HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-18-2009 PCRB Community ForumAGENDA
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
COMMUNITY FORUM
NOVEMBER 18, 2009, 7:OOPM
EMMA J. HARVAT HALL
410 E Washington St
ITEM NO. 1 CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
ITEM NO. 2 PRESENTATION BY PCRB MEMBER -
INTRODUCTION & COMPLAINT PROCESS
ITEM NO. 3 PRESENTATION BY ICPD -USE OF FORCE POLICY
ITEM NO. 4 PUBLIC DISCUSSION WITH POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
ITEM NO. 5 CONSIDER MOTION TO ACCEPT CORRESPONDENCE AND/OR
DOCUMENTS
ITEM NO. 6 ADJOURNMENT
DRAFT
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
COMMUNITY FORUM
November 18, 2009, 7:00 P.M.
EMMA J. HARVAT HALL
410 E Washington St
CALL TO ORDER: Chair Donald King called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Janie Braverman, Joseph Treloar (7:14), Vershawn Young
MEMBERS ABSENT: Abigail Yoder
STAFF PRESENT: Legal Counsel Catherine Pugh and Staff Kellie Tuttle
OTHERS PRESENT: Chief Sam Hargadine of the ICPD
(Transcriptions are available)
PRESENTATIONS The following presentations were made:
Introduction and Complaint Process by PCRB Chair Donald King.
ICPD Use of Force Policy by Chief Sam Hargadine from the ICPD.
PUBLIC
DISCUSSION The following individuals appeared before the PCRB:
Carol deProsse
Heidi Sinderman
Dean Abel
Michael Smithey
Caroline Dieterle
Jerry Partridge
1401 Burry Dr, IC
1503 Rochester Ave #4, IC
2049 Tanglewood St, IC
PO Box 2013, IC
727 Walnut St, IC
Iowa City
CONSIDER MOTION TO ACCEPT CORRESPONDENCE AND/OR DOCUMENTS
None.
ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by Young and seconded by Treloar.
Motion carried, 4/0, Yoder absent. Meeting adjourned at 8:46 P.M.
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The City of Iowa City
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
COMMUNITY FORUM
WHEN: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
TIME: 7:00 PM
WHERE: Emma J. Harvat Hall
410 E Washington St
Topic: Introduction of the
PCRB, Complaint
Process and the
Use of Force Policy
We invite YOU to attend a forum. Presentations will be given, followed by a public
discussion with the Police Citizens Review Board.
City of Iowa City -News & Headlines
Page I of 1
«« iBack to Site
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News Releases
Originally posted on Wednesday, November 04, 2009 at 4:51:28 PM
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD -COMMUNITY FORUM
The Police Citizens Review Board will be holding a Community Forum on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at
7:00 PM in Emma J. Harvat Hall.
Topics will include: Introduction of the PCRB, Complaint Process, a presentation of the Use of Force Policy by
the ICPD, followed by Public Discussion with the PCRB.
The forum will be broadcast live on the Interactive City Channel 5. The agenda is available at:
htt~//www icaov o~/default/apps/boards/boardList.asp
Originating Department: City Clerk
Contact Person: Kellie Tuttle
Contact Phone: (319) 356-5043
« Back to News Releases
http://www. icgov.org/default/apps/GEN/news.asp?newsID=5764&page=2&output=print 11 / 19/2009
City of Iowa City -News & Headlines Page 1 of 1
c« iBack to Site
Back to News Releases
News Releases
Originally posted on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 9:28:29 AM
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD -COMMUNITY FORUM
The Police Citizens Review Board will be holding a Community Forum on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at
7:00 PM in Emma J. Harvat Hall.
Topics will include: Introduction of the PCRB, Complaint Process, a presentation of the Use of Force Policy by
the ICPD, followed by Public Discussion with the PCRB.
The forum will be broadcast live on the Interactive City Channel 5. The agenda is available at:
http~//www icg_ov orq/default/apps/boards/boardList.asD
Originating Department: City Clerk
Contact Person: Marian Karr
Contact Phone: (319) 356-5041
Back to News Releases
http://www.icgov.org/default/apps/GEN/news.asp?newsID=5790&page= l &output=print 11 / 19/2009
POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
COMMUNITY FORUM
November 18, 2009
PLEASE PRINT
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS BELOW
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November 18, 2009 Police Citizens Review Board -Community Forum
Page 1
November 18, 2009 Police Citizens Review Board -Community Forum 7:00 P.M.
Members Present: Donald King, Chair; Janie Braverman, Joseph Treloar (7:14), Vershawn Young
Members Absent: Abbie Yoder
PCRB Staff: Catherine Pugh, Legal Counsel; Kellie Tuttle, Staff
Others: Sam Hargadine, Chief ICPD
Call to Order & Roll Call:
King/ I'd like to get the forum started. Um, first, uh, quick announcements. If you have a cell
phone, please put it on vibrate or turn it off so it doesn't interrupt the forum. Secondly,
there's asign-in on the podium. If you want to address the Board, um, you can come up
and sign in. When it comes to the public discussion, we'll call you in order, and a third
thing is just handouts, at the back door, on use of force that we'll be discussing tonight.
The 13th Citizens Police Academy, um, will be starting in January. There's an
application back there for that. Um, the complaint form and information sheet on how to
file a complaint with the PCRB, and finally, the PCRB brochure that explains the Police
Citizens Review Board. I have to call to order and roll call. Don King, here. Janie
Braverman.
Braverman/ Here.
King/ Joe Treloar. Vershawn Young.
Young/ Here.
King/ Abbie Yoder's absent. Also present for the Board are Catherine Pugh our Legal Counsel
and Kellie Tuttle our Staff. Um, I want the Board to introduce themselves and a little bit
of their background on why they're here and what your terms are, uh, so that the public
knows, and I'll start. Um, I'm Don King and I've been on the Board for a little over two
years. Uh, I'm current the Chair of the Board. Um, I have a police background and uh, I
like to stay involved in the community and police relations, so I applied for the Board and
the City Council appointed me.
Braverman/ I'm Janie Braverman. I've been in Iowa City for almost five years now. I've been on
this Board for just over a year. I'm Vice-Chair, and I'm also chairing, uh, a work
committee where we're going to be looking at the procedures and policies of this
particular board over the next few months. Um, I'm a real estate and business lawyer, uh,
licensed in Colorado and here in Iowa.
Young/ And I am Vershawn Young, and I am a newly appointed member of this board by the
City Council, and by day and increasingly seems by night I am a professor at the
University of Iowa in, uh, African-American Studies and Rhetoric.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City Police Citizens
Review Board -Community Forum of November 18, 2009.
November 18, 2009 Police Citizens Review Board -Community Forum Page 2
Presentation by the Police Citizens Review Board Chair:
King/ Item 2 is presentation. Um, the Police Citizens Review Board was created in 1977, uh, by
ordinance 97-3792, and consists of five members appointed by the City Council. Um, the
PCRB, we have our own legal counsel, and the Board was established to ensure the
investigations into claims of Iowa City Police misconduct are conducted in a manner
which is fair, thorough, accurate, and to assist the Police Chief, the City Manager, and the
City Council in evaluating the overall performance of the Police Department by having it
review the Police Department's investigations into complaints. The Board also provides a
venue by which citizens can make a complaint against any Iowa City Police officers'
behavior, and know that it will be investigated and a conclusion will be reached, and the
Police Department, City Council, and the complainant will be aware of what our
conclusion was as a result of the investigation. To achieve this, the PCRB shall comply
with Chapter 8 of the Iowa City Code, the PCRB Bylaws, and the PCRB Standard
Operating Procedures and Guidelines. The Iowa City Police Department regularly
provides the Board with monthly Use of Force reports, internal investigation logs,
demographic reports, and various training bulletins. The Department also provides
various general orders for the Board's review and comment. A senior member of the
Police Department routinely attended, excuse me, routinely attends the open portion of
the PCRB meeting, and is available for any questions Board Members have regarding
these reports. City Code 8-8-8b4, the Board has limited civil administrative review
powers, and has no power or authority over criminal matters. The Board is not a court of
law, and is not intended to substitute as a tort claim procedure or a litigation against the
City. The Code also states that the Board has no authority over police disciplinary
matters. In 2007, a general election, there was a major revision to our charge. Three
things were changed at the election: we became a permanent member of the City
Council's government; we were given the power to subpoena; and it required us to hold at
least one public forum annually. And this is our second one. Our monthly meetings are
open to the public and are held the second Tuesday of the month. Um...during the fiscal
year... July of 2008 to June of 2009, um, we had nine complaints filed, excuse me, nine
complaints filed with 33 allegations. Um, 32 of the allegations were not sustained, and
one of the allegations was sustained. Um, we had ten meetings and two of them were not
held because of lack of business. The complaint process, the ordinance 8-8-3b states that
the complainant must have personal knowledge of the alleged misconduct. In order to
have personal knowledge, the complainant must have been directly involved in the
incident, or have witnessed the incident. If under age or unable to complete a PCRB
complaint form, the form may be filed by such person's representative. The City
Manager, Chief of Police, the City Council, or the PCRB may file a PCRB complaint,
based on reasonable belief that police misconduct has occurred regardless of personal
knowledge. The complainant has 90 days from the incident date to file with either the
PCRB or the Police Department, or both. Anything after the 90-day period, the
complaint is not reviewed. Once a complaint is...the complaint is received by the City
Clerk for the Police Citizens Review Board it is forwarded to the Chief of Police who has
90 days to investigate the complaint and submit his report to the PCRB. The timeframe
can be extended by the Board for good cause shown. This is a very detailed report, not
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City Police Citizens
Review Board -Community Forum of November 18, 2009.
