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Home My WebLink About02-16-1999 ArticlesThe Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Fri., Feb. 12, 1999 313+ Review panel wants to track officer IDs Police chief omits numbers from reports to prevent bias By Lynn M. Tefft Gazette Johnson County Bureau IOWA CITY — The City Council has to trust that members of the Police Citizens Review Board will not misuse information about officers who are subjects of complaints, board mem- bers told the council. Board member Patricia Farrant said during the board's meeting with the council last night that the police chief should use specific officer identifica- tion numbers in issuing his reports about complaints to the board. The identification numbers would allow the board to track the number and kind of complaints against certain officers, members said. The chief used such numbers until recently, when he and other city staff raised concerns that they biased the board and threatened employee confi- dentiality. City Attorney Eleanor Dilkes said she had no problem with resuming use of the specific numbers, provided there's a written rule preventing the board from considering past com- plaints against an officer when ruling on a current one. The council will vote at a future meeting on use of the identification numbers and other changes proposed by the board. Council members Dean Thornberry, Mike O'Donnell and Dee Vanderhoef said they still oppose use of the specific numbers, maintaining they invite bias. Mayor Ernie Lehman said he would have a hard time being unbiased if he were in a board member's shoes. "I have a difficult time with it, but I trust you implicitly," Lehman said, joining Karen Kubby and Dee Norton in favoring use of the numbers. O'Donnell said it has nothing to do with trust. "It has everything to do with trust," Lehman responded. The alternative to using the num- IOWA CITY hers is the current system of labeling officers as 1, 2, 3 and so on in each complaint, with no way for the board to track complaints against certain officers. Norton noted that when police fol- low up on complaints against fellow officers, they know whom they're in- vestigating by name. Council member Connie Champion said she supported the board's track- ing function but thought members could achieve it by receiving a sepa- rate report of complaints against offi- cers, independent of the individual complaints. The council achieved relatively quick consensus on other changes proposed by the board. Council mem- bers agreed that the board should be < Cl have a difficult time with it, but I trust you implicitly. I I Mayor Ernie Lehman, responding to request from review board given a report on complaints made directly to the Police Department and not reviewed by the board. The council also agreed to extend deadlines for people involved in the complaint process. Complainants will have 90 days from the time of an incident to file a complaint, up from 60. The police chief also will have 90 days to make the report of his investi- gation to the board, up from 60. The board will have 95 days to report its findings to the City Council, up from 30. The council also agreed to adopt a procedure for the board to hear ap- peals from complainants whose com- plaints are dismissed because of tardi- ness or because they are not against a sworn police officer. Current policy allows the complainant to appeal in public, opening up the potential of discussing an unproved complaint against an officer. The proposed procedure would al- low the board to go into closed session for such hearings or have just a few board members interview the com- plainant. a N T CO) i W 7 aU-L� m 0 CL N 2 z 3 s s bu ter.` -"":a a.°. •u- C E"`,�U 9-' Y O O 7, 3 c Est -- c u ° ° N p u U .i • rl � y H 0. � v (W! v m c > E U m° N O d r ma, L w m � N N 2 n a co � N'p�j3UK y? E O t M M E L O V sn N O �ia3a) pp"EY�mwD yo=m �M NON cD�� > C o NOCO dL y�N: Mv_noo'am°acmaaY 0) 0 0■ c C N■ C c) 0 p :A yam man oo.._ �u,um New York Times, February 9, 1999 City Council Supports Further Oversight ofLos Angeles Police By The New York Times LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6—The City Council here has moved to strength- en civilian oversight of the Los Ange- les Police Department despite oppo- sition from the city's police chief. On Friday, the council voted, 11 to 0, with four members absent, to sup- port an ordinance that would shield the identity of whistleblowers in the department and protect them from retaliation for bringing accusations of wrongdoing to the attention of the inspector general, Deirdre Hill, The post is a civilian position, created after the police beating of Rodney G. King and the ensuing riots to give the public greater oversight of the de- partment. The measures in the ordinance, which requires a final vote on Tues- day, are to a great extent already contained in the city's civil service codes and in Federal employment laW, said Councilwoman Laura Chick, the author of the ordinance. She added that it was needed to show the city was serious about police oversight. ..It sends a very strong message to the public, the police department and the commission: that we intend to persevere in ensuring the integrity and the responsibilities of the inspec- tor general," Ms. Chick said. The whistleblower ordinance grew out of an incident last year, in which Police Sgt. Jace Kessler sent a com- plaint to the inspector general con- cerning remarks made by Chief Ber- nard C. Parks about police union officials. (He called them "tired old men.") The complaint letter was read by the police commission's ex- ecutive director, Joseph Gunn, and turned over to Mr. Parks. To protect officers from retalia- tion, Councilman Mark Ridley - Thomas requested an investigation of the handling of the complaint. The department's first inspector general, Katherine Mader, resigned last fall after less than three years in the job, saying that her civilian bosses on the Police Commission were undercutting her authority. Since her resignation, officials have engaged in a highly public debate over the scope and power of the inspector general position. Historically, the police department had had a high degree of independ- ence from City Hall, the result of - measures passed in the 1930's to insulate the department from any corrupt elected officials. But the de- partment has come under public pressure in recent months from elected officials who want to insure that the police are responsive to the public. The council has backed other measures intended to strengthen the hand of the inspector general, includ- ing broad authority to initiate inves- tigations and release reports to the public without substantial changes; unrestricted access by the insnertnr general to department documents, and requirements that police com- mission decisions to cut off investi- gations be made public. But a report by the City Attorney's office last month said the Council did not have the authority to enact most of the other measures. As a result, they are expected to be included in a referendum scheduled for a vote in June which would overhaul the city's charter. The measures have been opposed by Chief Parks, himself a strict disci- plinarian who dismissed 54 officers last year, a record for the city. In letters to the City Council, Chief Parks has said the reform proposals give the inspector general too much power and are a potential hindrance to effective law enforcement. "Changes which allow duplicate investigations, officers to hide be- hind confidentiality even though they are sworn to come forward with the truth, and a position accountable to no one until after the damage is done will surely and inevitably deny the people of this City the peace and safety they deserve," Mr. Parks wrote. Ms. Chick said the department must have oversight beyond its own internal checks and balances. "We saw what happened in this city when the department is scruti- nizing itself," she said. "We have the history to remind us."