HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-14-2002 Communication MEMORANDUM
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
A Board of the City of Iowa City
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City IA 52240-1826
(319)356-5041
DATE: April 23, 2002
TO: Stephen J. Atkins, City Manager
FROM: John R. Stratton, PCRB Chairperson
RE: Age of Consent for Search
In response to your memo of March 1, 2002, inviting input regarding the
minimum age that Iowa City Police Officers should be allowed to request
permission of juveniles to perform a consent search, the Board discussed the
issue at it's last meeting. The Board agreed that this was an important and
difficult issue, an issue that raised questions of fact, law and values. Some
questions discussed were:
(1) How frequently do situations arise where it is necessary to request consent
to search from a juvenile?
(2) Do juveniles have the legal right to consent to a search of property that they
neither own or control?
(3) At what age does the right and the ability to give informed consent occur?.
(4) Do all juveniles develop the ability to give informed consent at the same
age?
(5) How can an officer accurately assess a juvenile's age?
(6) What options exist for officers other than requesting permission from a
juvenile to search a residence?
(7) Does invoking other options impact the ability of the police to perform
important functions?
For those questions where clear factual or legal answers were not available,
Board members, reflecting their different backgrounds and experiences, arrived
at different conclusions. The Board agreed in consultation with their legal advisor
that the age of 12 as a division point would probably be upheld if challenged in
court in most instances. Two board members believe that age 12 is acceptable,
three members feel, however, that the defense of a basic constitutional right
mandates a higher level of maturity and judgement, age 14 or 18. The Board
concluded that they could not agree on an appropriate age level and hence offers
no unified recommendation to the Council.
MEMORANDUM
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
A Board of the City of Iowa City
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City IA 52240-1826
(319)356-5041
DATE: May 6, 2002
TO: Police Citizens Review Board
FROM: Kellie Tuttle, Staff
RE: Summer Schedule
The current summer schedule is as follows:
June 11,2002, 7:00 P.M Conflict: (Hoeft)
July 9, 2002, 7:00 P.M.
August 13, 2002, 7:00 P.M. Conflict: (Stratton, Horton)
Calendar absences provided as follows:
John Stratton, Chair - May 17-19, May 30-31
June 1-3, June 7-10, June 16-22
July 11-15, July 28-31
August 1-3, August 11-24
Loren Horton, Vice Chair June 10, June 14, June 19, June 21-29
July 5-7, July 12-18, July 28
August 2, August 13-18, August 21
John Watson May 26-31
June 1-8, June 23-29
July 29-31
August 1-2, August 5-9
Bill Hoeft - N/A
Bev Smith N/A
Catherine Pugh July 21-27
If there are additional dates that you find when you are going to be unavailable,
please call Marian Karr or myself and let us know so we can update our
calendar.
Thanks for your cooperation!