November 18, 2009 Police Citizens Review Board -Community Forum Page 3
just a summary of the incident. The investigators can use all evidence available to come
to their conclusion. This can include audio/video recordings, witness statements,
complainant's statements, and the officer's statements. The allegations are then classified
as sustained or not sustained. The PCRB then reviews the Chief s report and by simple
vote sets a level of review. We have six levels of review. Um, first level is on the record
with no additional investigation. We can interview or meet with the complainant. We
can interview or meet with the named officers. We can request additional investigation
by the Chief, or request police assistance in the Board's investigation. The Board can
perform its own additional investigation, or the Board can hire independent investigators.
The Board reviews both the citizen's complaint and the Chief s report, and decides
whether the conclusions about the allegations should be sustained or not sustained. If it's
sent back to the Chief, it still has to be done within that 90 day period. The PCRB
written report will detail the findings of facts and conclusions, and support sustained or
not sustained. The PCRB may recommend a reversal of the Chief s findings, if they are
unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to Police Department policy, practices, or
any federal, state, or local law. The PCRB issues a written report within 45 days to the
City Council. Copies are sent to the Chief of Police, City Council, City Manager, and the
complainant. Item 3, presentation by the Iowa City Police Department, Chief Hargadine
will give a presentation on use of force. During his presentation, I ask that you don't ask
questions. We can direct a question to the Board afterwards, um...the...the use of force
is like the officer's discretion, so one officer may do this, one officer may do that. We
don't want to get into the 'what ifs' and 'where fors' and why this officer did this and why
the officer didn't do that. Um, the Chief will explain the, uh, the use of force policy for
the Iowa City Police Department. Chief.
Presentation by the Iowa City Police Department, Chief of Police:
Hargadine/ Thank you, Mister Chairman. Good evening, Board, and ladies and gentlemen. I'm
here to discuss the Iowa City Police Department use of force policy. It is our General
Order O5, and um, hopefully there are copies of it around. And, um, it's also available on
the Internet if anybody is, um, you can dig deep enough on our web page and find it, but
it is in our, uh, all of our General Orders are...are, uh, listed on the Internet. I will try not
to read too much from the statement, but there are couple of times when I will actually
refer to the...the policy, and read from it, and I want to start out with the policy
statement, which is the Iowa City Police Department recognizes and respects the value
and special integrity of each human life. In investing officers with the lawful authority to
use force to protect the public welfare, a careful balancing of all human interests is
required. Therefore, it is the policy of the Iowa City Police Department that police
officers shall use only that force that is reasonable and necessary to accomplish lawful
objectives, and effectively bring an incident under control, while protecting the lives of
the officers and others. That's how our, the General Order starts out. Then it goes to
definitions, and it starts out with definitions that are taken directly out of the Iowa Code.
Uh, for example, 704.2 is deadly force; 702.18 is serious injury; 704.1 reasonable force;
804.8 use of force by peace officer making an arrest; and Iowa Code 804.13 use of force
when preventing an arrest. I won't read each one of those State statutes, but they're
available and... and much of our policy is, um, designed around those State Codes.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City Police Citizens
Review Board -Community Forum of November 18, 2009.
November 18, 2009 Police Citizens Review Board -Community Forum Page 4
There's also a federal case that, um, we use in the policy. It's Graham v. O'Connor. It's a
1989 case, and it goes to, uh, defining an objective standard. What's a reasonable officer
objective standard, and I'm going to read from that particular, uh, paragraph. The
reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a
reasonable officer on the scene, rather than the 20/20 vision of hindsight.
Reasonableness also takes into account that police officers make judgments in a split
second under circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving. About the
amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation, and we refer to, well, I'll
probably refer to that Graham v. O'Connor, um, standard of objective throughout, um,
this particular policy briefing. There's also a definition of less lethal munitions. For the
policy purposes it means systems which are designed to stun, temporarily incapacitate, or
cause temporary discomfort to a person. In Section 4, that's pretty much a summary of
sections 1 through 3. Section 4, um, it goes into the State Code 804.8, use of force by a
peace officer when making an arrest. Peace officer while making a lawful arrest is
justified in the use of any force which the peace officer reasonably believes to be
necessary to affect the arrest, or to defend any person from bodily harm while making the
arrest. However, the use of deadly force is only justified when a person cannot be
captured any other way, and either one, the person has used or threatened to use deadly
force in committing a felony, or two, the peace officer reasonably...reasonably believes
the person will use deadly force against any person, unless immediately apprehended. A
peace officer making a...an arrest pursuant to an invalid warrant is justified in the use of
any force which the peace officer would be justified in using, if the warrant were valid,
unless that peace officer knows that the warrant is invalid. So, uh, should a... if a warrant
is later to be termed invalid, if it's reasonable to assume that the officer thought it was
valid at the time, it goes back to the reasonable standard. Section 804.13 of the Iowa
Code talks about the force that can be used in preventing an escape. A peace officer or
other person who has an arrested person in custody is justified in the use of such force to
prevent the escape of the arrested person from custody, as the officer or other person
would be justified in using if the officer or other person were arresting such a person. In
Section 5 it discusses deadly force. The reason we have...a policy on deadly force is to
delineate the Department's policy regarding the use of deadly force, to establish policies
under which the use of deadly force is permissible. Officers of the Iowa City Police
Department may fire weapons to stop or incapacitate an assailant to prevent
seriously... serious bodily injury or death for this purpose and to minimize danger to
innocent bystanders. The officer should shoot at the center body mass whenever
possible. An officer may use deadly force to protect him or herself from others, from
what he or she reasonably believes to be immediate threat of death or serious injury. An
officer may use deadly force to affect the capture or prevent escape. If a) the person used
or threatened to use deadly force when committing a felony, and b) the peace officer
reasonably believes the person would use deadly force against a person immediately
apprehended. Almost right out of the State Code. No distinction shall be made relative
to the age of the intended target. Warning...warning shots are specifically prohibited. A
verbal warning shall be...shall be utilized prior to an officer discharging a weapon, unless
it would compromise the safety of the officer or others. Shooting at or from a moving
vehicle is prohibited, uh, with some exceptions. Those exceptions would be when the
occupant of the vehicle is utilizing deadly force against the police officer or other people.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City Police Citizens
Review Board -Community Forum of November 18, 2009.
