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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.