases. The training should present scientific peer-reviewed research on bias and its
influence on behavior.6
• Provide officers with information regarding the existence of and how to access all health
and wellness programs, physical fitness programs, stress management tools, confidential
crisis counseling, or other support services available to address the heavy burdens
placed on today's police officers. Research suggests that stress and having to make
quick decisions under pressure can often lead to people relying on stereotypes.7 In
addition, training should discuss methods, strategies, and techniques to reduce a reliance
on unguided discretion in making stops.8
• Utilize adult learning approaches, including experimental learning and realistic scenario-
based training to provide officers with opportunities to develop skills in realistic settings;
this includes learning by doing, and refining their understanding of policies, expectations,
or concepts by applying them to the types of situations they may come across in their
day-to-day work.9
• Include an assessment of whether officers comprehend the material taught.10
• Complete and consistent training records for all trainings should be maintained for all
agency personnel. Agency-wide training analysis should be regularly completed and
trainings should be consistently reviewed and updated.11
• Agencies should consider integrating a feedback loop or "check-ins" among trainees in
between trainings to allow officers to reflect on and apply what they learned in the
trainings to their daily lives.12
B. Training on Racial and Identity Profiling Should Be Well Organized and Delivered
Regularly
5 U.S. v. Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson (2016) 2: 16-cv-O 1731-MCA-MAH.; U.S. v. Police Department of
Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) 1 :l 7-cv-00099-JKB.
6 Fridell, A Comprehensive Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).; U.S. v. The City of Ferguson
(2016) 4:16-cv-000180-CP.
7 U. S. v. Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.; Dovidio and Gaertner
Aversive Racism and Selection Decisions: 1989 and 1999 (2000) 11 Psych. Science, p. 319-323.; Levinson and
Young, Different Shades of Bias: Skin Tone, Implicit Racial Bias, and Judgments of Ambiguous Evidence (2010)
112,307 West Virg. L.Rev., 326-231.
8 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) 1 :l 7-cv-00099-JKB; Fridell, A Comprehensive Program
to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).; Kang et al., Implicit Bias in the Courtroom, (2012) 59 UCLA L. rev.
1124, 1142. 9 U.S. v. The City of Ferguson (2016) 4:16-cv-000180-CP.
10 U.S. v. CityofNewark(2016)2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.
11 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l: l 7-cv-00099-JKB; U.S. v. The City of Ferguson
(2016) 4:l 6-cv-000180-CP. 150 U.S. v. City of Newark (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH. 151 U.S. v. Police
Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l :l 7-cv-00099-JKB.
12 U.S. v. City of Newark (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.
xii
• Training should be relatively short and frequently provided (for example, agencies should
consider offering a series of two-hour trainings several times a year rather than an eight-
hour training every four or five years).13
• Training should include members of the community who are knowledgeable about
various communities and local issues, including representatives knowledgeable on issues
of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity,
and disability.14
• Consider expanding training options to include courses on topics such as power
imbalance, statistics, and methods for effective supervision. 15
• Trainings should be evaluated for their impact on police-community relations.16
C. Training on Racial and Identity Profiling Should Address Communication
and Community Relationships
The training should:
• Address the benefits of and means to achieve effective community engagement,
including how to establish formal partnerships and actively engage community
organizations and diverse groups within the community to form positive relationships.
This could include examples of successful partnerships and engagement.17
• Cover cultural competency, cultural awareness, and sensitivity, including the impact of
historical trauma on police-community interactions and locally relevant incidents and
history.18
• Include effective communications skills, including how to recognize and overcome
communication obstacles.19
D. Training on Racial and Identity Profiling Should Include the Tenets of Procedural
Justice
The training should:
• Emphasize the core tenets of procedural justice ( an approach to policing that
emphasizes the importance of treating everyone equally and with respect).20
o Community members should be given a voice and be allowed to tell their story and
respectfully interact.
o The law must be applied equally to all members of the community.
• Officers must show respect and demonstrate trustworthiness.
13 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l :l 7-cv-00099-JKB.
14 U.S. v. The City of Ferguson(2016)4:16-cv-000180-CP.; U.S. v. City of Newark(2016)2: 16-cv-01731-MCAMAH.
15 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l: l 7-cv-00099-JKB.; U.S. v. The Ciry of Ferguson
(2016) 4: l 6-cv-000180-CP.; Fridell, A Comprehensive Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).
16 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l: l 7-cv-00099-JKB. ; Fridell, Lorie. A Comprehensive
Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017); U.S. v. City of Newark (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.
