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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-11-2000 Communication City of Iowa City ME ORANDU Date: April 4, 2000 To: PCRB From: City Manager Re: Meeting Schedule At their most recent work session the City Council discussed and set the date of Monday May 1 at 6:30 for meeting~with the PCRB. The discussion of this item is anticipated to be 30 minutes. This joint meeting is scheduled along with their regular work session scheduled for 7:00 p.m. cc: City Council R.J. Winkelhake POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD A Board of the City of Iowa City 410 East Washington Street Iowa City IA 52240-1826 (319)356-5413 January 13, 2(J00 Ernie Lehman, Mayor City of Iowa City 410 E. Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Dear Emie: First, congratulations on your selection as Mayor. Your leadership oft_he Council over the past two years is greatly appreciated and we look forward to working with you in 2000 and 2001. As you know, the Iowa City PCRB will "sunset" in September of 2001, just before the next city elections. This means that the current members of the Council will decide whether the PCRB will continue to function beyond the sunset date. This will be a very important decision. The members o£the PCRB would like to request a joint informal session with the entire Council as soon as your calendar will permit. The purpose of the meeting'would be to review the purpose and goals of the PCRB, to give of summary of a'etivities and accomplishments in 1999, and to discuss some issues of eoneem to the Board. We feel it would be helpful for Pat Farrant, our Vice Chairperson, and I to meet with you and Steve Atkins to decide on a specific agenda for the joint meeting. If you agree, I will ask Sandy Bauer, our Administrative Assistant, to arrange a meeting time and place. The Board also discussed whether it would be helpftil and appropriate for one or two members of the PCRB to meet informally with the three new Council members, individually or together, to bring them "up to speed" on the ordinance and PCRB procedures prior to the joint meeting. We would appreciate your opinion on this matter. I can be reached at work by phone (337-4158) or e-mail (jwatson _(~,goodwillseio~.org) or at home (337-9225 and watson.john~_,m¢leodusa.net). We look forward to your reply. Sincerely, Board Chairperson Cc: Steve Atkins DRAFT PCRB CONCERNS/ISSUES From Annual Report: 1. Continuing to monitor and address issues related to race-based traffic stops and other race-based (profiling) issues in policing. Closely monitoring the results of the Iowa City Police Department's new policy on collection of information on race for all traffic stops. 2. Completing the information "card" to be distributed with complaint forms (both ICPD and PCRB) and specifying uniform procedures for its distribution. 3. Continuing to express concerns with limits on the authority of the PCRB and with the deferential standard of review in the complaint process. 4. Continuing to work on specific areas of concern with respect to department policies, procedures and practices - for example, interview techniques. 5. Continuing to address concerns about limits on Board access to information needed to do a thorough review of the Chief's reports. Exploring alternative ways of obtaining the information we need to execute fair and balanced reviews. Other concerns/issues: Council's Charge to PCRB. We would like to receive a "report card" from the Council. Are we accomplishing what was envisioned? Are we operating in a way that appears thorough and fair to all parties? Is there anything else we should be doing? PCRB Budget. Although the PCRB budget is very small, we have heard concern by members of the Council regarding the cost of the Board. We assume that this concern is more about the amount of time that the ICPD and City Attorney's office devote to PCRB business than about the PCRB budget itself (at mid-year we had DRAFT spent 39% of our annual budget). What are the benefits of the PCRB that should be weighed against time and costs? Timeliness. The Ordinance was amended in 1999 to allow the Chief 90 days to complete his report and submit it to the Board (formerly the Chief had xx days). In January of this year the Chief requested extensions for the two reports that were due that month. The Board does not know whether delays occur within the ICPD or the City Attorney's office. However, the Board is concerned with the length of time being taken to complete the investigative and report-writing process. [I have discussed this with the Chief and he has instituted some process changes that should make extension requests infrequent. I suggest that we drop this for now - unless we see more in the coming weeks]. Participation/cooperation of Officers. In recent months officers that have been subject to complaints have turned down offers or requests to release transcripts of interviews, to participate in name- clearing hearings, and to participate in mediation. While we understand why an officer would exercise a fourth amendment right not to release a transcript, we are concerned that Police union officials have encouraged or directed officers not to participate in name-clearing hearings and mediation. Sunset Clause. The Sunset Clause (8-8-10) of the Ordinance states: "This Chapter shall be automatically repealed on August 1, 2001, unless reenacted by City Council." This means that the current members of the City Council will decide the fate of the PCRB. The Board would like to know the factors or criteria that will be used by Council to decide this important issue. ORDINANCE NO. 97-3792 AN ORDINANCE CREATING A POLICE CITIZEN'S REVIEW BOARD TOASSIST THE CITY IN PROCESSING CITIZEN COMPLAINTS CONCERNING THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND ASSURING THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS RESPONSIVE TO COMMUNITY NEEDS. WHEREAS, the City Council for the City of Iowa City desires to create a police citizen's review board ("PCRB") to assure that investigations into claims of police misconduct are conducted in a manner which is fair, thorough, and accurate; and WHEREAS, the PCRB is designed to assist the Police Chief, the City Manager and the City Council in evaluating the overall performance of the Police Department as a whole, by having the PCRB review the Police Department's investigation into complaints; and WHEREAS, the combination of these two purposes will better assure the citizens of Iowa City that the Iowa City Police Department's performance is in keeping with community standards.