A Seasoned Hand for a Critical Role: Christina Cameron Named Outside Legal Counsel to the San Diego Commission on Police Practices

On March 30, 2026, the San Diego Commission on Police Practices (CPP) named Christina M. Cameron as its Outside Legal Counsel — a move that brings one of the region’s most respected governmental ethics attorneys into one of its most consequential public accountability roles.

Cameron, a founding partner at Devaney Pate Morris & Cameron, LLP (DPMC), arrives with nearly four decades of local government experience spanning both the legislative and legal fields.

Who Is Christina Cameron?

To understand the significance of this appointment, it helps to understand the depth of experience Cameron brings to the table.

Cameron has spent the better part of her career at the intersection of public law and governmental ethics — a niche that requires not just legal precision, but an intimate understanding of how public institutions operate, where accountability gaps tend to form, and how the law can be used to close them.

Her areas of focus include:

• Governmental ethics, including conflicts of interest under the Political Reform Act and Government Code Section 1090
• Campaign finance and economic disclosure laws
• Brown Act (California’s Open Meeting Law) compliance
• Public Records Act compliance and litigation

She currently serves as General Counsel to the San Diego Ethics Commission, providing advisory services, administrative enforcement, and litigation support. She also holds the role of Special Counsel to both the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, making her one of a small number of attorneys in California who simultaneously advises multiple major urban ethics bodies.

Beyond her ethics commission work, Cameron serves as Assistant City Attorney to the City of Del Mar and previously held that role for the Cities of Encinitas and Murrieta. Ms. Cameron regularly trains local agencies and officials in the nuances of governmental ethics laws.

As a founding partner of DPMC — a San Diego-based firm that serves as general counsel to more than 30 California public entities, including cities, water districts, joint powers authorities, and community college districts — Cameron has helped build an institution defined by its public sector focus and its deep local roots.

The Commission

The Commission on Police Practices is no ordinary oversight body. Created by Measure B, which San Diego voters passed in November 2020 with a resounding 75% approval, the CPP replaced the former Community Review Board on Police Practices and was granted a significantly expanded mandate under City Charter Section 41.2.

The Commission is comprised of 25 community volunteers drawn from across the city’s nine council districts, at-large seats, low-to-moderate income area representatives, and two youth seats. The CPP is authorized to:

1. Provide an independent investigation of officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths
2. Provide an unbiased evaluation of all complaints against the San Diego Police Department and its personnel
3. Conduct investigations and evaluations in processes that are transparent and accountable to the community
4. Evaluate and review SDPD policies, practices, training and protocols and represent the community in making recommendations for changes

The CPP’s mission is direct and ambitious: to hold law enforcement accountable to the community and increase community trust in law enforcement, resulting in increased safety for both the community and law enforcement.

Why This Appointment Matters

Police oversight bodies across the country are only as effective as the legal infrastructure supporting them. Without skilled legal counsel to navigate the thicket of administrative law, confidentiality requirements, civil rights frameworks, and procedural constraints, the work of independent commissions can be stymied, challenged, or simply undone.

The CPP has operated with outside legal counsel since before Measure B — the role has historically involved guiding the Commission through closed session matters and ensuring its processes can withstand legal scrutiny. Cameron’s appointment brings several distinct strengths to that function.

Ethics expertise is foundational. Much of the work of a police oversight commission involves questions that are, at their core, questions of ethics and accountability — whether officers acted appropriately, whether departmental policies serve the public interest, and whether the Commission’s own processes are above reproach. Cameron’s background as general counsel to multiple ethics commissions means she has spent her career thinking through exactly these kinds of questions.

Institutional fluency matters. Cameron has operated within San Diego’s civic and governmental ecosystem for decades. She understands how the city’s agencies relate to one another, how political dynamics can shape legal questions, and how to provide counsel that is both legally sound and practically effective. That kind of local institutional knowledge is difficult to replicate and hard to overvalue.

Multi-jurisdictional experience informs perspective. Serving as special counsel to ethics commissions in Los Angeles and Oakland alongside her San Diego work gives Cameron a cross-jurisdictional vantage point that few attorneys possess. She can draw on how peer cities have approached similar challenges — an asset as San Diego’s CPP continues to mature and test the outer edges of its mandate.

The moment calls for steady, experienced hands. Police oversight in California — and nationally — sits at a moment of heightened scrutiny and legal complexity. New legislation, evolving case law, and a public that is simultaneously more engaged with and more skeptical of oversight processes means that outside counsel to a body like the CPP must be not only technically expert but strategically wise. Cameron’s track record suggests she is well positioned to fill that role.

A Significant Step for the Commission

The CPP has come a long way since the City established its predecessor, the Community Review Board on Police Practices.  Since voters approved Measure B, its staff and independence have grown, it has developed all new procedures, it has developed policy recommendations on matters ranging from police pursuits to protest policies, and has established itself as a genuine force in San Diego’s civic life. Its commissioners — volunteers drawn from communities across the city — do work that is demanding, sometimes contentious, and deeply important.

The appointment of Christina Cameron as Outside Legal Counsel is an investment in the durability of that work. It pairs the Commission’s community-driven accountability mission with the kind of legal expertise needed to ensure that mission is carried out in a way that is procedurally sound, legally defensible, and positioned for long-term impact.

For San Diegans who voted for Measure B – and for those who care about the integrity and effectiveness of civilian police oversight – this is a development worth noting.

For more information about the San Diego Commission on Police Practices, visit sandiego.gov/cpp. To learn more about Christina Cameron and Devaney Pate Morris & Cameron, LLP, visit dpmclaw.com.