17 Fridell, A Comprehensive Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).
18 U. S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l: l 7-cv-00099-JKB.; Fridell, A Comprehensive
Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).
19 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l:17-cv-00099-JKB.
20 Fridell, A Comprehensive Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).; PERF, Legitimacy and
Procedural Justice: A New Element of Police Leadership (2014).; SP ARQ, Principled Policing: Training to Build
PoliceCommunity Relations (2016).
xiii
• Emphasize the importance of how people are treated during the course of an interaction
as well as the outcome of that interaction.21
• Cover various threats to procedural justice, including officer stress, time pressure, and
poor health, as well as poor historical relations between police and communities.22
• Cover various procedural, behavioral, and psychological strategies to reduce threats to
procedural justice and improve police-community relations.23
• Feature police and community perspectives.24
E. Training on Racial and Identity Profiling Should Cover Implicit Bias
The training should:
• Define implicit bias as "thoughts or feelings about people that we are unaware of and can
influence our own and others' actions."25
• Define stereotyping. 26
• Discuss how bias manifests in everyone, even well-intentioned people.27
• Cover the varied sources of implicit bias.28
• Present a series of empirical studies on bias in an easily understandable manner.29
• Discuss how bias might manifest in work and decision-making.30
• Highlight positive strategies for mitigating bias and improving police-community
relations.31
• Discuss how to identify officers who may be manifesting bias and how to respond.
Include self-evaluation strategies for identifying bias in oneself.32
• Discuss how to talk openly about bias with individuals and groups.33
21 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l :l 7-cv-00099-JKB.
22 U. S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) 1: l 7-cv-00099-JKB; U.S. v. The City of Ferguson
(2016) 4: l 6-cv-000180-CP; SP ARQ, Principled Policing: Training to Build Police-Community Relations (2016).
23 U.S. v. Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson (2016) 2: 16-cv-0 173 l-MCA-MAH.; Fridell, A Comprehensive
Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).; SP ARQ. (2016) Principled Policing: Training to build
Police Community Relations.
24 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l :l 7-cv-00099-JKB; SPARQ, Principled Policing:
Training to Build Police-Community Relations (2016).
25 Dovidio et al., Why Can't We Just Get Along, Interpersonal Biases and Interracial Distrust (2002) 8 Cultural
Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psycho!. p. 88, 94. Greenwald and Krieger, Implicit Bias: Scientific Foundations, (2006)
94 Calif. L. Rev. 945,946, 951.; Greenwald and Mahzarin, Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes, Self-Esteem, and
Stereotypes (1995) 102(1), Psych. Rev. p. 4-6; Hart, Subjective Decision making and Unconscious Discrimination
(2005) 56 Ala. L. Rev. 741.; SPARQ, Principled Policing: Training to Build Police-Community Relations (2016).
26 SPARQ, Principled Policing: Training to Build Police-Community Relations (2016).
27 U. S. v. Alamance County Sherif Terry Johnson (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.; U.S. v. The City of Ferguson
(2016) 4:16-cv-000180-CP.; Fridell, A Comprehensive Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).
28 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l: l 7-cv-00099-JKB.; SP ARQ, Principled Policing:
Training to Build Police-Community Relations (2016).
29 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) 1: l 7-cv-00099-JKB.; U.S. v. City of Newark (2016) 2:
16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.; SP ARQ, Principled Policing: Training to Build Police-Community Relations (2016).
30 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) 1 :17-cv-00099-JKB.; Fridell, A Comprehensive
Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017). 31 U.S. v. City of Newark (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.; SP ARQ, Principled Policing: Training to Build Police
Community Relations (2016).
32 U.S. v. Police Department of Baltimore City, et. al. (2017) l: l 7-cv-00099-JKB.; Fridell, A Comprehensive
Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).; U.S. v. City of Newark (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.
33 Fridell, A Comprehensive Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing (2017).; U.S. v. City of Newark (2016)
2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.
xiv
• Include experiential learning techniques to apply the training to real-life scenarios.34
34 US. v. Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson (2016) 2: 16-cv-01731-MCA-MAH.; U.S. v. The City of Ferguson
(2016) 4:16-cv-000180-CP.; SP ARQ, Principled Policing: Training to Build Police-Community Relations (2016).
xv
Appendix C
RIPA Best Practices to Prevent Bias by Proxy
Best Practices for Responding
to Biased-Based Calls for Service
2020 RIPA Report, pp. 54-57,
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/ripa/ripa-board-report-2020.pdf.
