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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-07-2000 Articles Report~lSvllle police ~ ~Op 'more' black drivers ] I:IjOtflsVlLLE,~. --'BAck [ isxdlle ~lice. at almok' t~vice' · e rote ,of, .white drivers,, a stu~ pub~,iSunday,~rouna- In a ~;survey ~of more tl-an 1,600 Ix~lice ~reI~_rt~. over the past year,~ae C,o_tU'ier-aomaial newspaper ,found tlmt 44 per- cent of the drivers:who were 'were b~}k.,'l"ne newspa- per, ,s~id that eqtUlte~ to,one out, ~r eVe~_~VS ~ old enough' to ~va,~,~uueO over, in ~mpariso.n~,'..~vi~.one--',4~- qut of A resulgof a' disi)roportionately high ~rcentage.o~ blacks ~irtg stopped in (sections pf the,ci~) ..~hich are..<.~e do mii~anfly ~t.e, the X/4w~oax~.r ~ , By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, staff writer First published: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 ,:. Mayor, council ck 9 for ,~..~,, ,,~:~ ::~ police board Albany -- Appointees are meant to represent I~..~}/ the community's diversity I With three days until the Citizens' Police Review Board law goes into effect, the mayor and Common Council have selected nine members whom officials hope will reflect the spectrum of city residents, I .~~,~ [ Among the appointees -- to be sworn in on Friday -- are a Baptist minister, a member of one of the city's prestigious law firms, a retired University at Albany psychology professor and a Democratic Ward Leader who is also active in tire gay and lesbian community. The appointees include four Afl'lean Americans, tour wbites and a Hispanic-American community representative The appointments are a major step in a process that aims to ease years of escalating tension between the Albany Police Department and residents, particularly those in thc Afl'lean-American community. "I'm hopeful this will go a long way in improving relations between the police depamnent and the community, that both sides will have a fair forum in which they feel they have been listened to," said Michael Whiteman, a founding partner at Whiteman Osterman and Hanna who was among the council's five appointees "lfl weren't hopeful, I wouldn't be terribly inte~ ested ill participating" The ('itizens' Police Review Board law, which was approved by the council on July 17, states that the body should "reflect community diversity" with a mix of income levels, ethnicity, race, age, gender, sexual orientation and experience. City officials wele initially concerned that appointing a suitably diverse board would be difficult because minority residents were slow lo respond to the call for applications, ltowever, a pool of about 100 people sent in applications to serve. "We weren't scraping the barrel to come up with smneone suitable," said Council Member Thomas Nitido, a member of the Public SaFety Committee. "There were a lot of very high-caliber candidates." At a special meeting on Tuesday night, the Common Council uuanimously approved a slate of review board appointees recommended by the Public Safety Committee. Tile committee interviewed more than 60 applicants for five positions. Mayor Jerry Jennings interviewed about 15 applicants for the review board over the past weeks and made his final tbur selections public on Monday. Marilyn ltammond, a Iongtime South End resident and neighborhood activist who was tapped for the review board by Jennings, also served for more than six years on tile body's precursor, the Community/Police Relations Board Critics opposed the old board lbr being powerless to truly investigate complaints against police officers. Tile new board is a compromise. Its members will have tile ability to appoint an outside investigator and use the Common Council's subpoena power to compel witness testimony if they are unsatisfied by internal investigations by the police department's Office of Professional Standards, tile police chief and the mayor As to whether the new board will work, ttammond said: "You don't know until you try." "You have to be fair with residents and police officers, and be able to tell both, 'Look, you're wrong,'" sfie added 'Tm able to do that I'm able to be OlL~.