[Read: Santana: Were Santa Ana Police Justified in Firing On Peaceful Protesters?<\/a>]\u00a0<\/p>\n Last week, Santa Ana City Council members gave staff direction to create a report within 60 days and hold a public hearing on the issue \u2013 a police response that many residents and activists have long decried as excessive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Most importantly, the public hearing will allow police officials to show residents what kinds of threats they faced and the rationale behind how they responded.\u00a0<\/p>\n It also gives city officials a chance to publicly hold police officers accountable for their actions, effectively reviewing the response, policies and engaging police leaders with realtime feedback on community standards and expectations \u2013 a hallmark of any democracy.<\/p>\n In addition, a frank public conversation about how protests are handled in a large city like Santa Ana also presents a good opportunity for better dialogue and expectations between protest organizers and local police before, during and after demonstrations, especially where police have to use force.<\/p>\n Authorizing the hearing \u2013 a simple council directive \u2013 was unusually ugly.<\/p>\n The debate prompted hard questioning about the effectiveness of the city\u2019s police oversight commission \u2013 given that city council members took the hearing directly to their dais \u2013 ignoring the original direction from City Councilman Ben Vazquez to have the commission hold hearings on the issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n City Councilman Phil Bacerra was critical of Vazquez for not working with his police oversight commissioner to have that panel host the hearing \u2013 questioning whether the majority of the commission members would have agreed to do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n Indeed, the fact that Vazquez took the issue to the dais raises questions about whether the commission would have supported holding hearings.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Vazquez\u2019s motion to have the commission hold hearings seemed to have support on the city council dais, Mayor Valerie Amezcua voiced concerns about the commission holding the hearing \u2013 especially without her being present to ask questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n City Attorney Sonya Carvalho publicly advised council members that if they chose to have the police oversight commission hold a hearing, they should stay out of it \u2013 not even attending in the audience out of respect for their advisory bodies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt the very least, I tell them to sit at the back of the room and not make faces or talk or participate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Ultimately, City Councilwoman Jessie Lopez agreed with Amezcua, arguing that the issue was important enough to go straight to the city council instead of a city commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Vazquez expressed concerns about the police review commission being passed over to handle the review, he voiced support for moving the hearing right to the city council dais.\u00a0<\/p>\n Amezcua also voiced concerns about whether the city should have any kind of public hearing at all\u00a0 \u2013 noting that the city is facing some lawsuits over the police response. She also was resistant to police officials being asked any direct questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet Carvalho \u2013 backed up by City Manager Alvaro Nu\u00f1ez \u2013 argued that city leaders should be able to effectively detail their response to the protests without jeopardizing the city\u2019s legal position.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last November, Santa Ana police officials spoke in general<\/a> about their response to First Amendment protests in front of the city\u2019s Police Oversight Commission<\/a>, generally describing the department\u2019s response in June as textbook.<\/p>\n At that meeting, Santa Ana Police Commander Garry Couso<\/a> said the department\u2019s approach aims to connect police with protest organizers early on, adding that police responses at protests target bad actors in the crowd as opposed to widescale responses from officers on the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0A4A0109.jpg\")
Councilman Johnathan Hernandez, right, calls for de-escalation as Santa Ana police handcuff a woman after she questioned why more public speakers were not allowed into the chambers despite empty seats during a Santa Ana City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0A4A9710.jpg\")
Santa Ana Police Department forms a line during protests amid expanded immigration enforcement on June 9, 2025. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n