November 18, 2009 Police Citizens Review Board -Community Forum Page 5
An example of that would be someone's trying to run the officer down. As a last resort to
prevent death or serious injury to officers or other persons. As a last resort to apprehend
a person who has just committed a felony, resulting in a death or serious injury. The
discharge of firearms shall not be utilized when circumstances do not provide a high
probability of striking an intended target or when there is substantial risk to the safety of
other persons, including the risk of causing a vehicle accident. If there is an injury from
the use of force, officers shall render appropriate first aid to any person injured, or
complaining of pain following the use of force. EMS shall be summoned, emergency
medical. And, they shall ensure the delivery of appropriate medical treatment, when
requested by the person; uh, the extent of the injury is unknown or not visible, and the
nature...whatever the nature, extent of the injury dictates. Officers shall err on the side
of caution requesting EMS to respond to the scene, if in doubt about the existence or
extent of an injury. When an officer has discharged a firearm that results in a personal
injury or death to any person, an officer shall surrender that firearm to his or her
supervisor. It would be then... it's considered evidence at that point. Firearms involved
in a police shooting shall not be unloaded, cleaned, or in any way altered from the .
condition immediately following discharge, just like...it would be handled like any other
shooting incident. When more than one officer or weapon has been involved in a
shooting situation resulting in any injury or death, the involved weapons must be
surrendered to the commanding officer in accordance with departmental directives. Um,
and then it requires the commanding officer receiving the firearm to immediately secure
and document those as evidence. Then the policy goes into less lethal force. It's where
deadly force is not authorized under...by policy. Officers should assess the incident in
order to determine which less lethal technique will best de-escalate the incident and bring
it under control in a safe manner. Officers shall use no more force than is reasonably
necessary to gain control of an individual or situation. Officers are authorized to use
force consistent with the use of force model, which I'll discuss in a minute. Uh, defines
use of force. Use of force is any contact applied by an officer that significantly restricts
or alters the actions of another, and/or compels compliances with the demands or
instructions of the officer. This includes the application of handcuffs. Again, this is
stated several times throughout the policy, but an officer shall use no more force than that
officer reasonably feels is necessary in the performance of their official duties. Use of
force by an officer is justified in, but not limited to, the following situations: and again,
this is right out of the State Code. To protect the officer from, or others, from physical
harm. To control an arrestee or a potentially violent person. To restrain or subdue a
resistant individual. To bring an unlawful situation safely and effectively under control.
Again, officers shall use, uh, call for medical treatment at a hospital to any noncombative
person who has been exposed to a chemical irritant, such as OC-spray. Uh, officers shall
decontaminate a person exposed to a chemical irritant and continue to monitor the
condition of that person until they are no longer in the custody of the officer. When use
of force has been applied, they are required to make certain notifications. In the case of a
firearm discharge, in the course of their duty, they shall immediately contact his or her
supervisor. This does not apply to animal euthanasia where supervisory permission has
been given in advance. There are times though when the officer may not find it practical
to get advance permission, uh, a charging bull would be one. I've actually had that
happen. Um, if it's not practical, officers shall contact the on-duty patrol supervisor. The
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City Police Citizens
Review Board -Community Forum of November 18, 2009.
November 18, 2009 Police Citizens Review Board -Community Forum Page 6
notified supervisor shall then contact the following individuals: the individual's division
commander, it goes down - there's a whole list of...of people that are required to be
notified, and uh, one of the first two is me. Um, typically though they would also notify
the County Attorney, the City Attorney, the City Manager, um...the Criminal
Investigation Commander, and we also have a mandatory call matrix that, uh, is posted in
the Watch Commander's office where they can look at a particular incident and determine
who is required to be called for that incident. The on-duty watch supervisor shall
immediately notify, be notified or summoned to the scene of an incident where use of
force results in a physical injury, especially if...if, they are required to come to the scene
if there, uh, if chemical irritant OC was utilized. Likewise they are required, um, to be
notified when a conducted energy device, such as a taser, is utilized. Once that's done,
the...a report is required. It is a Discharge of Firearm report required. Any officer who
discharges a firearm for any reason or purpose, other than those exceptions listed below,
shall make a written report to his or her immediate supervisor, as soon as the
circumstances permit. This is then forwarded through the chain of command, all the way
up to me. Exceptions to the requirement would be, um...discharge of firearm on a
firearm range, in a training facility, or a sporting event, which includes lawful hunting
and organized shooting matches. That would be an exemption. Um...when in
accordance with applicable law it also becomes necessary for an officer to discharge a
firearm to destroy an animal. This is very common, especially at this time of year with
the deer, uh, moving and the crashes. But it does require, uh, supervisor notification and
the use of report is, uh, still required. Um, the policy then goes, outlines a review
committee, um, that is done, uh, a minimum of every two months, uh, they are looking
for typical...they're typically looking for policy violations or possible training needs.
Um...it's a little confusing here though that, um, this is the only review that's going on.
Whenever there's use of force, there's immediate investigation that's started. Once that
supervisor is notified, um, they do a use of force review. And, there are, um, collecting
the reports from the officer, they're usually getting a statement from the officer, and their
eventual goal is to...is to do a review and make arecommendation -this is proper or
improper, and um, they're applying what they've learned to the departmental policy. Was
this use of force within the guidelines of the policy. And, and the use of force matrix.
Like I said, I'll explain that in a second. Um, that is forwarded all the way up to
the...through the chain, uh, the Commander of Field Operations retains those records, uh,
but it's also after I've signed off on it and have reviewed it. All use of force reports. Uh,
officers fill out certain portion of it, uh, for example who they arrested, uh, the incident
number, the description of the actual resistance that they encountered, um...they're
required to fill out, um, a portion of the use of force report and then the supervisor is
responsible for finishing that report. Um, pictures of any injuries, if the...if it's...whether
it's the officer or the suspect that's injured. We require photographs. Uh, exposure to a
chemical irritant, we'll additionally require documentation of hospital treatment being
offered. It's not required that they be taken to the emergency room, but it is required that
we offer. Um, supervisor notification and decontamination procedures. When a taser's
deployed, additional...um, will additionally require the documentation of medical
treatment. If medical treatment is refused by the suspect, supervisor notification and the
number of cycles and applications from that weapon is documented. Um, when use of
force is applied, handcuffs are to be double locked and the only, when only handcuffs are
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City Police Citizens
Review Board -Community Forum of November 18, 2009.
November 18, 2009 Police Citizens Review Board -Community Forum Page 7
being used no use of force...the use of force report is necessary. But if...they do
typically document that within their police report. The supervisor of the reported person
shall review the report for adherence to department policy, and document their
conclusions. Like I said, all those have been forwarded through the chain of command.
At a minimum, um...the Chief of Police or my designee will conduct a documented
analysis of all the reports and incidences of force annually. An analysis of reports and
incidents of force could reveal patterns or trends and indicate training needs, equipment
upgrades, or policy modifications. And I believe you all are a recipient of those reports,
as well. In the case when a use of force results in death or serious injury, a thorough and
objective investigation of the facts and circumstances will be initiated as soon as
practical. Um, and completed as soon as practical. The Chief of Police shall decide
whether the DCI and/or any other outside agency shall be called to assist in the
investigation. If an officer's involved in a use of force, uh, outside of our jurisdiction, our
policy requires that that officer, uh, cooperate with the investigating agency. The on-duty
watch commander shall ensure that appropriate case reports are initiated and that
potential evidence is preserved. The officer or employee involved in the death or serious
injury shall be relieved of field duty without the loss of pay or benefits, pending the
results of the departmental investigation. Other officers or employees involved in the
incident may also be relieved of field duty without loss of pay or benefits, at the
discretion of my office, while the investigation is pending. That officer's required to be
available at all times for official interviews, um...further, uh, the officer will not discuss
the case with anyone, except the prosecuting attorney or persons designated by the Chief.
If the officer or employee may be the subject of an internal review or criminal charges,
their constitutional rights and administrative protections will be maintained. Uh, the
officer or employee will attend post-traumatic stress counseling, at the discretion of my
office. Um, the remaining paragraphs, the investigation and investigative leave policy,
uh, outlined here is not intended to imply or indicate that the officer or employee has
acted improperly. It is designed to safeguard the officer or employee and the department.
