Independent Police Auditor to Brief Pasadena Oversight Commission on Pending Critical-Incident Reviews

The Community Police Oversight Commission will receive the city’s Independent Police Auditor monthly report and status update Thursday, Sept. 10, a briefing set to outline pending reviews of two critical incidents involving the Pasadena Police Department. 

The report offers Pasadena residents a regular window into how independent oversight of the Pasadena Police Department is carried out, from open use-of-force and complaint reviews to policy questions on immigration enforcement and surveillance technology. Because the commission has no independent power to discipline officers or set department policy, any concerns raised at the meeting would move forward only as recommendations, with the City Council holding final authority.

Two critical incidents remain under the auditor’s review. An April 14, 2024, incident involving a man named Andrade and a March 2, 2026, incident involving a man named Buchanan are each pending criminal and administrative review. A third incident, dated Sept. 7, 2025, has been closed, with a memo prepared with the Pasadena Police Department.

Alongside those cases, the auditor is reviewing a related matter connected to the Sept. 7 incident that is pending case completion, together with four complainant-requested reviews. One of those four produced a memo to the department, one led to an additional command review, and two remain pending a response from the Pasadena Police Department.

The presentation will also cover a 2026 technology update, a RIPA data and curbing update, and a resuming annual review cycle addressing use of force and complaints, along with reviews directed by commission ad hoc committees, such as one addressing domestic violence. The auditor will report on immigration policy and procedures, with updates provided to department command, and on artificial-intelligence-assisted report writing set for October.

On surveillance technology, the auditor will note that an ad hoc committee’s automated license plate reader review is in progress — a topic also on Thursday’s agenda — and that Pasadena Police Department updates are underway. The auditor’s office also is supporting the commission’s ad hoc committees, whose monthly meetings launched Sept. 1, along with new commissioner education and onboarding and a review of department technology.

The commission is strictly advisory, and the Pasadena City Council retains final authority over the police department.

Need to know: The Community Police Oversight Commission’s regular meeting is set for Thursday, Sept. 10, at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers at Pasadena City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue, Room S249, in Pasadena, and is open to the public. Residents may join remotely at cityofpasadena.net/cczoom or by phone at 1-669-900-6833, meeting ID 161 482 446, and the meeting will be livestreamed at pasadenamedia.org and https://www.youtube.com/@pasadenamediatv/streams. To speak, submit a card at www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/public-comment/. For more, call (626) 744-7311 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.