HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-27-1999 Minutes POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
MINUTES - April 13, 1999
Lobby Conference Room
CALL TO ORDER Chair L. Cohen called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M.
ATTENDANCE Board members present: L. Cohen, P. Farrant, P. Hoffey,
and M. Raymond. Board member absent: J. Watson.
Staff present: Interim Legal Counsel Catherine Pugh, and
City Clerk Marian Karr.
CONSENT
CALENDAR Motion by M. Raymond and seconded by P. Hoffey to
adopt the Consent Calendar. Motion carried, 4/0, Watson
absent.
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL None
COMPLAINT
FORMS P. Farrant distributed a revision draft (4/9/99) of the
information cover sheet to be attached to the Police
Department complaint form and the PCRB complaint
form, utilizing "a" through "f" of City Atty. Dilkes
correspondence of 3/23/99.
Chair stated City Atty. Dilkes had indicated previously
that officers are compelled to comply with the
interviewing process, but the officer doesn't have to
agree to allowing those interviews to be seen by the
PCRB.
M. Raymond requested that besides consulting the
statute for further information, that the telephone number
and address of the City Clerk's office be provided on the
form.
In response to whether formal investigations are
considered as non-public confidential records, Farrant
replied that the investigation, meaning the whole process,
not just the outcome, is considered a non-public
confidential record.
Motion by P. Hoffey and seconded by M. Raymond to
approve the Information Sheet, as amended, and send it
to the City Attorney for review. Motion carried, 4/0,
Watson absent.
COMMUNITY
FORUM A final draft of the notice for the Broadway Neighborhood
Community Forum was approved by the Board. Notice
distribution will include:
· 100 notices to the Neighborhood Center
· City buildings
· Media mailboxes
· JC News
· Internet
Staff was directed to prepare a press release for
distribution to media on Friday, April 23, with release on
Monday, April 26. Board members requested that each
receive 12 copies of the notice in their next meeting
packet.
M. Karr explained the room setup procedures and
recommended that staff hire a City crew to accommodate
this; the Board agreed. Take-down will be done by City
staff prior to 9:00 a.m. the next day.
Board members will sit at a table in the front of the room;
a small table-top podium will be provided for speakers.
Sign-up sheets will be provided at the door and at the
podium. The Chair will encourage speakers to limit their
remarks to five minutes.
Chair directed staff to prepare a followup letter to Chief
Winkelhake confirming his participation at the forum.
STATUS RE NEW
LEGAL COUNSEL To-date, one application has been received. Deadline for
receipt of applications is April 19, 1999.
ANNUAL REPORT
PLANNING Initial information regarding the annual report was
discussed by the subcommittee, L. Cohen and P. Farrant.
Discussion followed regarding the two draft letters to the
Chief. Cohen directed staff to amend the two draft letters
to the Chief:
1. To obtain the unique identifiers in PCRB Complaints
//98-18, //98-19 and //98-20
2. To receive a copy of the Police Department's
investigative logs, as discussed and agreed with the
City Council. This letter should include dates of the
board's annual report beginning October 1, 1998
through June 30, 1999.
Both letters shall reflect a deadline of May 1, 1999 to
receive the information.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
INVESTIGATIVE
INTERVIEWS Committee member Raymond stated that the general
topics related to Police Department investigative
interviews are not confidential, but the references to
specific materials in case files is confidential and will be
discussed in executive session.
Committee members M. Raymond and P. Hoffey agreed
to review actual interview reports received by the Board
and point out those places where they thought matters
arose that raised some issues that some constructive
discussions could be had. From here, they would go from
particular examples to some more general categories of
some of the things that they see happening. They would
both talk about the kinds of issues that they see in these
interviews and, assuming the Board agreed, they would
then meet with the Chief, raise some of the issues and
talk about why the Board is concerned about them and
start some dialogue about these issues.
The Board's concern derived from the manner in which
some of the interviews are being conducted by the
investigators. The Board felt this is an issue that should
be studied by the Board and subsequently that task was
given to the committee. The end result is that the
Committee should take the information and arrange a
meeting with the Chief and call these to his attention so
that he is aware of concerns and hopefully will make the
necessary corrections in futute interviews.
