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Home My WebLink About01-05-1999 Communication City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM DATE: December 23, 1998 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Marian K. Karr, City Clerk ~x~ RE: Joint Meeting with Police Citizens Review Board (PCRB) Please mark your calendars for a meeting with the City Council and PCRB on Thursday, February 11, fi:om 5:00-7:00 p.m. More information will be provided at a later time. Cc: PCRB December 14, 1998 Council Work Session Page 33 PCRB 98-135 S2 Lehraan/PCRB procedures. Are we going to pass ..... Atkins/Eleanor called and name cleating is still a go. SOP thing still needs more work. We are talking Janua~. Lehman/It will be deferred? Atkins/Yes. Norton/So we are doing this one thing that is on the agenda? Atkins/Name clearing. Lehman/Makes it compatible with state law. Norton/Can you answer my question then, why the board chose not to respond to that one? Kart/It is a timing issue, Dee. If you remember when John Watson was here at our last meeting. They had a meeting. PCRB was going to go back and discuss the recommendations Eleanor had. They talked about it on December 8. Quite frankly just didn't have enough time to answer all of their questions. They gave the questions then to their legal counsel, Doug Russell, who sat down with Sarah and Eleanor late Thursday ai~emoon. Got the answers but now Doug has got to report back to the board. They meet tomorrow evening. So based on that we are going to proceed with the ordinance change. There is no problem according to Eleanor and her discussions with Doug with PCRB, with the ordinance change on that issue. We are going to go ahead with that and defer until January 12, the other issue of the standard operating procedures. Kubby/ Kart/Item #8 is the ordinance and second consideration. Staff is recommending expedited action. Item #9 will be deferred to January 12. Thornberry/Are we going to meet with them? Lehman/They have asked for a meeting with council. It will probably be in February. Vanderhoef/ Karr/There are three issues .... Standard operating procedures. In her review, she found the ordinance needed a change. So she wanted to distinguish between the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City council meeting of December 14, 1998 WS121498 December 14, 1998 Council Work Session Page 34 ordinance change needed for the standard operating procedures, the resolution needed to adopt the revised standard operating procedures and then any changes to the ordinance separately which would be a result of the annual reports and staff concerns and potentially to the joint meeting. So to separate those .... Norton/That is a long time in February but we have budget stuff. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City council meeting of December 14, 1998 WS121498 #8 Page 11 ITEM NO. 8 CONSIDER AN ORDiNANCE AMENDiNG THE CITY CODE OF THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA, BY AMENDiNG CHAPTER 8, ENTITLED "POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD," SPECIFICALLY, SECTIONS 8-8-2 AND 8-8-7, TO ELIMiNATE COMPLAINANT PARTICIPATION 1N DUE PROCESS NAME-CLEARING HEARINGS. (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Lehman/(Reads agenda Item #8) This is the second consideration and staff is recommended that this expedited. Thomberry/I move that the rule requiring ordinances must be considered and voted on for passage at 2 council meetings prior to the meeting which it is to be finally to be passed be suspended that the second consideration and vote be waived and that the ordinance be voted for final passage at this time. O'Donnell/Second. Lehman/Moved by Thomberry, seconded by O'Donnell, for expedition. Discussion. Roll call. (Kubby 7/0) Thomberry/I move that the ordinance be finally adopted at this time. Vanderhoef/Second. Lehman/Moved by Thoruberry, seconded by Vanderhoef. Discussion? Kubby/There, I want to ensure that the participant gets to respond somehow to what the officer says, is there ever, I know that that could happen in mediation, are there other opportunities in the formal process where the officer or officers and the complainant or complainants are together in the same room and can discuss things so they can react to each others perceptions to what happened? Eleanor Dilkes/The PCRB has the oppommity to interview the complainant if it chooses but there is not another opportunity for the complainant and the officer to be in the same room and have that kind of give and take except for mediation as I. Norton/ Well we can consider that issue among issues in the next few weeks cause we're gonna have a session with them in early February, right? Didn't we decide February 3 last night? Karr/We extended the invitation to them last night, they are going to let us know after their meeting tonight. This presents only a reasonably accurate transcriptions of the Iowa City council meeting of December 15, 1998. #8 Page 12 Norton/Oh, yes, so particular time and a date, you mean but that among other things we need to think over, that's part of the whole business of reviewing where we are. Kubby/In terms of the process fight now, if the complainant says I just want to sit down and talk with the officer present, and that's really all I want from this process, is that something that would happen now? Eleanor Dilkes/I would think that would be a mediation. Kubby/OK, but we wouldn't need a third, we'd still need a third party to come in to be present to kind of structure that conversation. Kart/ There is a letter sent to the complainant and to the officer through the police chief that offers that sit down dialogue at the very beginning and throughout the processing. Kubby/ Thank you for that reminder. Norton/Are you referring to the mediation possibility? yea, that's offered several times I think isn't it? So, some ways they have the option to sit down and talk. Lehman/Well I think that's the first option you have. My understanding is this is to make is consistent with state code. Is that correct? Eleanor Dilkes/No, this change to make, we believe the purpose is to provide a due process hearing for the officer and is to make it consistent with that. Vanderhoef/It's a constitutional issue not necessarily a state law. Lehman/Right, OK. Right. Roll Call. (Lehman 7/0) Motion carries. This presents only a reasonably accurate transcriptions of the Iowa City council meeting of December 15, 1998. REPORT CHECKLIST: · Date complaint filed · Extension requested by Chief? · Date of Chief's Report to PCRB · Level of Review · Is there more information the Board requires - documents, interview .... · Are all allegations in Chief's report stated as they should be? · Extension requested by Board? · Name-clearing Hearing · Mediation · Dates the Board met to discuss complaint/report December 23, 1998 CITY OF I0 WA CITY Douglas S. Russell Attorney at Law 221½ E. Washington St. Iowa City, IA 52240 Re: PCRB -- Standard Operating Procedures Dear Doug: I have just reviewed the minutes of the PCRB's December 15 meeting. It appears that there is a misunderstanding as to the timeline for City Council approval of the Standard Operating Procedures, In accordance with our meeting on December 10, at the Council's meeting on December 15 I recommended deferral of the SOPs until the meeting of January 12. I informed the Council that you and I had met to discuss the PCRB's responses to my office's suggested changes, and if there were issues on which we could not reach agreement, both I and the PCRB would inform the Council about our positions on those issues prior to the January 12 meeting. Logically this discussion would occur at the January 11 work session. It has been my position all along that the Standard Operating Procedures need to be put in place sooner rather than later. At the joint meeting there will be a discussion of a number of issues, some of which may involve ordinance changes. I think we should get the procedures in place so it is clear how the PCRB will operate under the current ordinance without confusing that issue with the bigger discussion. This has been my advice to Council. Please give me a call so that we can discuss this matter. I will be out of the office the entire week of December 28 but you can talk to Sarah in my absence. Thank you for your continuing cooperation in connection with these matters. I look forward to hearing from you. VeryAtruly yours, Eleanor M. Dilkes City Attorney cc: Steve Atkins, City Manager Chief Winkelhake, Police Chief Marian Karr, City Clerk elea noCtltr\pcrbsop.doc 410 EAST WAS~{INCiTON STREET · IOWA CITY. IOWA 52240-1826 · (319) 356-5000 ~* FAX (319) 356-5009