The Chief of Police may appoint one or more individuals to conduct a separate yet
parallel administrative investigation into the use of force incident to ensure all personnel
follow departmental policies and guidelines. The use of force model, which I've referred
to a couple times previously, police officers are given the unique right to use force, even
deadly force, against others for legitimate law enforcement purposes. The right to use
force carries with it an obligation to use that force in a responsible manner. Police
agencies have an obligation to provide their employees with the policies, training, and the
tools necessary to accomplish their mission. Selection of a use of force response from the
options articulated in this model will be based on the skills, knowledge, and ability of the
officer, the perceived threat, and the amount of resistance offered by a subject, and the
consideration of the situational framework. The officers of the Iowa City Police
Department shall follow the principles of the use of force model. The model describes an
escalation of force, which is based on a reasonable officer's perception of threat or
resistance; as a subject's resistance escalates, more force options become available to the
officer. When resistance stops, the officer must de-escalate, but only after control like
handcuffing is accomplished. The use of force model is at the end of the policy and there
are I believe five different levels. Level one is when the subject is compliant. Hands-on
techniques can occur, even at level one. An example would be handcuffing, and...and
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searching someone incident to an arrest. Those are examples that even when a person is
cooperative and compliant, and um, is...is agreeing to being arrested, uh, we still can go
hands-on with level one. Level two is the subject is passively resistant. There is no
direct threat to the officer, but they're also not cooperating. Hands-on techniques, um, to
include, uh, control, contact control tactics, um, might grab an arm or a wrist, or a hand,
uh, escort techniques may be used, um, to, um, get the person under arrest. Multiple
officers may be used as well. Um, this is assuming that the person is resistant, but not,
um, assaultive. A level three is the subject is actively resistant, where, um, they may
be...the start of being combative. Uh, this ups the different types of techniques that can
be used, uh, to include hands-on, nerve compression techniques, chemical irritants, uh,
the use of OC spray, um...takedown techniques, and um, the...generally the
use...obviously more officers and the use of come-alongs. Level four...uh, the subject is
physical assaultive and may cause bodily injury if they're not taken under control as soon
as possible. Um, this opens up the use of, uh, hands, knees, feet, active counter measures,
impact weapons like the asp, the baton, um... and conducted energy devices, the use of a
taser. Um, lastly, also this is where, um, level four would be, um, have to be recognized
in order for the K-9 dog to be deployed. Level five, uh, is where the subject is assaultive
and likely to cause serious bodily injury or death. Um...our response would be deadly
force. That includes weapons, uh, firearms, lethal force utilization, service (mumbled)
supplemental weapons, and forceable stopping techniques for assault with vehicle
incidents. So, typically where a supervisor is reviewing the use of force incident...the
first thing they're doing is listening to the officer, or reading the officer's description of
what occurred, um, during the incident. Uh, because they're also trying to put it within
the use of force model. Were they at level 2, 3, 4, or 5, and um, then they're reviewing
what force was used against the person, and...and categorizing that as well, and
comparing that to, uh, whether that was authorized for particular, uh, threat that the
officer felt that they were under. And that concludes my presentation on General Order
O5.
Public Discussion With the Police Citizens Review Board:
King/ Thank you, Chief. Item number 4 is public discussion with the Police Citizens Review
Board. Does anybody have anything? If you would, when you come up, would you
please sign in so we have a matter of record.
deProsse/ My name is Carol deProsse. I live at 1401 Burry Drive. And, um, I am a person who
is partially responsible for the, um, additional powers that you cited earlier. Um...and I
came tonight because the last time I came to one of these I believe it was an ad hoc public
hearing that the Police Board held. It was before it was mandated by City ordinance.
Um, first of all I'd like to say I'm sure that your intentions were...were well intentioned,
but if I understood the purpose of the meeting and the reason I came was because I
believed it was an opportunity for the public to offer comments, whatever they had to say
about the practices, policies, procedures of the Police Department, and perhaps the
workings of the...of your Board. So I think that in the future I would suggest that
presentations such as that by the Police Chief come at the end of your meeting, rather
than at the beginning, because this presentation and your introductory remarks consumed
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nearly 40 minutes of the meeting which was called at 7:00, supposedly to solicit my and
other citizens' opinions. Um, so that's just a suggestion I would offer for the future. The
second is that when I did attend this ad hoc, uh, Police Citizens Review Board probably
now...three or four years ago, I mean, I'm not sure how long, maybe longer, maybe less,
but um, it was partially because, um, myself and a friend of mine helped to organize it
and promote it, and it was held over on the southeast part of town, which uh, was
beginning to come into the news, but had not come into the news as much perhaps as it
has in recent times, but it was a very well attended meeting. I well imagine that there
were 70 to 80 to 100 people present at the time, several police officers. I believe the
Police Chief also was there. I think perhaps the City Attorney or the County Attorney or
some legal representation of the Board was there, and maybe one of you was there,
Catherine ugh is. Um, so I guess that I don't know what you did as a Board to, or the
City did to publicize the meeting tonight, but I would like to suggest that you move it out
of an atmosphere that many people in the community find intimidating, whether it's a
right reason or a wrong reason, but they do. I think it's wrong wouldn't be quite the word
I would, adjective I would use, but for whatever reason people find a place like this to be
intimidating. It's not in a neighborhood. It's not friendly. It's not particularly accessible.
It's not where people normally congregate. Um, this is a building where people come to
discuss one thing or another, but seldom do people stand up and want to...feel free to
express necessarily what may be truly on their mind, and I'm not sure that would happen
in another setting, but certainly the last one I attended people were much more prevalent,
and they were very open in their opinion. I find the whole discussion about use of force
to be an interesting one because I'm someone who in general finds that the police are
granted enormous latitude in decisions that are made in such situations. And I'm not sure
exactly why that is so, but I assume that it has very long societal, cultural structure to it
that culminates in, uh, who we are today as a people and who get to be our policy makers,
and who get to be our policy brokers. Um, so you know as the Chief read on and read on
and read on something that I could have read myself or gone online and read, um, I raised
many questions, whether they're State law or whether they are Police Department policies
that you have to interpret and serve as your guide, in terms of many definitions.
Reasonable, reasonable, reasonable, reasonable...I think of the thousands of innocent
people in this country who've been killed by police departments across every state in this
country and nearly in every incident the police are exonerated because we who make the
decisions believe the officer when he or she says, "I reasonably believe my life or the life
of others was in danger," and I don't think that I have an answer to that because as I say I
think that's got a long structure to it that I don't fully understand myself, but that I think is
fascinating to study, but I find it just so difficult to think that we constantly need to be
arming our police with more and more weaponry, technique, styles, tasers, I mean,
anything to...it seems to me basically take on a civilian threat that by and large is not
there. I know of no armed militias in Iowa City. I don't know of apartments where they
are like sitting there with submachine guns and... and rocket lasers ready to fire at our
police when they come to the...to investigate something. And yet they go and they're
armed with guns, tasers, um, OC spray, whatever OC stands for that people need to be
decontaminated from. All kinds of techniques that they can take people down, choke
them...inflict bodily harm. I mean, it just seems to me that this idea that the police need
to be armed against every threat that may be looming on the horizon is some type of
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imagined threat. What is this civilian population in Johnson County doing that I am
completely and totally unaware of, despite my acknowledgement of difficulty and crime
and illegal acts that is such a... such a force that it needs to be met with such an even
more overwhelming force of yet more weapons. So...thank you.
King/ Thank you. Anyone else? Item S...oh, sorry. Okay. And please sign in (mumbled)
Sinderman/ There's not asign-in sheet (mumbled) but I will.
King/ Okay, just...okay. (unable to hear people away from mic)
Sinderman/ Um, my name is Heidi Sinderman. I'm a long-time Iowa City resident, and um, I'm
not sure if my comments are questions to be answered tonight, or if you're just taking
comments. I don't really understand, but I'll say 'em anyway. Um, a couple questions
that I have were, um, the Police Chief spoke a lot about sustained and not sustained
allegations, actually...no (mumbled) and I don't quite understand what that is so more
explanation would be helpful, and also, um, there's a couple more things, um, when we've
discussed this before at similar forums, uh, it's been said that the Police Department has
no choice but to use the most lethal force if a direct threat is, uh, indicated, if they believe
that. Um, and so that even though of us who live in Iowa City would like to have our
police force be able to stop a crime in movement, we would like it with less lethal
methods than aiming for the center body mass, um, but we're told that that's not even a
choice because it's a State law, or I don't even understand why it can't be something that
we can change if it's our city. Um, other than that...uh, I also just had a specific question
about, um, what part is this...an investigation of use...investigation of use of force
resulting in death or serious injury, um, the officer or employee will attend post-traumatic
stress counseling at the discretion of the Chief of Police, and I would just like to know
how often that actually happens that a, um, a...a police officer is, um...encouraged to
seek such counseling. So (mumbled) few questions. Thank you.
