HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-28-1999 Minutes POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
MINUTES - September 14, 1999
Lobby Conference Room
CALL TO ORDER Chair L. Cohen called the meeting to order at 7:02 P.M.
ATTENDANCE Board members present: L. Cohen, P. Hoffey, J.
Stratton and J. Watson. Board member absent: P.
Farrant. Staff present: Legal Counsel C. Pugh and
Administrative Assistant S. Bauer. Also in attendance
was Captain T. Widmer of the ICPD.
CONSENT
CALENDAR Motion by J. Stratton and seconded by P. Hoffey to
adopt the Consent Calendar. Discussion followed
regarding the City Manager's memorandum regarding
diversity training. Board members expressed their
appreciation for being informed. P. Hoffey expressed
interest in knowing about the length of the training, the
type of instruction, and who is doing the training.
Motion carried, 4/0, Farrant absent.
RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL Receive PCRB Public Report//99-04
POLICE POLICIES,
PRACTICES, AND
PROCEDURES Report by Legal Counsel re In Car Recording Devices
General Order: C. Pugh reported on her
communications with the City Attorney, acknowledging
receipt of Ms. Dilkes le~er dated 8/25/99, The tapes will
be kept and will be available to the Board, Not all
incidents are recorded, however. Ms. Pugh does feel the
90-day period needs to be extended, as a complaint
could be received at the end of the 90 days; they would
be willing to extend it to 110 days. Officer Widmer
indicated it has already been extended to 110 days.
Officer Widmer advised the Board that all officers have
been trained in the use of in-car recorders, and all
officers are now mandated to follow the General Order,
and will activate the device when required and also at
their discretion. Every officer will be issued his/her own
lapel mic. Further discussion of the General Order
followed.
Police Vehicle Pursuits General Order: The following
editorial changes were suggested by J. Stratton:
1. 0PS-02.6 C should read "Notification - When a
motor vehicle pursuit is initiated, it shall immediately
b._~e reported ..... "
2. OPS-02.7 D.5 should read "Contact surrounding
agencies and advise them of the pursuit. We do not
encourage involvement of other agencies unless
specifically requested."
3. OPS-02.7 E.2 should read "In the event the
supervisor initiates the pursuit, the supervisor [or
he/she] should ,.."
4. 0PS-02.7 E.5 - "their" should be changed to "the
supervisor's."
5. 0PS-02.8 F,4 should read "Do not focus the spotlight
on the back window of the pursued vehicle."
6. 0PS-02.11 A.4 and A.5 - Put these in a positive by
stating "Whether" instead of "Did."
CONSIDERATION OF
SUBPOENA
POWER Legal Counsel advised that subpoena power would
probably not be difficult for the Board to obtain. Usually
subpoena power is grouped with discovery power, which
the Board already has - the ability to conduct its own
investigations and invite witnesses to talk to the Board.
Subpoena power, however, will not cure the main reason
the Board wants it - that is, to get the policeman's side
of the story if the policeman doesn't want to tell his side
of the story to the Board. The policeman will still have
the opportunity to plead the fifth amendment. The Board
could subpoena the officer's statement, but they could
block that subpoena by saying the policeman is refusing
to release that information, it's a voluntary statement
and he has the right to not incriminate himself.
The Board already has access to the case report,
including the supplemental report by an officer, if there is
one prepared. Watson inquired whether the Board could
request that a summary be routinely prepared. Stratton
stated, as he understands it, the refusal to provide the
officer's interview has been supported, if not
encouraged, by the union. Stratton inquired whether this
is a matter of union policy that the Board ought to deal
with. Ms. Pugh stated it is a matter of union policy.
Capt. Widmer explained that supplemental reports are
usually secondary reports when there's a follow-up
investigation. It is his opinion that the supplemental
report the Board is requesting would actually be handled
in the internal and would be part of the internal report. It
is not a matter of policy or routine that supplemental
reports are requested within the ICPD. Anything that's
in the official case file, the Board has access to.
Pugh reiterated that the Board can request anything that
is in the case file, but does not have access to
information gathered to investigate the incident from the
officer.
