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.