King/ One, on the sustained and not sustained, um, when the allegation comes in, um, say for
example, um, the officer pushed the guy or slammed the guy into the car. That's
investigated by the police department as it happened or it didn't happen, sustained or not
sustained. The allegation was proven then it's, uh, then it's sustained. If it's not proven,
then it's not sustained. (unable to hear person away from mic) Proven or not proven, by
evidence, by videos, by audios, whatever evidence they have. Um, in regards to the,
uh...um...the last one that you had
Sinderman/ ...question about how many officers are (mumbled)
King/ Yeah, and that would probably be a private matter. I don't know if, um, like employees
have Employee Assistance Programs, and that's confidential. Um, so I don't think, um,
that you could find that out. If, uh (unable to hear person away from mic) that...
Sinderman/ ...discretion of the Chief of Police so I just wonder how often that is encouraged to
officers (mumbled)
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King/ Okay, we can check with the Chief. Check with the Chief and find out, report back to you.
Sinderman/ Um, I don't understand why the Chief was here to do his presentation, but then left
(mumbled) those of us (mumbled) questions (mumbled)
King/ The...the Chief was here to present the use of force thing and not to answer questions.
It's...it's not actually Iowa City Police Department's forum. It's the Police Citizens
Review Board's forum, um, we put that out because of the incidents that have been
happening. A lot of people are questioning why things happen the way they did, um, and
that's...that's why he put that presentation, um, but he was not, um, it was for the Board.
Sinderman/ (unable to hear, away from mic) but, um, about...(several talking) oh, yes (several
talking) um, the specific question about, um, why our...the Iowa City Police Department
is, um...um, forced, as I understand it there's not a choice, if they...if they believe there
is a heavy threat to use the lethal force and go for center mass, which will kill somebody,
and if that is not a choice to change within our police department. Do you, does that
question make sense? Why...why can't we possibly discuss changing that policy, which
as I understand it is not even a possibility to discuss?
King/ Yeah, and I don't...I don't know that that's just an Iowa policy either. I know a lot of
police departments, they do that, and that's to stop the threat. That's to stop the threat.
Um...
Braverman/ If I could ask aquestion - are, I just want to be clear about what you're asking. Uh,
because there're a couple of different ways of looking at it. One is the question of
whether or not a police officer's required to use a certain level of deadly force. That is
one issue. I think it's a different issue to ask the question whether or not a center body
mass, um, as target is appropriate, and I'm not sure which one you're asking. Let me talk
around that a little bit. One is, you know, how much discretion does an officer have to
try to de-escalate or to use less, you know, less lethal or less violent means. I think that's
one issue. My understanding is that the officers really have quite a bit of discretion there
in terms of which tactics and which, you know, which things they're going to use, and I
think that's reflected in the, uh, the matrix, but specifically in terms of center body mass
and not using warning shots and not for example trying to shoot someone in the hand or
the foot or the leg or the ear, that's another issue. I'm not sure which one you're asking,
which question you're asking.
Sinderman/ I guess I'm asking both, but um, specifically if...if you are going to shoot somebody
because you perceive them as a direct threat, um, whether that's reasonable or not is not
the discussion. But why not shoot them in the knee or something, which will disable
them, rather than shooting for a place that will very possibly kill them within a short
period of time? (mumbled)
Braverman/ You want to talk about that a little bit?
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Treloar/ Sure, um, the...when a police officer shoots, it's to stop the person as quickly as
possible, and unlike is seen on T.V., um, people don't go down with one shot to the leg or
whatever. I mean, they're...they're intention is to stop that person as quickly as possible.
Um, just as an example, there was a shooting incident in Toledo, Iowa several years ago
where the police officer emptied his 9-millimeter into the offender and had to tackle him
and lay on him because he didn't go down. And the reason they shoot is someone else is
about, you know, somebody else is in imminent danger, either the officer's in immediate
danger for their life, or someone else is in immediate danger for their life, and they need
to stop that person as quickly as possible, and that's the most efficient way to stop 'em.
The intent is not to kill them. The intent is to stop them. (unable to hear person away
from mic) Sure.
Sinderman/ ...is um...I don't...I don't know that I need to bring up specific incidents, but I'll just
say that the John Deng shooting a few months back, um, to me a person that has a knife is
not a direct threat that needs to be taken out at center body mass. That is a person that
you could at least try to shoot in the knee or the hand, to at least gain the time that they
have to respond, to the pain or to whatever it is, so incidents like that...I can understand
the, um, that there's people that are on drugs, that are hyped up, whatever it is, and it
takes...it takes ten officers to take them down. I understand those incidents. I just
wonder why it is still accepted or required to shoot at center body mass if somebody only
has say a knife, which to me is not...it could be a direct threat, but not quickly enough
that you need to shoot to kill them.
Treloar/ And that's a very good question. Um, at the Police Academy they train, and this is
based on research, that someone with a knife can, if they're closer than I believe it's 15
feet.. .
King/ 21 feet.
Treloar/ Is it 21 feet? Okay. Um, they can stab you and inflict a fatal wound upon you before
you have time to shoot 'em. (unable to hear person away from mic) Um...I don't...I
wouldn't bet on that (laughter and several talking)
King/ And I would not rather take that chance.
Treloar/ No.
Siderman/ I understand that, but...
King/ ...cause he may know what to do with that knife or how to do it with a knife (several
talking)
Siderman/ ...but it still (several talking) take someone's life as...is the problem, so while I
understand that the threat, and understandably would be that he, the person could inflict a
terrible wound on you, I still think that given that you are the police and so you're in
contact with the station, with the other police hopefully, in some way -maybe not always,
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that you're going to get a quicker response time to that stab wound than if you...the
person is going to get, that is shot in center body mass.
Young/ I just want to ask a...a question, and perhaps, um, I just want to clarify, because you
started out asking whether or not this was a... you started out asking a policy question,
um, something on the books. Why is it required, and could the requirement change,
could an officer have another option, as opposed to shooting center body mass. It seemed
as if in the Chief s report that was a requirement, and so I heard Heidi as saying what are
the laws that require that, and uh, could those laws be, um, altered or adjusted, so that
officers, at their discretion, have another option. Am I...yes
Sinderman/ (unable to hear away from mic)
Treloar/ I believe officers are not required to shoot, but when they do shoot they are required to
shoot for center body mass, because...you know, these are situations that are high tense
and, you know, very tense and they don't want an officer to miss, hit an innocent
bystander. Bullets do travel, and the intent is to stop the person as quickly as possible.
And that's the most efficient way to stop them as quickly as possible.
Sinderman/ (unable to hear away from mic)
Braverman/ If I understood the Police Chief, he was saying that that action came from the State
law, that that statutory at the State level, which means yes it can be changed, but it would
take astate-wide effort to do that.
Abel/ I'm Dean Abel. I'm a resident of Iowa City. I want to take the opportunity to thank you
for serving on the Board, because the Board is a place where citizens can come to register
complaints. They can also register complaints with the Police Department, but of course
that can be perhaps intimidating to the person with a problem. I do want to add to what
was said earlier about the site of this venue, that...I thought that this would be kind of an
ideal site for such a seminar, such a meeting, but I think I've changed my mind, and I
think it would be better in the future to consider going to the neighborhood, to...to talk to
the people, rather than the atmosphere of the people having to come here to talk to you.
So I think that was a good suggestion, and perhaps, uh, consideration should be given to
it. Well, if the topic is reasonable force, I mean, I have complaints about police. If you,
uh, watch the video clips on YouTube, you can be quite horrified at, uh...yeah, we only
know one side of the story watching YouTube, but sometimes it can be quite horrifying
to see some things that have happened. But really in defense of the police, the police are
not on the street to risk injury to themselves. And there are situations where...without
hindsight, an officer needs to take immediate action to preserve the situation. I've been
very fortunate, I've never been in a situation like that. I don't know how I would react.
But I think the emphasis is on police training. And recruitment of good candidates for
police officers. The case that was referred to was a, uh, a shooting by a Sheriff s civil
deputy. I personally have questions about the kind of training these individuals receive.
