This story was updated to include information released Tuesday by the Richmond Police Department’s police officers’ union.
The Richmond City Council on Tuesday will consider changing how the city publicly responds when one of its police officers fatally shoots someone or uses force that causes great bodily injury or death while in custody.
According to the agenda item, which was drafted by District 5 and 6 council members Sue Wilson and Claudia Jimenez, the city has yet to “establish a clear and concise communication protocol as well as enhanced support services for those directly affected” by a suspect’s death.
The proposed initiative is in response to two fatal shootings in the first half of this year: Jose De Jesus Mendez, in February and Angel Montaño, in August.
The current protocol calls for the Richmond Police Department to issue a press release after an officer-involved shooting or in-custody death.
“A single press release shall be prepared with input and concurrence from the supervisor and agency representative responsible for each phase of the investigation,” RPD’s policy states. “This release will be available to the Watch Commander, Investigative Services Division Commander and Public Information Officer in the event of inquiries from the media.”
If you go:
What: Richmond City Council
When: Tue., Sept. 16, 3:30 p.m. closed session; 5 p.m. regular meeting begins.
Where: Richmond Civic Center, 403 Civic Center Plaza
More info: Agenda, Zoom information
Currently, there is no timeframe for when the department must issue a press release.
Richmond police Sgt. Ben Therriault, president of the Richmond Police Officers Association (RPOA), said in a press release Tuesday that officers plan to address the council during the public comment session to highlight the department’s current staffing issues and protest the political “undermining” of public safety and officer morale. The union also called the proposed communication protocol changes politically motivated.
“This proposal is not about transparency — it’s about politics,” Therriault said. “It assumes officers are in the wrong from the outset and hands communications to politicians instead of professionals trained to handle sensitive investigations.”
The proposed communication protocol would require the city to issue press releases within 24 hours of any “critical incident,” which includes officer-involved shootings and uses of force that end in death or great bodily injury as defined by California Assembly Bill 748. The press releases must acknowledge the incident, explain investigation processes, provide timelines for public updates and include information about support services for anyone affected.
In a joint interview last week with Richmondside, Wilson and Jimenez said that Tuesday’s discussion will be the “first step” in focusing on the communication aspect of what happens after these types of police incidents.
“The idea is that we know there is a gap in how the families and community members know about the investigation and where they can reach out,” Jimenez said. “We need to also make sure it’s clear in the press release that there is this body, the Community Police Review Commission (CPRC), where you can file a complaint because they (residents) don’t know.”
Family members of both Mendez and Jose Luis Lopez, a man who died while in Richmond police custody in 2020 after being sedated by a paramedic, told Richmondside that they had no knowledge of the CPRC, their right to file a complaint and the commission’s police oversight work.
The hope is, Jimenez said, for families to be guided and informed.
“The agenda item is about how we can support the families,” she added. “It’s every family. We are not going to make a distinction about whether the person is guilty or not because that is not our business to do that. It’s more about feeling the responsibility to support that family or residents in this process that is just so painful, despite the outcome of the investigation.”
In the police union’s release, Therriault pushed back on Wilson and Jimenez’ “problematic” comments, saying that the two have repeatedly framed officer-involved shootings in a way that cast blame on officers.
“When City leaders consistently attack the department in public forums, it sends a message to officers that their service is not valued,” Therriault said. “It demoralizes our members and makes it nearly impossible to recruit and retain qualified officers.”
The council member’s proposal would also require the city to strictly adhere to California’s Assembly Bill 748, which went into effect in 2019 and mandates the release of police body camera footage within 45 days unless disclosure would interfere with an active investigation.
“What we say (in this proposal) is that in the press release, within 24 hours, the city either has to put a link (to) the officer-worn footage or put a link to where individuals can do a (California) Public Records Act request for the footage because our policy right now is not to put it on the website for every single instance,” Wilson said. “I do think it’s really important to collaborate with families before doing that to see if it’s consistent with their wishes.”
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“We don’t want the super cut with the circling of the weapons and the narrative of how dangerous a person was.”
— Richmond City Council member Sue Wilson
The city would release only raw, unedited footage with minimal redactions required by law, Wilson added. In an email to her constituents in August after Montaño’s death, Wilson was especially critical of the department’s editing of the body camera footage which showed “freeze frames” and select excerpts of the audio between Montaño’s family and police dispatchers.
“We’re pushing on the editing issue,” she said, referencing a May 2025 CalMatters article which examined instances of video editing in fatal police incidents.
“What we’re saying is that the city should redact as required by law for privacy things, which is very narrow, and that’s it,” Wilson told Richmondside. “We don’t want the super cut with the circling of the weapons and the narrative of how dangerous a person was.”
After Montaño’s death, family members and friends called for the release of the unedited version of the fatal RPD shooting at the Aug. 20 city council meeting.
“Richmond PD claimed transparency but true transparency doesn’t come with redacted files or footage that ends at the first bullet,” Jesus Pedraza, a childhood friend of Montaño, said. “Not once has Richmond PD admitted how many bullets were fired. Do they know or do they not want us to know?”
According to Wilson, eliminating the editing of body camera footage could help build public trust in the city and police department.
“We should not be taking a position in advance of an investigation because that doesn’t help public confidence long term,” Wilson said. “I think we should just have a policy that acknowledges what happened, say that it is being investigated and that’s it. Not try and defend every police action in advance of an investigation.”
According to RPOA’s statement, releasing unedited body camera footage would “undermine due process” and would “expose officers and their families to harassment while stripping critical context from the incident.”
Since the Montaño’s death, according to the RPOA, the city has allegedly refused to return the officers involved, Nicholas Remick and Colton Stocking, to duty. Both officers reportedly have been “cleared by department psychologists, remain in good standing, and have not been placed on administrative leave with their peace officer powers are suspended.”
“This is pure politics, not policy,” Therriault said. “When cleared officers are sidelined for no reason, it sends a chilling message to every cop in this city: even if you do your job by the book, City Hall may still sacrifice you for appearances. That destroys morale and pushes good officers out of Richmond.”
