HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-25-1998 Minutes POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
MINUTES - August 18, 1998
Lobby Conference Room
CALL TO ORDER Chair P. Hoffey called the meeting to order at 7:03 P.M.
ATTENDANCE Board members present: L. Cohen, P. Farrant, P.
Hoffey, M. Raymond, and J. Watson. Staff present:
Legal Counsel D. Russell and Administrative Assistant S.
Bauer.
Motion by M. Raymond and seconded by P. Farrant to
amend the agenda to include "Public Discussion" after
Item No. 4. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present.
CONSENT
CALENDAR Motion by J. Watson and seconded by P. Farrant to
adopt the Consent Calendar as amended: (1) to include
receipt of memo dated 8/12/98 from City Manager Steve
AtP, ins, and (2) to amend the minutes of 8/11/98 as
discussed. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present.
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL None
ORDINANCE TIME
REQUIREMENTS The issue of time limitations has been discussed at board
meetings on several occasions previously, and it has
been agreed that the issue will be included in our
discussion of the annual report.
COMMUNITY FORUMS Motion by P. Farrant and seconded by J. Watson to
approve M. Raymond's draft letter, as amended, to the
Chief regarding data collection. Motion carried, 5/0, all
members present.
J. Watson reported that Professor David Baldus is
available to speak to the board at the regular meeting of
September 8, 1998.
October 27~ 1998 Community Ferum:
Issues involving location, mailing list/notices, paid ads,
and televising/videotaping were discussed. PCRB
Assistant was directed to (1) continue the search for a
location, (2) determine if the City would pay for ads in
lieu of money spent on mailings, and (3) contact Tony
Haughton and Jamie Schweser for ideas regarding
publicizing future forums.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION None
PCRB COMPLAINT
FORM Discussion of complaint form draft of 8/10/98 included
(but was not limited to):
Procedurally, the board would like any withdrawal of
a complaint in writing.
· The complaint form should not include requirements
that aren't in the Code.
· The complaint may become a public record through
action of the board on the advice of its counsel.
· Possibility of a brochure to be distributed with the
complaint form.
P. Farrant will implement all suggested changes into
another draft to be discussed at the next meeting.
Motion by J. Watson and seconded by M. Raymond that
the PCRB administrative assistant should not act as the
"neutral City staff person" as referenced in 8-8-5 B.4 of
the City Code. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present.
STANDARD OPERATING
PROCEDURES D. Russell's memo of August 11, 1998, and S. Bauer's
7/24/98 draft of Standard Operating Procedures were
discussed. S. Bauer was directed to prepare a second
draft appropriating the changes discussed.
ANNUAL REPORT Board members P. Hoffey and L. Cohen and
administrative assistant S. Bauer will prepare a draft and
present it to the board as soon as possible for
consideration, with the intent to have a finished product
for submission to the City Council by October 1, 1998.
EXECUTIVE
SESSION Motion by L. Cohen and seconded by P. Farrant to
adjourn into Executive Session based on Section 21.5(a)
of the Code of Iowa to review or discuss records which
are required or authorized by state or federal law to be
kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition
for that government body's possession or continued
receipt of federal funds, and 22.7(11) personal
information in confidential personnel records of public
bodies including but not limited to cities, boards of
supervisors and school districts. Motion carried, 5/0, all
members present. Meeting adjourned at 8:40 P.M.
Regular meeting resumed at 9:04 P.M.
Motion by L. Cohen and seconded by M. Raymond (1) to
review PCRB Complaint #98-11 at level 8-8-7 B. 1 (a) in
accordance to the Ordinance, and (2) assigned the
drafting of the public report to the report-writing
committee. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present.
MEETING
SCHEDULE
· Special Meeting August 25, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
Special Meeting September 1, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
· Regular Meeting September 8, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
· Special Meeting September 15, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
· Special Meeting September 22, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
· Special Meeting September 29, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
BOARD
INFORMATION
· L. Cohen: Council Member K. Kubby indicated she
had been contacted by a citizen who had concern
that there are no identifying markers on the black
uniforms worn by the S.C.A.T. team. If there is a
complaint against a S.C.A.T. officer, there is no way
to identify him/her.
· P. Hoffey: Had a call from a gentleman relating to the
same concern as above - no name or badge number
on the S.C.A.T. officers.
P. Hoffey also reported contact from Elias Zaharias
regarding police traffic stops in the Broadway area,
stating 'many of those cars have faulty equipment
and many of them are not obeying traffic laws and
the police have a perfectly good reason to stop them
and there is a lot of drug traffic in the area. That may
be interpreted as being discrimination with minorities,
4
but most of the persons are minorities, t don't
believe that the police are racists in the stops they
make in that area because of the reasons for the
stops and the fact that many minorities live there."
Mr. Zaharias has lived in this community for 29 years.
· J. Watson: Expressed his desire not to use the media
to communicate board feelings.