We live in a state where you can get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. What would
have happened if some citizen, awell-meaning citizen with a concealed weapon sees a
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shooting by a person in plain clothes and whips out their pistol, and we have a gun fight
in the alley? I agree that we have a lot of issues in our society with guns and force, and
that none of these problems are going to go away. And the last thing I would like to kind
of wonder about is I...I'm...I forget the numbers, but they were something like 27 or 29
complaints that you referred to earlier, Mr. King.
King/ Yeah, there's 33 allegations. (both talking) complaints and thirty-three allegations.
Abel/ 33 allegations, in which one was sustained. Uh...is the Board doing its investigative job,
do you feel that that's a proper ration of sustained complaints? Were the other complaints
frivolous, uh, unsustained? And it's my understanding is that even if you sustain the
complaint, you submit a report to the Chief of Police and it still remains his job as to
what action, if any, is taken.
King/ That's correct.
Abel/ Again, thank you very much. I appreciate your service. I feel it's extremely important.
King/ Thank you.
Braverman/ Uh, Dean, Dean? If I may just say, in response to one thing that you did say, you
said that the topic is use of force. The topic that we asked the Police Chief to come and
speak about was use of force. It wasn't our intent that this forum be limited to a
discussion of use of force. So we are...open to and welcoming comments from the
public on other topics other than that, as well...if you had other things...that you wanted
to say.
Abel/ Well, other than the obvious (laughter) the obvious that a lot of the tension of, in certain
neighborhoods in Iowa City has an obvious racial overtone, and if I may say, a class, uh,
overtone, uh, people new to Iowa City, unemployed, people of different social character,
that Iowa City is not the homogenous town it used to be 20 or 30 years ago. And
perhaps, uh, all of us, including the Police Department, need to take recognition that
things are changing. And that attitudes need to be changed, and it goes back to why I
emphasized training. I mean, a lot of these police officers, as sincere and able as they
are, they've gone to a two-year junior college police academy. More training, more
interaction with the community. Again, thank you.
King/ And I think the Iowa City Police Department has, I don't know if reintroduced it would be
the right word, but they have a community service officer now, um, that goes out and
addresses, uh, neighborhood associations and their concerns, um, I...I'm pretty sure they
had one before, and I'm not sure if it's just reintroduced, but it seems to be...be doing
well. Um, the other thing that, um, the first lady addressed was why do we carry guns,
why do we carry OC spray, why do we carry tasers. Because there are the people out
there that have the OC spray, that have the tasers, that have the guns, that have the
machine guns sitting on their tables. Unfortunately, yes, it's come to Iowa City, and
things need to be done. It is a social thing, so it's very difficult to change.
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deProsse/ Well, again, this is Carol deProsse and I just want to briefly address the comments of,
is it...Treloar (several talking) okay, um, I just personally happen to believe that, you
know, life is a...a roll of the dice, and uh, that who we are is, uh, where we're born, uh,
determines a lot of what we become, uh, and how we become that person and what our
station in life is, and that's not to dispute that some of us under, uh, overcome very
difficult backgrounds to achieve great things, but um, in terms of the example you set
where you talked about the person who didn't go down with nine bullets, um, I accept
that, but I think that statistically the number of people who would go down with one shot
to the kneecap is probably greater than the number of people who would not go down
with a shot to the kneecap. I know that, uh, I would have to be somebody else other than
I am today, and probably everybody I know, to not go down with a shot to the ear, as
someone mentioned, or the kneecap or the foot, or something, especially if, um, you
know, you're not particularly armed with anything. Even if you're armed with a pistol, I
may say, because that's just the statistical, you know, reality of a situation is is that we're
not all of those who get caught in these difficult interactions with police departments, the
police, um, personnel, we are not, um, you know, all the same, and the chances are that a
single shot placed someplace other than the center of force is going to do the job, and
maybe if we began to look at the fact that an officer does not have a clean slate to come
out of it free and clear because he is...it is his responsibility as a chosen profession to put
himself in these difficult situations. It's why he chooses, partially why he chooses his line
of work. I cannot imagine being a police officer with my personality and the way I look
at life, right? I mean, you have to be a special kind of person to do that. But I don't think
that means that you need to be trained, that the only way that you can... reasonably
assume that you are safe is to shoot somebody so that you are guaranteed to kill them,
because we lose too many innocent lives in this country doing that. I mean, that's just
statistical evidence. It's right in front of our eyes, and it is very racially imbalanced, and
it's very class imbalanced. So, I think that, you know, if you look at things from a more
scientific, particularly a statistical basis as an underlayment to the kinds of policies that
are being made, and try to calculate your chances, nothing is guaranteed. We still get
police officers in this country, unfortunately, who are killed by people, but we also had an
incident not all that long ago in Connecticut where a police officer was drunk and
speeding, and ran into a car with two teenagers in it, who were making alert-hand turn
into his on-going car, and they were both killed. Now he's now been relieved from duty
and he has had manslaughter, appropriately, pressed against him because it happened to
come from a video that was in his car. But police officers are human beings as well as all
the rest of us, and we look to this...to them as something that's...that's not realistic to
expect. They come from the fabric of our country, which means that we have good ones
and bad ones, mediocre ones, and smart ones, stupid ones...all kinds of people make up
police departments, just as all kinds of people make up the academics of the University
for God's sakes. So, I just think we all need to kind of take some step back that we have
this special magic that we can protect everybody and save everybody and...and that's it
only the police who can do this, if they can just shoot to kill if it's necessary. I mean, I
just think it's a complete imbalance in terms of the way things should work.
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Smithey/ My name is Mike Smithey. I am a resident of Iowa City. Um, and uh, I will make it
known that I am a police officer for the City of Iowa City. Um, what I want to make also
clear that what I... anything I say does not reflect necessarily the ideals or, I shouldn't say
the ideals...the, um, opinion of our department. This is me as a citizen talking, uh, with
some training that I've had. Uh, I've just...I think one of the, um, overwhelming, uh,
factors of...of a lot of the comments that have been made here tonight, um, and...and
they have come from the people who have made them themselves is that I don't
understand, I don't know. Um, I can tell everyone as a human being, I value life as, uh,
Miss deProsse does. I have prayed every day that I don't ever have to use the, uh, lethal
use of force. Um, and thankfully I have never had to use that force. Um...I also want to
say, um, that I'm cognizant, uh, to Miss deProsse, and I believe Miss Dieterle about the
reasons behind the initial formation of this Board. Um, my profession is not perfect, um,
but I'm very proud to be an Iowa City Police Officer. I think we do a great job, um, I
don't think that's coming from someone who's biased. I...I truly believe that. Um, I
believe that you all have an important job, um, and I believe that if I as a police officer do
my job correctly that...you will not have any issues with the way I do that. Um, there
have been some questions tonight about, and they've been kind of conflicting questions,
one has been why do we have all of these tools. The OC, which is pepper spray, the
taser, and various other tools that we have, and another one has been how can we use less
force, or can we mandate that these police use less force. And, those two statements
conflict so much, because the idea behind, in my opinion as a... as a citizen and as a
police officer, the idea behind us having those tools is so that we can use the least force
necessary to do our job. I don't know anyone that...wants to take someone's life. It
doesn't matter if it's justified, and how justified it is, or unjustified. That's a nightmare.
It's something that I as a person would have to deal with the rest of my life, and it would
not be easy. Um...I...I don't know anyone who feels differently, and as I said before,
being cognizant of the reason why this Board was formed, or around at he time this
Board was formed, I think what...what the public will find, and what the Board would be
able to substantiate if, uh, if the...the information were in front of them and could
substantiate to the public or corroborate for the public is that...we don't...we don't use
deadly force, um, frequently, and...I'm...thank God for that! Um, our department...back
up...uh, we work very hard, and I work very hard, at training, um, and...and it's very
important for us to allow ourselves the...the knowledge, and give ourselves the
knowledge and training so that we don't have to use that deadly force. Um, and we do
train very hard and very seriously about that. Um, I guess the, like I said in the beginning
that...the overwhelming, uh, sentiment to me was that people don't understand what we
run across daily in our jobs. Um, no...we did chose this job, um, it does take a certain
type of personality to do it. We are not all perfect. We make mistakes, and we expect to
be held accountable for those mistakes. Um, we...I think you'll also find as the public
that we, uh, we work very hard not to make, um, not to make those mistakes. Thank you.