(original citations)
Calls for Service and Bias by Proxy
In its 2019 Report, the RIPA Board introduced the topic of bias by proxy in the context of calls
for service. Bias by proxy occurs in a call for service “when an individual calls the police and
makes false or ill-informed claims about persons they dislike or are biased against.”35 Because
calls for service are the most common way in which law enforcement officers make contact with
the public, it is critical that law enforcement agencies have policies and training in place about
how to prevent bias by proxy when responding to a call for service.
Best Practices for Responding to Biased-Based Calls for Service
We were unable to find any law enforcement agency in California that had a policy that
addresses the circumstances in which members of the public make bias-based calls for
service.36 The Board reviewed evidence-based best practices for responding to bias-based calls
for service and identified the following best practices:
• Agencies should have a policy detailing how sworn personnel and dispatchers should
respond to bias-based reports, reports regarding bias, or bias by proxy from the
community. This policy could be a stand-alone policy or integrated into the bias-free
policing policy.
• An agency policy covering biased-based calls for service should include:
o How an officer should identify a biased-based call for service.
§ It should first instruct the officer to determine whether there is evidence
of criminal misconduct or if there is a need to engage in a community
caretaking function.
§ It should include clear direction on next steps with respect to the caller
and subject of the call (see below) if an officer determines that there is
no criminal conduct or no need to conduct a well-being check.
35 Fridell, A. (2017). A Comprehensive Program to Produce Fair and Impartial Policing. In Producing Bias-Free
Policing. Springer, p. 90.
36 We are aware that the San Francisco Police Department is in the process of incorporating bias by proxy into the
new draft of its anti-bias policing policy. If adopted, we believe this would be the first policy in California, certainly of
a major police department, to incorporate concepts of bias by proxy into its department general orders.
xvi
§ It should allow officers to respond to the area and independently assess
the subject’s behavior from a distance. If no suspicious criminal behavior
is observed, then the officer can report the call to dispatch as
“unfounded.”
o How sworn personnel and dispatchers should interact with the community
member who has made a bias-based call for service.
§ It should detail ways personnel can courteously explore if the call is
bias-based and concerns an individual’s personal characteristics (e.g.,
call regarding a person of color walking in the “wrong neighborhood”) or
if there are specific behaviors that warrant a call for police response. If
the complainant can offer no further, concrete information, the
complainant may be advised that the shift supervisor will be in contact at
the first opportunity.
• Specifically, dispatchers could have a series of questions or a
flexible script, which enables them to ask questions and explore
whether there are concrete, observable ehaviors that form the basis
of the suspicious activity or crime the caller is reporting. Is the person
looking into cars, checking doors, casing homes, etc.? What specific
crime or activity does the person claim to be witnessing?37
§ If a call turns out to be a bias-based call for service, the shift supervisor
may follow up with the caller to let them know that they found no
suspicious or criminal activity. This way of “closing the call” may help
educate callers about appropriate calls for service and possibly alleviate
dispatching calls that have no merit, while serving to build trust between
police and the community.
o How an officer should interact with a community member who is the subject of
a bias-based call.
§ It should detail methods on how to approach the subject of a bias-based
call in a manner that respects their dignity and does not alarm them, but
informs them about the reason that the officer is on scene.
§ It should include methods to account for situations in which the
responding officer encounters both the caller and the subject of a
potential bias-based call at the scene.
• Such methods should include de-escalation, respectful listening, and
procedural justice techniques to ensure the scene is safe, the parties
have an opportunity to communicate, and the officer has the
opportunity to explain why no violation has occurred.
o How the shift supervisor should interact with the caller:
37 One illustrative example is what Nextdoor, a neighborhood communication platform, has developed in
collaboration with community groups, local law enforcement, academic experts, and neighbors to try to prevent
racial profiling and make crime reporting more useful to neighbors and law enforcement. Nextdoor has the following
tips: “1) Focus on behavior. What was the person doing that concerned you, and how does it relate to a possible
crime?; 2) Give a full description, including clothing, to distinguish between similar people. Consider unintended
consequences if the description is so vague that an innocent person can be targeted.; and 3) Don’t assume
criminality based on someone’s race or ethnicity. Racial profiling is expressly prohibited.” See Nextdoor. (2017).
Preventing Racial Profiling on Nextdoor. Available at http://us.nextdoor.com/safety/preventing-profiling-approach.
