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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-06-2001 Minutes POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD - MINUTES - May 8, 2001 CALL TO ORDER Chair John Watson called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. ATTENDANCE Board members present: Leah Cohen, Paul Hoffey, Loren Horton, John Stratton and John Watson. Staff present: Legal Counsel Catherine Pugh and PCRB Assistant Sandy Bauer. Captain Tom Widmer was also present. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL - Recommend PCRB By-Law change to read: ARTICLE Ill. Membership, Section 6. Terms. Members shall be initially appointed for staggered terms as outlined in Chapter 8, City Code, City of Iowa City, Iowa. Thereafter, Members shall be appointed for terms of four years, with terms expiring September 1 .... VIDEOTAPE Motion by Stratton and seconded by Horton to move "PCRB Videotape" to Item 2 on the agenda. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present, Bob Hardy was present and gave an update on the PCRB videotape. Since the PCRB is presently an issue before the Council, Hardy wanted direction as to whether he should go ahead and interview the Chief and the City Manager. Chair responded that the videotape should move forward as planned. Each board member responded with the same direction. Hardy stated the interviews so far have been good. Following the interviews of the Chief and the City Manager, editing will commence, and should be completed within a month. It will be previewed by the board before the final cut. CONSENT CALENDAR Motion by Cohen and seconded by Hoffey to adopt the Consent Calendar as presented: a. Minutes of 4/10/01 meeting b. Minutes of 4/18/01 community forum c. ICPD Traffic Stop Demographics - March 2001 General Order - Prisoner Transport e. ICPD Use of Force Report - March 2001 ICPD Training Bulletin 01-54 g. ICPD Training Bulletin 01-56 h. ICPD Training Bulletin 01-59 i. ICPD April Training Report ICPD "training" newsletter, May 2001 Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. SUNSET CLAUSE AND ORDINANCE CHANGES Chair suggested the Board decide what suggestions it would like to make regarding the ordinance and send a letter to the Council with those recommendations. Watson indicated he thought there were some general misunderstandings about the ordinance by council members. Connie Champion stated she didn't want the board to set policy. Watson called her and explained that the board cannot and does not establish policy, it can only recommend. Nor is the board recommending any change in this. However, the board does recommend policy changes to the City Council. Watson also spoke with Council Member Ross Wilburn. Ordinance issues/concerns were discussed: · 8-8-3 N: Recommend change to read: The Board shall review police practices, procedures, and written policies as those practices and procedures relate to the Police Department's performance as a whole. The Board shall report recommended changes to the Police Department and the City Council. · Reconcile what appears to be a one complaint system in the ordinance, which in practice is a two complaint system. Regarding 8-8-2 K: the Board sanctions the two-track system, but recommends the ordinance allow it access to the investigative reports of the formal internal complaints. Hoffey stated "the Board wants to follow the ordinance as it is written, that a formal complaint is one that comes to the PCRB or one that goes to the Police Department, Regardless who handles it, they are both formal complaints. The board wants to see the other one (investigative report) as well as the PCRB complaint." 8-8-2 L. would read "in order to assure external 2 accountability of the actions of the Police Department, all formal complaint investigations shaft be reviewed by the Board and reported to the City Council in its Annual Report. ~ 8-8-3 B. and 8-8-3 C. - The understanding is that a PCRB complaint can be filed with the Board or with the Iowa City Police Department. It doesn't actually say that the ICPD has a separate complaint form. The two track system was addressed by the Board with the City Attorney and the City Council when the Board discovered that the Police Department had a separate complaint form. The result of that meeting was the Investigative Log from the Chief, which gave a more complete picture of the whole complaint system. If the Board has concerns about a complaint on the Log, it would request additional information from the department or the City Council. · The issue of 'deference" will also be addressed in the recommendations (8-8-7 B.2). The Board will seek more latitude for it to make its own findings, and to make further comment. Also, change "unsupported" to "not supported." Pugh stated the Board could let the City Attorney know what its concerns are, or the Board could draft the changes and send them to her for her review and consideration with Council. Following lengthy discussion on each issue, Chair stated he would work with Pugh to draft new language and distribute it for consideration at the next board meeting. Pugh stated she would call the City Attorney to advise what is coming. COMMUNITY FORUM The Board commended Captain Johnson on his presentation on Community Policing. Attendees at the forum expressed their appreciation that Captain Johnson stayed to answer questions. NEW BUSINESS PCRB Brochure: Council member Dee Vanderhoef recommended that the word "alleged" be inserted in the first sentence of the second paragraph. Following discussion, board members decided it was not necessary 3 because the word "complaint" is an allegation, not a finding. PCRB Complaint Form: The full page instructions will continue to be attached to the front of the complaint form. PCRB By-Laws: Motion by Horton and seconded by Stratton to recommend that Article III, Section 6, Terms, second sentence be changed to read "Thereafter, Members shall be appointed for terms of four years, with terms expiring on September 1 ." Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. OLD BUSINESS Staff was directed to eliminate the review of Police Polices, Procedures and Practices from the agenda for the next few months, PUBLIC DISCUSSION None MEETING SCHEDULE · Special Meeting May 16, 2001, 7:00 p.m. · Regular Meeting June 12, 2001, 7:00 p.m. Hoffey advised he will be unavailable for meetings from May 22 to June 17. Horton advised he will be absent for the June 12 meeting. BOARD INFORMATION John Watson: Had conversations with Council members Ross Wilburn and Connie Champion about the ordinance. David Baldus invited Watson to attend a meeting with Vivian Berger, a law professor from Columbia University who is a mediator for the New York City Police Review Board. She reported a high success rate of mediation in New York. John Stratton: Contact with a City Council person who phoned about an allegation that he had heard a rumor that one of the local police officers "was going bad." The Council member provided no further information. 4 Watson was also contacted by this council member. Watson suggested he contact the City Manager or the Chief. There is nothing the PCRB can do unless a specific complaint is filed. Stratton also reported contact from a Daily lowan reporter, and the subsequent article that appeared was inaccurate. STAFF INFORMATION Bauer reported contact with NACOLE. Board members directed staff to continue providing them with NACOLE information. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by Cohen and seconded by Horton 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, 5/0, all members present. Open session adjourned at 8:40 P.M. REGULAR SESSION Regular session resumed at 8:55 P.M. Legal Counsel was directed to draft a letter in response to the correspondence from the attorney for the complainant in PCRB Complaint//01-02. 5 EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion for adjournment by Cohen and seconded by Hoffey. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M. 6 POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD MINUTES - May 16, 2001 CALL TO ORDER Chair John Watson called the meeting to order at 7:00 P,M. ATI'ENDANCE Board members present: Leah Cohen, Paul Hoffey, Loren Horton, John Stratton and John Watson. Staff present: Legal Counsel Catherine Pugh and PCRB Assistant Sandy Bauer. RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL Accept PCRB Memorandum regarding Ordinance Change Recommendations SUNSET CLAUSE AND ORDINANCE CHANGES Watson reported he artended the City Council work session this past Monday at which time the PCRB sunset was discussed. Watson was invited to speak at the meeting, explaining that the Board does not make policy nor does it seek to make policy. The Board can recommend changes of policy. At this meeting it was decided each council member will draft concerns and recommendations regarding the ordinance to the City Attorney. Council Member Mike O'Donnell stated he would also like to hear what the Board's recommendations are. The ordinance will be discussed again at the Council meeting on June 11. Pugh distributed a draft of a memorandum she prepared to the City Council regarding ordinance changes. Discussion followed. Motion by Hoffey and seconded by Cohen to approve the correspondence, as amended, and send it to the City Council. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. NEW BUSINESS None OLD BUSINESS None PUBLIC DISCUSSION None MEETING SCHEDULE · Regular Meeting June 6, 2001, 7:00 p.m. BOARD INFORMATION None STAFF INFORMATION Pugh spoke with Sarah Holecek who reported the City Attorney's Office has not started drafting any recommended ordinance changes yet. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by Hoffey and seconded by Stratton 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, 5/0, all members present. Open session adjourned at 7:37 P.M. REGULAR SESSION Regular session resumed at 8:45 P.M. Motion by Stratton and seconded by Horton to extend the Chief's deadline on PCRB Complaint #0~-02 from July 8, 2001, to September 7, 2001 for good cause. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Direction was given to Pugh to communicate with the Chief and the complainant. Motion by Horton and seconded by Cohen to review the Chief's Report on PCRB Complaint//00-01 at level 8-8-6 B. 1 (e), performance by Board of its own additional investigation, in accordance with the Ordinance. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion for adjournment by Horton and seconded by Hoffey. Motion carried, 5/0, all members present. Meeting adjourned at 8:50 P.M. 3