P. Hoffey summarized by stating the Board does have
access to the case files, but there are some restrictions
regarding internal investigations. Before going further
with subpoena power, the Board will see how well they
do with case files when they ask for them. Looking at
the complete file might be very helpful. If the Board
feels it needs to see more, the issue of subpoena power
will again be addressed.
E-MAIL AND OFFICE
CONTACTS Legal Counsel reported on how the City handles e-mail
with the City Council. Staff does not forward e-mail on
to the City Council unless it is addressed to City Council,
in care of some particular member of staff. That is
considered correspondence to the City Council and is
forwarded on. Any e-mail that is received in the Clerk's
Office or by the Board's Admin. Assistant that is directed
to the Board is automatically forwarded to the Board as
correspondence. From time to time, the Clerk receives
questions from people that isn't directed to the Board, it
is directed to her as a matter of information-gathering,
and it routinely has not been reported. The Clerk has
now agreed to pass that information on to the Board, if
the Board wishes. Legal Counsel and the Clerk did
discuss the caveat that sometimes a person may contact
the Clerk with a question concerning a potential
complaint, but not really want to pursue it, and that
person really wouldn't want their name to show up on
the Board's consent calendar. The City Clerk would be
happy to give reports to Ms. Bauer on a regular basis
about what contacts were made to her office concerning
business that would affect the Board. They then need to
be handled carefully so they remain confidential. If the
Board wants to use that on a statistical basis, this
information would give a fuller picture of office contacts.
As outgoing Chair, L. Cohen suggested that all contact
information should be brought to the attention of the
Chair on a weekly basis (in written form), and the Chair
could make the decision whether it is essential to go to
the Board. Since the PCRB "exists for a specific reason
and has support staff to support it's reason rather than
an advisory board that supports a City function," Watson
agreed that the Board should be looking at everything.
The Chair stated that the consensus of the Board is if the
City Clerk or the Board's Admin. Assistant receive e-mail,
it shall be reported to the Chair. The Chair requests that
a printout of all e-mail correspondence be provided at the
weekly meetings; also any phone calls the Board's
Admin. Assistant receives during the week should be
reported at the weekly meetings. Names will not be
withheld from the Chair unless the person requests that
it not be forwarded. If correspondence is critical to an
officer, that officer's name will be blocked out prior to
transmission to the Chair.
Chair directed Ms. Pugh to inform the City Clerk of this
direction.
NEW BUSINESS Chair advised that Board elections will take place at the
regular meeting on October 12, at the beginning of the
meeting, prior to the presentation by the Police
Department.
Chair advised that P. Farrant's presentation on national
boards has been deferred to the next special meeting,
September 28, 1999,
MEETING SCHEDULE
· Special Meeting September 28, 1999, 7:00 P.M.
· Regular Meeting October 12, 1999, 6:00 P.M.
· Special Meeting October 26, 1999, 7:00 P.M.
PUBLIC
DISCUSSION Capt. Widmer confirmed the ICPD presentation on Use of
Force at the Board's October 12 meeting. This
presentation will be the same as presented at the
Citizens Police Academy, with updates. Board members
also wish to discuss the Use of Force Reports.
BOARD
INFORMATION None
STAFF
INFORMATION An ICON newspaper article was distributed.
EXECUTIVE
SESSION Motion by J. Watson and seconded by P. Hoffey to
adjourn into Executive Session based on Section 21.5
(1)(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, Farrant absent. Open
session adjourned at 8:20 P.M.
Regular meeting resumed at 8:50 P.M.
Motion by P. Hoffey and seconded by J. Stratton to
approve PCRB Public Report #99-04, as amended, and
forward it to the City Council. Motion carried, 4/0,
Farrant absent.
Chair directed Legal Counsel to check with the City
Attorney to verify that the complainants are receiving the
Chief's Reports.
J. Watson requested, and Chair confirmed, that the
format of PCRB reports be an agenda item for the next
Board meeting.
ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by P. Hoffey and seconded by J.
Stratton. Motion carried, 4/0, Farrant absent. Meeting
adjourned at 8:51 P,M.