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§ It should detail how the shift supervisor can explain that the agency
does not respond to calls for service based on an individual’s personal
characteristics and that lawful activities are not more suspicious
because of the individual’s personal characteristics.
§ It should detail ways the shift supervisor can educate the caller on the
agency’s bias-free policing policy and philosophy and explain that
officers respond to behaviors/actions of individuals that appear
suspicious, threatening, illegal, etc., and not to hunches or situations
based on an individual’s personal characteristics.
§ In the case of a call for service that is based on a caller's suspicion that
an individual present in the jurisdiction is an undocumented immigrant,
the supervisor could inform the caller that California law enforcement
agencies are not responsible for enforcing federal immigration law, as
provided for in the California Values Act (Cal. Gov. Code, §§ 7284 et
seq.). These interactions should be documented by the supervisor.
• Agencies should have a training for officers and dispatchers that covers responding to
bias-based calls for service. It should include:
o Foundational instruction on how poor or inadequate responses to such calls
can impair the agency’s legitimacy and undermine other agency efforts to build
community trust and communication.
o How to be mindful of their training on implicit bias and regularly reflect on
whether such bias is affecting a caller’s decision-making (e.g., assuming a
higher or lower threat level presented by an individual based upon his or her
race, gender, or other personal characteristics).
o How to assess a call for bias-based motivations.
o How information regarding a call for service should be relayed without including
biased assumptions.
o How to collect enough information necessary to verify reasonable suspicion of
criminal activity.
o How to record and track any bias-based call in the agency’s tracking systems.
o How on-scene responses to calls for service may require officers to apply de-
escalation, communications, and procedural justice techniques.
o The subject of biased-based calls for service should also be included in
supervisor and leadership training as desktop exercises so that attendees
grasp the challenge bias-based calls present to the agency’s overall mission.
It would be beneficial for dispatchers and officers to jointly attend training on calls for service so
that the training can address the intersecting roles and responsibilities of both positions in
dealing with bias-based calls for service. The Board also recommends that dispatchers go on a
ride-along with a field officer as part of their training, and that field officers do a sit-along in the
dispatch center so that each can build a better understanding of what the other job entails. This
will open up the lines of communication between the two positions and enable them to better
handle not only calls rooted in bias by proxy, but all dispatch calls generally.
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Appendix D
MVPD Use of Force Policy Amendments
Based on 21st Century Policing & Procedural Justice
Legend:
Black text = Existing MVPD Policy
Strikethrough = Proposed deletions from existing MVPD Policy
Blue text = Additional and substitute policies in furtherance of 21st Century Policing
1. GUIDELINES AND DEFINITIONS
300.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
This policy provides guidelines on the reasonable use of force, including proportional response and de-
escalation techniques. While there is no way to specify in all situations the exact amount or type of
proportional response, including the use of reasonable force and de-escalation techniques, to be
applied in any every situation, every member of this Mill Valley Police Department is expected to use
these guidelines to make such decisions in a professional, impartial and reasonable manner, with the
sanctity of life in mind and the goal of assuring the safety of both officers, Mill Valley residents and
other members of the public within our jurisdiction.
300.1.1 DEFINITIONS
Definitions related to this policy include:
Proportional response – The appropriate response of an officer to an incident in light of the primary
goal of assuring the safety of both officers, Mill Valley residents and other members of the public within
our jurisdiction. A proportional response employs no more force than is proportional to the law
enforcement objective at stake.
De-escalation techniques - The full range of responses to an incident and/or people with
whom an officer has contact in the course of his/her duties, including verbal engagement and
warnings, creating distance in time and space, tactical repositioning and other tools and
techniques not including the use of force, such as summoning mental health professionals,
social workers or other trained individuals to obtain their involvement and assistance in
defusing an incident.
Deadly force - Any use of force that creates a substantial risk of causing death or serious
bodily injury, including but not limited to the discharge of a firearm (Penal Code § 835a) or the
use of Axon CEWs (“tasers”).
Force - The application of physical techniques or tactics, chemical agents, or weapons to
another person. It is not a use of force when a person allows him/herself knowingly and
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voluntarily consents to be searched, escorted, handcuffed, or restrained.
In light of these statements of purpose and scope, and this these definitions, the MVPD Policy
Manual provides the statement of policy for the use of force:
300.2 POLICY
The use of force by law enforcement personnel is a matter of critical concern, both to the
public and to the law enforcement community. Officers are involved on a daily basis in
numerous and varied interactions and, only when warranted, may use reasonable force in
carrying out their duties.