}ective" Police Chiet'John C Nielsen said he's satisfied with the new board membe~ s and is ready to begin working with them "As long as they don't have an outward bias, we'll get along fine," he said Meanwhile, the Albany Police Officers Union is weighing steps to prevent the new board from ever investigating a single complaint. Christopher Gardner, acting counsel for the union's )arent organization Council 82, said he has drafted an improper practice charge against the city and plans to file it with tile state Public Employment Relations Board In creating the review board, Gardner said, the city is unilaterally mandating a measure that should have been subject to collective bargaining The union is also researcbing a lawsuit to prevent the board's enactment, Gardner said, although he hopes the officers and city officials can resolve their differences before then. "They're adding additional investigative and disciplinary procedures inconsistent with those in the contract, and they didn't bargain with us on any of these matters," Gardner said. "But it's not up and running yet." Jennmgs said Tuesday that tile un'o ~ s actions won't prevent the review board fi'om moving tbrward "It's untbrtunate the union feels they have lo go to this extent at a time that is critical to this city, )articulm ly when we're going through a process that they have Fully participated in," he added. Tile Citizens' Police Review Board will not likely be ready to hear its first complaints until late November, officials said. Its members must elect a chairman and set up by-laws but cannot do so until they attend a tbur-and-a-half hour training session run by the Albany Law School's Government Law Center. They will also have to graduate from a consolidated version of tile Police Department's ('itizens Police Academy sometime in the first six months of their tenure. ~::~ $ond this sto~ to a friond Return to~ 025 (}22( I'M UNK:)N By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Staff writer First published Thursday, October 26, 2000 Activists see age gap on police review board Albany -- Some say young people should be represented on panel In their cflUr[ to be inclusive in appointin~ members oFthe new Citizens' Police Review Board, critics say thc mayor and die Common Council overlooked tho ......... people wbo most often come in contact with the ~;' police: Youth Although Ibc exact age el'every board member was not available because applicants had IlOt been :' specifically questioned about how old they were, officials confirmed that none et'the nine selected is in hi, or 2o, PEPSI Alice Green, executive director el'the Center fur Law and Justice, said sbe tbund tiffs tact dismrbin~ "Young people make up thc bulk oFarrcsts and thc inmate population," sbe said "They're on the street They're the ones parents call us worried about. They need to be represented on this body." Mayor Jerry Jennings on Wednesday dei~nded board -- whose members will bc officially sworn in at a news con/brcnce on Friday -- saying he believes it adequately ~efiects the city's residents "~ge shouldn't be an issue," the ma?r said 'Tm confident this tToard will accomplish what w¢ set out Io do. and Ihat s to establish a I['xcl plavin~ field ] everyone -- citizens and police ' Overall, activists who have long called Ibr civilian ox, crsigbt of tho Albany Police Departmenl by a body stronge~ than the old Community/Police Relations Board, seemed x~illing Wednesday to give the new board a chance "We won't prejudge," said Louise G. Roback, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union's Capital Regiou Chapter. "This isn't the structure we advocated tbr, but we hope il will be successful Hopefully, the board will improve community/police relations Io the point that there are no complaints aud it puts 'tself out of bus' Jess' Green, too, said she is adopting a wait-and-see attitude and pledged to help it work The new Citizens' Police Review Board goes into efl'ect on Friday bul will not likely review any Police Department investigations or hear complaints on its own until the end of November. The board has no subpoena power, but it can bite an outside investigator and ask to invoke the Common Council's subpoena power in cases that involve alleged civil rights violations or brutality by officers ~ .:~ Send this story to a lriend Return to Top Marian Karr From: media@iowa-city.org Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2000 8:29 PM ,: marian_karr@iowa-city.org · .,ubject: RELEASE: Traffic Stop Demographics Contact: Sgt. Bill Campbell - Iowa City Police Department Phone: (319) 356-5293 Date: 11-05-2000 Time: 8:25 pm Authority of: Chief R.J. Winkelhake The Iowa City Police Department compiles race and sex demographic information on drivers of vehicles stopped by members of the department. Below are the totals for each demographic catagory, from January 2000 through October 2000. Male White - 7199 Male Black - 701 Male Hispanic - 206 Male Asian - 244 Male other - 150 Male Unknown - 36 Female White - 4417 Female Black - 300 Female Hispanic - 79 Female Asian - 115 ~emale Other - 37 ~male Unknown - 14 Unknow~ - 5 TOTAL - 13,503 YOU may view past media releases at http: //www. iowa-city, org/media_releases, asp To unsubscribe to this mailing list, please go to ht tp: //www. iowa- city. org/mailing/mailing, pl and enter your email address. Then uncheck the lists from which you wish to unsubscribe.