Responding to protests, Seaside’s mayor plans to launch a community-police commission.

In 2017, action was swift after the Weekly revealed that former Seaside police chief Robert Jackson had posted racist conspiracy theories on his personal Facebook page: Within a month, he resigned. A 12-member panel of community members was appointed to help guide the hiring process. The new chief, Abdul Pridgen, was sworn in in 2018, becoming Monterey County’s only black police chief, and he pledged to hold his department accountable.

“I tell people, ‘Hold me accountable for the way our officers treat people in the community,’ he says. “My door is always open and my phone is on, anyone is welcome to reach out to me at any time.”

To that end, there’s an online form where citizens can praise or complain about officer interactions. The department conducts weekly surveys of the community, using a professional surveying company, to gauge perceptions of safety.

Seaside Mayor Ian Oglesby, who is also black, is a retired corrections officer trained to teach use of force. He’s been on a bullhorn in the middle of protests this week, and he hopes to channel the anger and grief into some new practices at SSPD. When City Council meets June 4, he will recommend a next-level training program from New Orleans PD, Ethical Policing Is Courageous Peer Intervention Program (EPIC). In George Floyd’s killing, Oglesby says, any one of the three officers who stood by could have saved his life. “The training is, if you see wrongdoing, stop it. You’re not being a snitch or a traitor. Ethical policing is courageous policing.”

He also plans to introduce the idea of launching a community-police relations commission.

On June 2, Pridgen was among about 2,000 Black Lives Matter protesters at City Hall. He sees the anger. And as second vice president of the California Police Chiefs Association, he says a vast number of chiefs understand: We need to change the profession. “And there’s no better time now because the level of pressure is building,” he says. “People want to see demonstrable change in the way people of color are treated. We are the ones in positions to do the most harm.”