City of Davis

Bob Aaronson, Police Ombudsman
604 Second Street (Hunt Boyer House)
Davis, CA 95616
530-757-5546
aaronson@sonic.net

The City Council created the position of Police Ombudsman, a part-time contract position, in 2006.  The city of Davis contracts with Bob Aaronson to provide police ombudsman services.  The Davis Police Ombudsman is an independent entity hired to assist with concerns about the police department and to make recommendations to improve the delivery of police services.  In the course of his duties, he may review Police Department citizen complaint investigations, take citizen complaints about the Police Department from people who do not feel comfortable going directly to the Department, and interact with community members and organizations.  Mr. Aaronson is available by email, voicemail or in person by appointment.

If you wish to make a citizen’s complaint about a specific interaction with the Police Department, you must fill out a citizen complaint form.  This form is available at the Davis Police Department, at the Police Ombudsman’s office, in the City Manager’s Office at City Hall, at the Davis Branch of the Yolo County Library or online at http://www.cityofdavis.org/police/forms/. If you return a citizen’s complaint to the Police Ombudsman, he will send it to the Professional Standards Unit of the Police Department so that they may complete a formal investigation.  The Ombudsman can help guide you through the complaint process; he does not take the place of a police investigation.

Bob Aaronson is an attorney who specializes in public entity employment law, in particular law enforcement.  He has conducted and supervised internal affairs investigations, audited personnel procedures in departments across the state.  Additionally, he currently serves as the contract Police Auditor (a role similar to Davis’s Police Ombudsman) for the city of Santa Cruz and served as Legal Counsel to their former Citizen Police Review Board.  He has worked with more than half of the law enforcement agencies in California.

Mr. Aaronson received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his JD from Stanford Law School.  He teaches courses statewide in law enforcement discipline, internal affairs investigations and ethics topics.  He is also a member of the Police Executive Research Forum, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Association of Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.