Officers must have an understanding of, and true appreciation for, their authority and limitations.
This is especially true with respect to overcoming resistance while engaged in the performance
of law enforcement duties.
The Department recognizes and respects the value of all human life and dignity without
prejudice to anyone. Vesting officers with the authority to use reasonable force and to protect
the public welfare requires monitoring, evaluation and a careful balancing of all interests.
300.2.1 DUTY TO INTERCEDE
Any officer present and observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which is
objectively reasonable under the circumstances shall, when in a position to do so, intercede, as
soon as possible, to prevent or discontinue the use of unreasonable force. Any officer
interceding to prevent or discontinue the use of unreasonable force by another officer shall take
all steps necessary to terminate such use of unreasonable force as quickly as possible.
Additionally, any An officer who observes another employee use force that exceeds the degree
of force permitted by law should promptly report these observations to a supervisor and make a
report in writing to be filed with any incident report and in an appropriate “Unreasonable Use of
Force” file, which shall be available for public inspection.
2. USE OF FORCE
300.3 USE OF FORCE
Officers shall use only that amount of forcethat is reasonably appears necessary given the
facts and totality of the circumstances known to or perceived by the officer at the time of the
event, or which should have been known to or perceived by the officer based on objectively
known facts at the time, to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose to: (1) effect an
arrest when that peace officer has objectively reasonable cause to believe that the person to
be arrested has committed a public offense; (2) prevent escape; or (3) overcome
resistance.(Penal Code § 835a).
Officers shall employ reasonably available de-escalation techniques prior to employing force
and in no event shall an officer use substantially more force than is proportional to the law-
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enforcement interest at stake.
The reasonableness of force will be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the
scene at the time of the incident. Officers shall evaluate each situation in light of the particular
circumstances of each case and shall use other available resources and techniques if
reasonably safe and feasible to an objectively reasonable officer. Any evaluation of
reasonableness must allow for the fact that officers are often forced to make split-second
decisions about the amount of force that reasonably appears necessary in a particular
situation, with limited information and in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly
evolving.
Given that no policy can realistically predict every possible situation an officer might encounter,
officers are entrusted to use well-reasoned discretion in determining the appropriate use of
force in each incident, with knowledge that the authority to use physical force, conferred on
peace officers is a serious responsibility that shall be exercised judiciously and with respect for
human rights and dignity and for the sanctity of every human life, and with further knowledge
that that every person has a right to be free from excessive use of force by officers acting
under color of law. (Penal Code § 835a).
It is also recognized that circumstances may arise in which officers reasonably believe that it
would be impractical or ineffective to use any of the tools, weapons, or methods provided by
the Department. Officers may find it more effective or reasonable to improvise their response to
rapidly unfolding conditions that they are confronting. For instance, officers may find it best to
call upon mental health professionals, social workers or other trained individuals to obtain their
involvement and assistance in defusing an incident by the use of de-escalation techniques. In
such circumstances, the use of any improvised device or method must nonetheless be
objectively reasonable and utilized only to the degree that reasonably appears necessary to
accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
While t The ultimate objective of every law enforcement encounter is to avoid or minimize
injury. , nothing in this policy requires an officer to retreat or be exposed to possible physical
injury before applying reasonable force. and to guarantee that every person has a right to be
free from excessive use of force by officers acting under color of law. An officer should always
approach an incident with a strategy of using de-escalation techniques as a primary tool.
Verbal engagement with a subject is the most useful de-escalation technique and should
suffice. Reasonable force should only be used if verbal engagement has been used
persistently and has been proven ineffective after persistent effort to use it successfully to de-
escalate a confrontation using verbal engagement and other tools not involving weapons.
3. USE OF FORCE TO EFFECT AN ARREST
300.3.1 USE OF FORCE TO EFFECT AN ARREST
Any peace officer may use objectively reasonable force to effect an arrest for a felony offense,
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to prevent escape for a felony offense, or to overcome resistance relating to an arrest for a
felony offense. A peace officer who makes or attempts to make an arrest for a felony offense
need not retreat or desist from his/her efforts by reason of resistance or threatened resistance
on the part of the person being arrested for that felony offense; nor shall an officer be deemed
the aggressor or lose his/her right to self-defense by the use of reasonable force to effect the
that felony arrest, prevent escape for a felony offense, or to overcome resistance relating to an
arrest for a felony offense. Retreat does not mean tactical repositioning or other de-escalation
techniques (Penal Code § 835a).
