Public Safety Committee to Examine Topics From Emergency Preparedness to Police Oversight, Body Cameras at Monday Meeting

The City Council’s Public Safety Committee meets Monday afternoon to discuss the Pasadena Emergency Preparedness Exercise that starts on Monday, among other important safety issues.

The Public Safety Committee meeting at 4:15 p.m. comes right before the main City Council session that begins in a closed session at 5:30 p.m.

A Notice of Regular Meeting from the office of Committee Chair Councilmember John J. Kennedy said the meeting will also discuss updates on proposals for the study of police oversight models that could be adopted for Pasadena, as well as developments on the drafting of policies for the use of body cameras by Pasadena police officers.

These matters were discussed extensively during previous meetings by the Public Safety Committee. Assistant City Manager Steve Mermell is expected to present an update on the police oversight issue at the committee meeting.

Director Michael Johnson of the City’s Department of Public Health will present the different phases of the 2015 Statewide Medical and Health Exercise, considered the largest statewide exercise in the state’s Department of Public Health history, during which Pasadena will conduct a five-day culminating exercise Monday through Friday, November 16 to 20.

Among other things, the exercise will test the capabilities of the various city departments and Pasadena residents to respond to an anthrax incident scenario. The exercise is part of a larger Southern California Regional Exercise for Anthrax Incidents (SoCal READI) that occurs at the same five-day period.

Pasadena’s role in the exercise will be mainly on organizing Point of Dispensing (POD) sites, including health department staff and volunteers serving as coordinators, dispensers, griage (greeting and triage) group supervisors and griage staff.

The exercise is envisioned to increase the capacity of disaster-related healthcare response units and trained responders in the community.