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Home My WebLink About09-11-2001 Minutes POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD MINUTES - August 22, 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 and John Watson; board member absent: John Stratton. Staff present: Legal Counsel Catherine Pugh, City Clerk Marian Karr, and PCRB staff Kellie Tuttle and Kathy Venem. Also in attendance was Captain Matt Johnson of the ICPD. CONSENT CALENDAR Motion by Hoffey and seconded by Horton to adopt the consent calendar as amended: a. Minutes of the meeting on 6/20/01 b. Minutes of the meeting on 6/25/01 c. ICPD General Order - Bomb Threats/Emergencies d. ICPD General Order - Written Directive System e. ICPD General Order - Officer Involved Shootings/Lethal Incident Investigations f. ICPD Use of Force Report - May 2001 g. ICPD Use of Force Report - June 2001 h. ICPD Department Memorandum 01-33 (Use of Force Review) i. ICPD May/June Training Report j. ICPD Training Newsletter, July 2001 k. Watch Training 00-48 - Fireworks I. Watch Training 01-41 - Bomb Threats/Emergencies m. Watch Training 02-01 - Legislative Update 2001 n. ICPD Training Bulletin 01-60 o. Memorandum from City Manager regarding PCRB Complaint 01-01 (previously mailed on 8/1/01 ) Motion carried, 4/0, Stratton absent. ANNUAL REPORT Watson brought up question regarding race of complainants of complaint 01-01. Complainant is white and the report is correct. Motion by Horton and seconded by Cohen to approve PCRB Annual Report July 1,2000 to June 30, 2000 Motion carried, 4/0, Stratton absent. NEW BUSINESS Watson informed the Board that Council has appointed two new Board Members, Bill Hoeft and Bey Smith. Watson has spoken with both. City Clerk Karr introduced new staff. With the ordinance change effective last July, the assistant to the PCRB was eliminated and staffing assigned to the City Clerk's Office with current staff. Kellie Tuttle will be staff contact for all meetings. Kathy Venem will do minute taking and will leave for Executive Sessions. Karr will be available if needed. Staff will maintain current procedures; in a few months after new Board members begin, arrangements can be re- evaluated if the Board wishes to make changes. Karr questioned the NACOLE web site, which currently lists Sandy Bauer as contact. At Watson's suggestion, Karr will change the contact to her office. All e-mails will be printed for later review by the Board Chair for possible distribution. Karr noted the City has created a new web site with Board and Commission member's names and term only. Addresses and phone numbers will not be on the site; however, staff contact information is available to the public upon request. Karr distributed member information for updating. Watson asked that this be added as an agenda item for next month. The PCRB brochure and related information has been updated removing PCRB office phone number and replacing it with the City Clerk's phone number. The Board discussed the request from City Manager regarding Complaint 01-01. Watson asked Pugh the following: · Is the Board required to respond to the request? Pugh found nothing in the ordinance that requires the Board to produce anything more than it's final report. 8-8-7(B)(8) the ordinance specifically says that "no findings or reports submitted to the Board or prepared by the Board shall be used in any other proceedings." · Does anything prevent the Board from responding to the request? Pugh says there is "nothing in the ordinance that prevents the Board from cooperating or trying to assist the Council and City Manager in achieving the goals that they are trying to achieve." 2 The Board's position is that it provides a recommendation and it is up to the Chief and City Manager to decide what to do with it. The Board's report is their last word and they do not wish to debate their conclusions. However the Board would be willing to discuss its recommendations and concerns. There is concern from members about setting a precedent in providing additional information. The Board discussed Watson and Pugh would write a letter to the City Manager... · including a summary of the interviews indicating it is the only information the Board had that the Chief did not · indicating that if there are legal questions, the Board releases Pugh to speak to the City Attorney · stating that if there is anything that is unclear about their recommendations to be specific · pointing out that the Board is not required to respond but is choosing to do so · Inviting the City Manager and the Chief to an Executive Session to discuss this issue further [See further discussion regarding the meeting after the Executive Session]. OLD BUSINESS PCRB Ordinance will be passed out at the next meeting. PCRB Videotape will be presented at the next meeting. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None MEETING SCHEDULE · Regular Meeting September 11,2001,7:00 P.M. Discussion was had about extending the Police Chief's report deadline, which is currently September 7, 2001 for #01-02. Deadline extension discussion was postponed until Executive Session later in the meeting. BOARD INFORMATION Watson will be appointing a nominating committee in September. Officers will be elected in November. Watson asked the item to be added to the next meeting agenda. 3 STAFF INFORMATION Hoffey brought up concern about a phone call regarding Charter Amendments in the Office Contact report. Pugh stated she would be concentrating on mediation cases, and could be reached at her home. 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, 4/0, Stratton absent. Open session adjourned at 7:56 P.M. REGULAR SESSION Regular session resumed at 8:24 P.M. Motion by Hoffey and seconded by Horton to direct Chair write City Manager regarding 3 concerns for complaint 01-01 and let the Board know exactly what he needs clarified. And inviting the City Manager and/or Chief for an open session meeting with the Board to discuss their recommendation. Motion carried, 4/0, Stratton absent. Discussion regarding the content of the meeting with the City Manager and/or Chief. The Board concluded that they would discuss their recommendation in the public report, but would not go into detail about the case. They would not discuss field notes taken at the interview. This meeting would be open to the public. 4 Cohen and Hoffey requested a copy of the letter be sent to them since their term will be ending, so they can attend the meeting. Motion by Hoffey seconded by Cohen directing staff to prepare correspondence to the Chief extending the Chief's deadline to October 7, 2001, on 01-02. And also request that the complainants inform the Board of the timeline for resolution of the case and that the extension will expire on October 7, 2001, if the Board or Chief does not hear from them. Motion carried, 4/0, Stratton absent. Watson thanked Cohen and Hoffey for serving on the Board. Cohen and Hoffey both enjoyed working with past and present members of the Board. Hoffey expressed a few thoughts to the remaining Board members and the new members to come: (1) Police pursuits kill innocent people. (2) Traffic stops should only be made by marked cars and officers in police uniforms. (3) Citations and release of individuals for alcohol offenses, etc. can be done when you release that person to a responsible adult. You don't have to put them in jail. Putting them in jail to teach them a lesson is not a good enough reason. (4) Local control over local police is absolutely necessary for two reasons: (a) power of arrest that police have (b) power of detention. Meaning there should be boards like the Police Citizens Review Board, where the Board has sufficient power to do something. There is opportunity for abuse and it does often happen. Not as frequently is the US as elsewhere. The police have tremendous power, it must be controlled. Cohen stated that she thought the PCRB was a wonderful board and the time and energy put into the board by its members from day one is tremendous. The board is a tremendous asset to the City and the City should be thankful that the board is there and she will always lobby for the board if it is ever in jeopardy again. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by Hoffey and seconded by Cohen. Motion carried, 4/0, Stratton absent. Meeting adjourned at 8:34 P.M. 5