Local police departments speak on reassessing policies following unrest in America

Over the weekend 9 Minneapolis City Council members vowed to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. The pledge comes after protests sweep the nation, calling for police reform and an end to systemic racism. Council members spoke on possibly abolishing the department. They said they would be working with the community to go about rebuilding statutes of pubic safety.

"Our commitment is to end our city's toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department-- to end policing as we know it," Minneapolis City Council President, Lisa Bender said.

Around the country, agencies are under the microscope as thousands call for police reform. Over the weekend the Riverside County Sheriff posted to Facebook, indicating the department's policies.

The post touched on use-of-force, which in part stated: "Require to exhaust all alternatives before shooting."

It also indicated that deputies take an 8-hour de-escalation training course every 2 years.

The department said it recently received a grant for de-escalation training. The statement said in part:

“This national program is specifically designed to fill a critical gap and will train every deputy in our department on how to respond to volatile situations in which subjects are behaving erratically and often dangerously but do not possess a firearm.”

"'Chokeholds' and 'strangleholds' are not authorized for use by Riverside County Sheriff's deputies. Properly trained deputies may use the Carotid Restraint, when circumstances perceived by the deputy at the time indicate that such application reasonably appears necessary to control a person. After use of the carotid restraint by a deputy, they shall have the person evaluated by medical personnel, notify their supervisor, and adequately document the incident in a report," one policy read.

On Monday, Desert Hot Springs Police Department banned the carotid restraint, as part of re-evaluating its policies.

"I think all our procedures and what we do is constantly evolving. Not one policy-- that’s the end of it and we never deal with it again. Our policies constantly change for the needs of the community and we have to be mindful. Public servants are held to a higher standard. That’s just the way it is," Indio Police Department Public Information Officer, Benjamin Guitron said.

Guitron said what happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis was unacceptable.

"We need to be mindful of that. I think as incidents of this have occurred it makes us reflect on our own communities, it makes us reflect on the relationships that we’ve built. And we can’t take for granted," Guitron said.

Guitron said that establishing relationships with the community is vital.

"We need to be open, we need to be available to change to the needs of the service. It falls in the public’s hands. We are the police department of the community," Guitron said.

Indio City Councilman, Waymond Fermon, also weighed in. He said he and Indio Police Chief Mike Washburn recently met to review current policies, including use-of-force techniques, de-escalation tactics and report-writing.

"After the protests, we need action and action is going to come with dialogue. That’s sitting down with your local officials and law enforcement agencies just to ensure that we’re doing everything possible for incidents like that to not happen in our community," Fermon said.

Fermon believes it's crucial for departments to reflect on local agencies and local governments.

"I encourage folks to really read those policies because sometimes that’s how change comes upon us," Fermon said.

Fermon and Guitron encouraged the public to participate.

There are also 2 vacant positions in the Chief Advisory Committee for Indio residents, to lend a voice.

"We want to work with our community to ensure we’re doing things right. There’s nothing wrong with some community oversight and we’re welcome to it here," Fermon said.

Cathedral City Police did not respond to News Channel 3's request for comment.

Palm Springs Police Department was unavailable for comment.