Young/ Thank you very much, uh, for that statement. I think it was very, uh, informed and well
received. Um, I want to tell you that my...my father's been a, uh, a police officer and a
detective and a military police officer, and he's retiring next month. So he's been doing
that for, um, almost 30 years, and I don't know exactly what he's run across in his job, but
I...I know that, um, that he takes it very seriously and would probably echo many of the
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things that...that you said. However, I do want to address two points that you made.
One is, you said that if you do your job correctly, that the Board, um, probably would not
take any issue with what you have done, and I just want...I want to raise this: sometimes
a complaint may come in that may, and an officer has done everything correctly, but it
may alert attention to a policy that the police follow that may not be, um, necessarily, um,
appropriate, or could be questioned, and so therefore a policy recommendation can be
made, or policy change. So, the issue of whether you've done everything correctly, or
not, still can raise a question or issue, and I think that, um, police officers, as well as
citizens, would be wise to keep that, um, to, uh, to keep that in mind. And, um, I didn't
write it down, but there was one other point, um, oh...the other thing is, I wholeheartedly
believe that no police officer ever wants to use deadly force. And if a police officer, um,
sees the need to use deadly force, I think some of the questions that people might have,
and some...some of what the citizens might be concerned with are what perceptions, or
what socio-cultural factors impact the polices...the policemen's or policewomen's
decision to use deadly force. Um, one person who spoke tonight said that the
demographics of Iowa City, um, are changing, and with that change the, um,
admonishment to be aware or alert of... of those changes means that the sense of
perception or judgment may be impacted, or may not be, um, as informed as it could be,
when an officer chooses to use some kind of force. So, those kinds of issues or thoughts
are things that I keep in mind, um, and the police officer may in his or her mind fully
believe that everything is on a...uh, level playing field, that they are egalitarian and um,
are, uh, motivated by a sense of justice for everybody. That being said, sometimes there
are factors that can, I believe, um, impact a person's sense of judgment, or can impact a
person's perception in any given situation. And I think that it's wise to, um, as you said,
remember that mistakes can be made, that people are imperfect, and that's why we have a
democracy and boards like this one that is set up in a democracy so that we can talk about
those and make certain recommendations and decisions.
Smithey/ Um, to the first, uh, subject I think you brought back to me was the idea that we may be
correct in our judgment according to the policies as they're written. Um, but there may
be a flaw in those policies. I think you'll find, um, that the policies that govern our police
department, as well as, um, the police departments across the nation are largely derived
from several very key Supreme Court rulings. This isn't...these things come out of our
State law which are echoed by federal cases. The important ones the Chief touched on,
Graham v. Connor, very important one. Tennessee v. Garner, um, Terry V. Ohio, these
are all cases that we study, that I understand, that I can tell you the background behind,
and that are used in order to shape our policies and procedures, such as the deadly force.
Um...or the use of force policy. Um, he read from you, uh, read to you and to the public,
um, some quotations from our use of force policy that are taken directly out of that, um,
that Supreme Court case, Graham v. Connor. Um, I don't...I...I don't know what
further...um, what further questioning...we don't have a further questioning in our
system of government than the Supreme Court. That said, the pendulum does swing, and
I'm confident that if you look at police procedure and policies through the years that you
will find that those procedures and policies have adapted according to, um, the changes
in...in those rulings and so on. Those are the big three that I can think of off the top of
my head that really affect the way we do things. Um, and I have no doubt that if an
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additional case comes before any governing body that covers us also, be it the Iowa
Supreme Court or the United States Supreme Court, I have no doubt that our policies will
be changed, um, immediately to reflect those, uh, those changes in... in case law. Um,
I've seen it during my time on the department, so um, yes, I understand what you're
saying and the...and that is why I believe is what is part of your charter is to look at our
policies and... and look at our procedures, and say do these fall in line with what the
highest decision makers in our land say is right and proper. Um, and I think that you'll
find that...that our policies fall in line with those things. Uh, as far as the demographics
go, this is a...a debate, a subject that, uh, is incredibly charged right now in our
community. We are aware of that, um...I...I still say, and I will tell you all that I stand,
um, proudly beside all of the officers I work with, and um, also knowing that um, I
believe Miss deProsse brought up that some...a case in Connecticut, um, and we are
human, yes, we are human, um, I've acknowledged we make mistakes, and that is what
this forum, uh, and this Board is for, um, to allow people the opportunity to say I believe
a mistake was made, and then judge our actions and say yes or no. Um, I don't know, I'm
not privy to the one sustained allegation that the Board has seen I think in the last year,
um, that you, uh, cited, um, I don't know the situation, uh, and I...I don't believe you can
share that with us, um, but I can tell you that no one on our department wants to make a
procedural error, an error that hurts someone, violates their constitutional rights, um, and
we work very hard to keep that from happening. Um, and that includes understanding,
um, that right now our community is charged with, is very...is very charged about what's
going on in our community. There's a lot of...read through the Press-Citizen comment
section on any given day and you'll see that...that there are people that feel strongly, um,
about a lot of issues. Um, and I...I want to assure the Board and the public that we strive
very hard, we work very hard, to not allow those things to influence our decision, or
decision making process. Um, I guess that's it. Unless you have a...anything else you'd
like to...thank you.
Treloar/ I do have a question, um, in your estimation, approximately how many officers on the
department, percentage-wise, hold afour-year degree or greater?
Smithey/ I honestly don't know the answer to that question. I can tell you that, uh, that our city
government has, uh, placed a, um, that our city government, including our Police
Department I believe finds education very valuable, and that is, um, something that, um, I
believe factors greatly into, um, a candidate's ability to secure a job with our city as a
police officer.
Treloar/ Thank you.
Dieterle/ I'm Caroline Dieterle. I live on Walnut Street, and uh, basically I'm just here to ask
some questions, um, rather than state any opinions. Um, the first one is that, uh I think
that most people realize that given the economic situation there's not a lot of money
hanging around, and that the City has to make, um, some choices about how they're going
to spend that, and the whole, uh, question of being able to hire additional firefighters and
police have been, you know, all that's been in the papers largely lately. Um, and you
know, given the fact that we can't have as many as some people would wish to have and
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so forth, and we have to pretty much get along with the resources and the manpower that
we have, or person power, um, the question that comes to mind to a concerned citizen
who reads the reports and the paper about what's going on is how does one, um, register
any kind of opinion about how the priorities are set for the Police Department? Um, you
know, one's left wondering whether the person to discuss this with is Council? Or Chief
Hargadine? Or possibly, uh, the City Manager, since he is the person to whom Chief
Hargadine reports. Um, you know, and that is just not at all clear, and I think that for
myself, you know, I am far happier when I read in the paper that they have managed to
apprehend, you know, somebody who has been breaking into cars and vandalizing
people's property, and assaulting people, um, than I am to hear about how many people,
uh, were arrested for PAULA in one of the local bars. Um, the recently, uh, the Co-Op
was the victim of a sting. They sent in an underage, um, person with a, uh, plainclothes
officer to see if anybody would sell any liquor or, well, we don't sell liquor, any wine or
beer. And the person had a, um, an I.D. that was not a, um, a, what would you say, usual
I.D. Apparently it was somewhat altered, but done very skillfully. Um, and the person
who checked the I.D. was taken in by the...by the falsification, and the Co-Op, you
know, will have to help their employee pay $500 for this. Um, you know, I think that
most of the businesses that I know about in town are eager to try to comply with the law,
and train their employees, uh, to...to look for proper I.D. Um, and I guess that I would
far rather have the people out looking for the people who did the break-ins and did the car
vandalizing and that sort of stuff than bothering with something like that, considering our
limited manpower. So, if the Board makes any, um, recommendations to the City
Council following this forum, um, I would like them to, uh, let people know at a
minimum, um, to whom one addresses these feelings, uh, and ideas. Um, because I don't
know whether it's to you, or you know, to my City Council or who, and I'm sure there are
other people in the community who are similarly puzzled, you know, about that. Um, the
other thing is is that I do know a little bit about guns, and um, I'm a little curious as to
what kinds of ammunition, or what kind of ammunition is issued to the police, uh, for
these kinds of incidents. Um, because I do know that there are some types of, uh, shells,
for instance, the hollow point ones, that if you hit someone in the center body mass with
that, you might as well say goodbye. Because there's no chance virtually that they will
survive. Um, there are other kinds, which it's the luck of the draw whether you hit them
in a vital spot that, um, will cause death or simply serious injury. So anyway I guess I'm
curious about that too. I would hope that nobody uses hollow point bullets. I would
guess that they don't, but I haven't got any idea what they do use.
