A City Council committee is planning to discuss the feasibility of hiring a special prosecutor to handle police misconduct cases and use-of-force complaints.

The council’s three-member public safety committee is scheduled to hear from City Prosecutor Doug Haubert during its Friday afternoon meeting about different prosecution models employed across the state and if Long Beach might use one.

Appointing an independent prosecutor has been one of the rallying cries from protesters who have taken to the streets nationwide to demand reforms in both policing and how officer misconduct is handled by the legal system. They say there’s a conflict of interest when a local prosecutor is tasked with taking on police misconduct cases against the same departments they work with on a daily basis.

For instance, Haubert works with the Long Beach Police Department to prosecute most misdemeanor cases in the city, but if a Long Beach police officer were accused of a misdemeanor crime, it would be up to him whether to file charges.

For her part, District Attorney Jackie Lacey has come under sustained criticism from Black Lives Matter activists who accuse her of being reluctant to charge police officers with crimes in police shootings, which her office investigates despite relying on officers’ testimony to win convictions in court.

“The irony is, in every other relationship, it would be a conflict of interest,” Attorney Peter Carr previously told the Long Beach Post. Carr, who helped win a $2 million settlement for the family of a man shot by Long Beach police, said his clients had to rely on the civil courts instead of criminal law for any sense of justice.

While Haubert did not give details about what he plans to present to council members Friday, he said California law already has mechanisms to deal with conflicts of interest. If there’s a conflict in a city prosecutor’s office, the district attorney would take over the case. If there’s a conflict with the district attorney, the attorney general assumes that case.

That system, however, does little to mute critics’ complaints that there’s a cozy relationship between police and prosecutors.

“There is no law that covers when there is not an actual conflict, but rather a perceived conflict,” Haubert said in an email. “The State legislature is looking at this right now, specifically with district attorneys and cases of officer-involved shootings.”

He said that cities are also looking at how to handle other cases with perceived conflicts of interest “such as when a city council member is a suspect or a controversial case involving a city employee.” In 2017, for example, Haubert recused himself from a case involving Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce and her former chief of staff, sending it to the district attorney’s office.

In an interview last month, Councilwoman Suzie Price, chair of the public safety committee, said that she was open to exploring the idea of a special prosecutor. Price said that the moment, shortly after massive protests in Downtown Long Beach, was “a great opportunity to bring the whole council together on a topic that’s really important.”

While there may be support for a special prosecutor, hiring one could be a different issue. The city is in the middle of a budget deficit in the tens of millions of dollars that could prevent it from hiring a third-party prosecutor.

“What can we do with the resources we currently have?” said Councilman Daryl Supernaw, who serves as vice chair of the committee. “I am anxious to hear what the city prosecutor has to say.”

Friday’s meeting could provide some options about what’s on the table for the city going forward, but Haubert argued Long Beach voters have already created a protection against conflict of interest for his office. He noted that 90 years ago his office and the city attorney’s office were separated to create independence and reduce the possibility of conflicts.

“In cities like Los Angeles and San Diego, where they combine the offices, an argument could be made that there is more potential for both actual conflicts and perceived conflicts,” Haubert said. “I plan to discuss this as well as best practices for avoiding conflicts within a prosecuting agency and what changes could be coming in the future.”

The public safety committee will meet Friday July 24 at 2 p.m. via teleconference. A link to the meeting’s live stream can be found here.