First of 2 Hearings on Police Issues Is Today

The first of two public hearings on controversial police issues begins today with a review of options for rebuilding the closed police shooting range.

But the meeting is just a warmup for a hearing Thursday night, when residents will voice their opinions on whether Huntington Beach needs a citizens commission to oversee the Police Department.

Councilman Dave Sullivan said the idea of creating a police commission is a response to numerous complaints from residents about aggressive police enforcement tactics, especially during the city’s July 4 observance.

No Orange County city now has a police commission. Irvine had one for several years in the 1980s, but a new council disbanded it.

The Police Officers Assn. sees the call for a police commission as part of a pattern of “political retribution” for its opposition to several council members during elections last fall. The union says the closing of the range is part of the same vendetta.

The council closed the range Jan. 4 after refusing to renew a lease held by the union since 1972. A study by the city found that it would cost $2.5 million to prepare the unstable and contaminated land for construction of a new shooting range.

Nearby neighbors have complained about noise from the range. And a stray bullet that struck a home a year ago may have come from the range, which was used by 70 police agencies for training.

Some council members are philosophically opposed to the union’s previous $1-a-year lease of the city-owned facility in Central Park. They believe profits from the range were used over the years to fund the union’s political activities.

A council subcommittee will meet at 3:30 p.m. today in Room B-7, adjacent to council chambers at City Hall, to review a 25-page report on options for the 28-year-old range.

The hearing on creating a police commission will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday in Room B-8 at City Hall. Public comments will begin at 7.