U.S. Dept. of Justice meets with Salinas residents about police

The U.S. Department of Justice was in Salinas Thursday to listen to the community’s concerns about the police department.The DOJ’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) was called in by Police Chief Kelly McMillin, to conduct an independent assessment of the police department after four officer-involved shootings in 2014.

About 50 people showed up at Los Padres Elementary School for COPS’ last public listening session.

“I think thereareobviously some issues with the community and the police department,” D.O.J. representative Matthew Scheider said.

Scheider said before COPSneeds community feedback before it can make an assessment of the Salinas Police Department.

There werethree major concerns at the meeting. The first wasfear of deportation when reporting a crime. One woman said, “We’re afraid to call the police because they want our name, our address, and our phone numbers.”

The second concern isproper mental health training for officers. The third concern is alack ofofficers on the streets. A former sheriff deputy spoke of the job’s hardship, saying, “If you look at Salinas police, which you guys are looking at, look at how many numbers they had 8, 10 years ago. They’re probably down 70 bodies and the population is up so they’re doing more with less.”

The DOJ is still in the assessment phase and hasn’t made any recommendations yet. But Scheider, who holds meetings like these across the nation, said there’s hope for Salinas.

“I think it’s a good sign that the chief of police asked for this assessment. It’s not an easy thing l do,” Scheider said.

The DOJ hopes to have the first report complete before the end of this year.