STAFF INFORMATION None
ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by M. Raymond and seconded
by L. Cohen. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present.
Meeting adjourned at 9:25 P.M.
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
MINUTES - August 11, 1998
Lobby Conference Room
(as amened 8/18/98)
CALL TO ORDER Vice-Chair L. Cohen called the meeting to order at
7:02 P.M.
ATTEND~ANCE Board members present: L. Cohen, P. Farrant, M.
Raymond, and J. Watson. Board member absent: P.
Hoffey. Staff present: Legal Counsel D. Russell and
Administrative Assistant S. Bauer.
CONSENT
CALENDAR Motion by M. Raymond and seconded by P. Farrant to
adopt the Consent Calendar. Motion carried, 4/0,
Hoffey absent.
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL None
COMMUNITY FORUM
EVALUATION Board members discussed an informal list of potential
issues and priorities relating to Police Department
policies, based on presentations made by citizens at the
July 14, 1998 Community Forum and correspondence
received to-date.
Issues commented on about the forum format and future
forums included:
· sites to hold forums other than at the Iowa City Public
Library;
practical issues related to televising future forums;
· need for further listening sessions and more anecdotal
input;
· more participation from board members at future
forums;
· need for issue focused sessions;
· need for participation by student population
representatives.
The following issues were suggested as possibilities from
the first forum:
issue #1- Race and Age-based Traffic Stops, as proposed
by M. Raymond: This issue is being raised nationwide.
A proposal at the federal level and in two states calls for
fact gathering demographic information on those
subjected to traffic stops. Raymond proposed that the
board propose to the City Council that the Department
be required to a collect demographic data regarding
persons subjected to traffic stops. The board agreed
first to determine if such demographic information is
already being collected and whether the board could
have access to it. This data could include:
(1) number of individuals stopped,
(2) race/ethnicity,
(3) approximate age,
(4) traffic infraction that was alleged to have been
committed that had lead to the stop,
(5) whether a search was instituted as a result of
the stop, how the search was instituted, the
rationale for the search,
(6) whether contraband was discovered in the
course of the search and the nature of the
contraband, if any,
(7) whether warning or citations were issued as a
result of the stop, and
($) whether an arrest was made.
Issue #2 - Use of Force: The question of policy on the
use of weapons and the potential use of force is an
important one in this community. J. Watson suggested
inviting Prof. Baldus to discuss the issue of accumulating
data in trying to evaluate the issue, and to assist the
board in determining whether the existing policies on use
of force are appropriate for this community.
Issue #3 - Shaw Matter: A number of speakers at the
forum suggested that the community still wants to hear
whether the police department has made changes in
policy, procedure, and training as a result of the Shaw
incident.
Issue #4 - Priorities/Community Standards: The
possibility of mini sessions for the police department to
make presentations to the public about community
standards/policies as a way for citizens to be more
informed about current policies, structuring time for
presentation, debate, and response. With respect to this
issue, it was acknowledged that the PCRB was
established to focus on possible problems, review
policies, foster public discussion, and recommend needed
changes in policy and procedure.
Issue # 5 - Downtown Issues: Personnel allocation
issues, attitude issues, policy decisions, and input from
the student body:
The board suggested a number of ways to proceed: 1. Gathering information from guest speakers;
2. Department presentations (see #4 above);
3. Provide a venue for the public to respond and
debate;
4. Identify specific outcomes, to include possible
recommendations to the City Council.
Motion by L. Cohen and seconded by M. Raymond that
(1) Raymond shall draft a letter to the Chief requesting
information about collection of demographic data on
traffic stops, and (2) Watson shall contact David Baldus
inviting him to a future meeting to speak on data
collection and use of force issues. Motion carried, 4/0,
Hoffey absent.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION The following individuals appeared: Jeff Guiton,
Anthony Haughton, and Charles Eastham.
COMPLAINT
FORM Committee Chair P. Farrant distributed a working copy of
PCRB Citizen Complaint Form, Draft 8/10/98. This
matter was deferred for discussion to the next meeting.
MEETING
SCHEDULE
· Special Meeting August 18, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
Agenda - Complaint Form, SOP's, Annual Report,
Forum (IMU?}
· Special Meeting August 25, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
· Special Meeting September 1, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
· Regular Meeting September 8, 1998 - 7:00 P.M.
BOARD
INFORMATION
· M. Raymond - the statute that allows police to
conduct a full search based on a citation will be
reviewed by the U.S Supreme Court this fall. Ms.
Raymond will keep the board apprised of this issue.
STAFF INFORMATION
· Regarding the Association for Civilian Oversight of
Law Enforcement conferences, S. Bauer reported that
the City would consider all travel requests submitted
to them.
· D. Russell distributed memo of 8/11/98 regarding
PCRB SOP's and Guidelines for consideration by the
Board on August 18.
ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by M. Raymond and seconded
by J. Watson. Motion carried, 4/0, Hoffey absent.
Meeting adjourned at 9:23 P.M.