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.