The categories of concern include:
4
· Instances in which the witnesses or complainants are
led by the interviewer;
· There's some asymmetry in the adversarial nature of
the questioning - the complainants are questioned
more critically, but the officers are not.
· Lack of consistency. The reason for the interview
should remain the same from the beginning to the end.
· There were some motives divulged that were not
consistent with the purpose of the interview, which is
suppose to be whether or not there was misconduct
on behalf of a police officer;
· What do department investigators perceive as their
role in these investigations; is this a different role than
the usual role of investigating criminal activity.
· Tone of interviews and the manner in which
complainants and witnesses are addressed.
After Board discussion, the committee was directed to
move forward to meet with the Chief, with the goal being
consciousness-raising about these concerns, and
explaining that the Board has to see some consistency in
the interviewing process.
To assure the Board that the investigative techniques are
proper, it will request the opportunity to review all the
investigative interviews for all the complaints that are put
before the Board in the future.
The committee will report back to the Board with the
results of their meeting with the Chief.
FORM LETTERS FOR
UNTIMELY
COMPLAINTS Motion by P. Farrant and seconded by P. Hoffey to accept
the form letters and PCRB Final Report for untimely
complaints, as amended. Motion carried, 4/0, Watson
absent.
M. Raymond requested that the form letters for mediation
be put on the next agenda for review.
MEETING SCHEDULE
· Special Meeting April 27, 1999, 7:00 P.M.
· Community Forum at Broadway Neighborhood Center,
April 28, 1999, 7:00 P.M.
· Regular Meeting May 11, 1999, 7'00 P.M.
· Special Meeting May 25, 1999, 7:00 P.M.
· Regular Meeting June 8, 1999, 7:00 P.M.
· Special Meeting June 22, 1999, 7:00 P.M.
PRIORITY SETTING
GOALS M. Raymond requested that all correspondence from the
Board remain formal; first names should never be used.
P. Hoffey noted the need to prioritize the list of priority
setting goals. Under the three categories listed, a number
of objectives are listed, but the Board cannot accomplish
all of those objectives in one year. The board needs to
put them in order and see what we want to accomplish
by the end of this year.
Chair directed that this item appear on the agenda for the
next meeting and each Board member should come with
their list of priorities. Chair directed staff to provide
another copy of the Preliminary PCRB Priority Setting
Goals in the next meeting packet.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION None
BOARD
INFORMATION L, Cohen - stated M. Raymond's resignation letter went
to Council; resignation is effective June 1. A new
appointment will be made by Council on May 18.
Raymond noted that this is an appointment to fill the
remainder of her term.
Cohen also confirmed that the Board's SOP's have
passed. The ordinance will have it's final reading April 20
and it will be published the 28th, which will be the
effective date.
STAFF
INFORMATION M. Karr - reported on one call to the PCRB office.
C. Pugh - She had to an inquiry from a Board member
where the question was raised whether that member
should participate in this evening's discussion in
executive session since some of those specific examples
related to a complaint where she recused herself for
conflict of interest. It is Ms. Pugh's opinion that a person
with a former conflict on a specific complaint can
participate in an executive session discussion regarding
policy, procedure or practice (PPP) where there is no
action pending on a particular report. She further stated
that information doesn't need to be shielded from board
members, even if they were not present for discussions
of the complaint where that information was discussed,
as long as we're talking about a general policy rather than
a particular complaint. Unless you're talking about
recommendations for action, that person would not have
to be kept away from the examples you're discussing in
executive session.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
INVESTIGATIVE
INTERVIEWS Motion by P. Hoffey and seconded by M. Raymond to
adjourn to 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, and 22-7(5) police officer investigative reports,
except where disclosure is authorized elsewhere in the
Code; and 22.7(18) Communications not required by law,
rule or procedure that are made to a government body or
to any of its employees by identified persons outside of
government, to the extent that the government body
receiving those communications from such persons
outside of government could reasonably believe that
those persons would be discouraged from making them to
that government body if they were available for general
public examination. Motion carried, 4/0, Watson absent.
Open meeting adjourned at 8:15 P.M.
Regular meeting resumed at 8:45 P.M.
ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by P. Hoffey and seconded by M.
Raymond. Motion carried, 4/0, Watson absent. Meeting
adjourned at 8:45 P.M.