300.3.2 FACTORS USED TO DETERMINE THE REASONABLENESS OF FORCE
When determining whether to apply force and evaluating whether an officer has used
reasonable and proportional force, a number of factors should be taken into consideration, as
time and circumstances permit.
These factors include but are not limited to:
(a) The apparent immediacy and severity of the threat to officers or others (Penal Code
§ 835a).
(b) The conduct of the individual being confronted, as reasonably perceived by the
officer at the time.
(c) Officer/subject factors (age, size, relative strength, skill level, injuries sustained, level
of exhaustion or fatigue, the number of officers available vs. subjects).
(d) The conduct of the involved officer (Penal Code § 835a).
(e) The effects of drugs or alcohol.
(f) The individual's apparent mental state or capacity (Penal Code § 835a).
(g) The individual’s apparent ability to understand and comply with officer commands
(Penal Code § 835a).
(h) Proximity of weapons or dangerous improvised devices.
(i) The degree to which the subject has been effectively restrained and his/her ability to
resist despite being restrained.
(j) The availability of other reasonable and feasible options and their possible
effectiveness (Penal Code § 835a), including verbal engagement and interaction, and
summoning of unarmed, trained mental health professionals, social workers and/or
other suitably trained professionals.
(k) Seriousness of the suspected offense or reason for contact with the individual (this is
the primary factor in determining the proportionality of the force used).
(l) Training and experience of the officer.
(m) Potential for injury to officers, suspects, and others.
(n) Whether the person appears to be resisting, attempting to evade arrest by flight, or is
attacking the officer.
(o) The risk and reasonably foreseeable consequences of escape.
(p) The apparent need for immediate control of the subject or a prompt resolution of the
situation.
--
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(q) Whether the conduct of the individual being confronted no longer reasonably
appears to pose an imminent threat to the officer or others.
(r) Prior contacts with the subject or awareness of any propensity for violence.
(s) Any other exigent circumstances.
300.3.3 PAIN COMPLIANCE TECHNIQUES
Pain compliance techniques should not be used except in the rarest of circumstances when all
other methods have been exhausted after multiple attempts. In such circumstances, only
officers who have successfully completed and been certified in department-approved training
may use such techniques, and only after first contacting supervisory personnel and obtaining
permission. Such supervisory personnel should be on-scene at the time of use of pain
compliance techniques before an officer initiates use of the pain compliance techniques,
unless such presence on-scene is impossible as determined by that supervisory officer.
Officers may only apply those pain compliance techniques for which they have successfully
completed department-approved training. Officers utilizing any pain compliance technique
should consider:
(a) The degree to which the application of the technique may be controlled given the
level of resistance.
(b) Whether the person can comply with the direction or orders of the officer.
(c) Whether the person has been given sufficient opportunity to comply.
The application of any pain compliance technique shall be discontinued once the officer
determines that compliance has been achieved.
300.3.4 CAROTID CONTROL HOLD
Officers are prohibited from using the Carotid Control Hold, Carotid Restraint, Lateral Vascular
Neck Restraint, Choke Hold, or any technique or device that restricts air or blood flow by
restraining the neck/throat of an individual, unless used where deadly force would be
reasonable.
6. CRISIS INTERVENTION INCIDENTS
466.6 DE-ESCALATION
Officers should shall consider that taking no action or passively monitoring the situation may
be the most reasonable response to a mental health crisis.
Once it is determined that a situation is a mental health crisis and immediate safety concerns
have been addressed, responding members shall refrain from applying disproportionate force
and shall employ de-escalation techniques prior to resorting to force whenever possible.
Responding members should be aware of the following considerations and should generally:
• Evaluate safety conditions.
• Introduce themselves and attempt to obtain the person’s name.
• Be patient, polite, calm, courteous and avoid overreacting.
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• Speak and move slowly and in a non-threatening manner.
• Moderate the level of direct eye contact.
• Remove distractions or disruptive people from the area.
• Demonstrate active listening skills (e.g., summarize the person’s verbal
communication).
• Provide for sufficient avenues of retreat or escape should the situation become
volatile.
Responding officers generally should not:
• Use stances or tactics that can be interpreted as aggressive.
• Allow others to interrupt or engage the person.
• Corner a person who is not believed to be armed, violent or suicidal.
• Argue, speak with a raised voice or use threats to obtain compliance.