King/ There is a policy on the ammunition use.
Dieterle/ There is?
King/ Yes. Um, I don't have a...the number here, but I can find it and let you know.
Dieterle/ And that...that would be...
King/ There is one on... on what type of ammunition they can use.
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Dieterle/ Okay.
King/ Um...and I don't know if the...they're allowed to carry off-duty weapons, but they would
have to qualify with whatever weapon they were carrying.
Dieterle/ Uh-huh.
King/ And I'm not sure if they used hollow points or what type of weapons they use, um, some
departments use 9-millimeters, some departments use, uh, 40-cals, um, what does Iowa
City use? (unable to hear person away from mic) 40 caliber is the size of the round.
Um, but I could find out.
Dieterle/ I've also heard that there's an extreme shortage of ammunition currently. Um, and
is...is the Police Department able to keep itself supplied?
King/ I would imagine the Police Department has their own ammunition bunker, for example, I
don't know... it'd be stored somewhere, but I'm (both talking)
Dieterle/ ...you're confident that any insurrection will be met with adequate force.
King/ Yeah, I would think!
Dieterle/ Okay, well then...the other question I asked, I asked it when things were considerably
more tense nationally than they are now. What would happen if the President declared
martial law, and um, troops were sent into town? Um, who would have the priority then?
Would our local police still have, you know, the ultimate authority or would that all be
subservient to the soldiers that marched in on us?
King/ Hmmm...
Dieterle/ Well, that's another thing that I would think the police would want to know, as well as
all of the...all of the people.
King/ Yeah, and I'm sure there's some type of policy of who would have the authority...already
set in place.
Dieterle/ Right.
King/ Yeah. Whether they would ever use it, I'm sure it's somewhere...
Dieterle/ You think? Well...
King/ Find out and let you know!
Dieterle/ Yeah, there again, I'd like to know about that. The other thing that I found very
disquieting that really doesn't affect us much locally, I hope, is is that corporations do to a
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clerical error more or less, um, on the Supreme Court, I mean, it's nice you have so much
faith in the Supreme Court, but apparently an error by a clerk was propagated into this
policy that corporations have got the rights of individuals. Well, following from that,
corporations have First Amendment rights and Second Amendment rights, um, they have
the Second Amendment right to bear arms, corporations. So, people like the Blackwater
outfit that is, uh, apparently headquartered in Virginia, uh, you know, have the right to
bear arms and potentially to carry them and do whatever. And this is something that I
think, um, we ought to be thinking about, uh, as a group. Anyway, it's not just your
responsibility, but you know, I think that this is something that needs to be raised. And
finally, I would like to also agree with the people who think that possibly it would be a
good idea to have a forum sometime, uh, in different neighborhoods of the...of Iowa
City, one on the east side maybe particularly, and maybe one on the south side, so that
people there who may not have good transportation to get here in an evening. The bus
system quits running at 6:00 or so, would have an opportunity to appear before you, but
thank you very much for (both talking)
King/ Thank you. And the...the forum is broadcast on Channel 5, um, we have to check into
logistics if we moved it, but that's...that's definitely a consideration, to move it to a
different area, um, the cameras are portable so...we'll check into that. Thank you.
Anyone else?
Partridge/ My name's Jerry Partridge. I am, uh, resident of Iowa City as of about a year and a
couple months ago. And uh, couple points. If the, um, if the militia or somebody were
nationalized and sent to Iowa City, um, I suspect the same thing would happen as it
happened in the 60s when they had to, um, escort eight students into the University of
Alabama, and they turned the National Guard into a federalized force and, so um, that's a
legal opinion that'll cost you about $75.00 (laughter). Um, I know a little bit about the,
um, training, uh, some of the training for the Iowa City Police Department. And, um, in
the state of Iowa there are very loose training requirements, uh, they are required to have
essentially I think 30 hours of training a year, and um, the...the Chief or the Sheriff can
just sign off on any particular activity and say that's training. In other states they have
police officer standards in training commissions that actually sit and evaluate, uh,
whether training the particular department has received qualifies to keep the officer
certified. Iowa City is one of the, um, handful of police departments that, um, has
applied for and been accepted in Illinois by, I think it's Mobile Training Unit 6 in the
Quad Cities because Hargadine doesn't feel like the training is...the best training is
available in Iowa. He has gotten permission from Illinois authority to send some of his
people over there. Maybe all the people, I don't know, but um, it's...it's kind of...it was a
pretty impressive decision by...by Sam to do that. The other thing is that the Iowa City
Police Department, it's interesting to hear Officer Smithey talk about, uh, court decisions.
I work for a company that, uh, only has 30 clients in the state of Iowa. Uh, we have a
substantial number in Missouri and Illinois, but in Iowa only 30 that take what's called
legal update training, and every month that there are Supreme Court decisions or Court of
Appeal decisions, Iowa Supreme Court decisions, or the legislature makes a change in the
law, those matters are documented, put in an interactive environment, and I know this is
going to sound like a commercial, but uh, we're quite proud of the service that we've
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provided in the states of Missouri and Illinois for more than 11 years, but there's only 30
departments in Iowa that take that training, and one of 'ems Iowa City. So while the
Supreme Court can probably make all kinds of decisions and the Tennessee v. Garner
case that, um, was cited, was an important decision for Officer Smithey, because it
changed the previous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court, or the United States Supreme
Court. So, of course, you know, policies can be questioned and should be, and because
that policy down in Tennessee got questioned, we have a whole new set of rules. (unable
to hear person away from mic) Well, the decision essentially was I think a teenager was
fleeing from a scene, and he showed no evidence of a weapon, but under Tennessee law,
the officer was authorized to use deadly force for a fleeing felon. So, 15-year-old kid
gets shot climbing up a fence to escape, uh, and I'm (unable to hear person away from
mic) unless there's evidence that somehow the officer is in danger, his life is in danger, or
the...or the fleeing felon is endangering somebody else's life. So...um, there's good
training going on. Perfection, you'll never get it, um, you know, if...if...I don't know
how often you guys have ever done ride-alongs to see what it's like to go with a police
officer to a domestic, or go to a situation where a guy's had a really bad day, lost his job,
his girlfriend's left him, he's drunk, his kids hate him, you know, everything's gone
wrong, and you have this phenomenon called suicide by cop, where the person confronts
the police officer and forces the police officer to shoot 'em. Unless you've conceived that
there's a mindset out there like that, you know, perhaps your dad is...has confronted
situations like that, or people with post-traumatic stress syndrome, but it's a kind of a
bizarre world and so you train, you train, you train. There is a joke about the Iowa City
Police Department being the best educated police department in the state. I don't know if
it's true or not, but uh, there seem to be some pretty bright guys like Officer Smithey
around. Anyway, thanks. (several talking) By the way, in the 14 months I've lived in
Iowa City, I think it's just the greatest place on the whole planet, uh, I...I just adore the
place. The police officers that I've run into, um, really conduct themselves in a
exemplary manner, I mean, they're courteous, they're friendly, uh, I saw a police officer
showed such compassion at a scene where a bicyclist had been struck, that um, you
know, you wish you could just get his name and write a bunch of letters, but uh,
anyway...unlike most of the population I don't write letters. I just complain.
King/ Thank you. One of the other things I'd like to point out is that 13th annual Citizen's Police
Academy goes into a lot of the different, um, they have ashoot-don't shoot scenario, um,
where you actually have a weapon on that, um, they show you a scenario if you should
shoot it or you don't shoot, they have, um, some of the hiring procedures, some of the
ethics that they go through, um, it's a very, very educational, uh, Citizens Police
Academy and I think there's a charge of like $25.00. It's 11 weeks, uh, a few hours every
Wednesday night, um, but I think its well worth it. Uh, accept a motion for adjournment.
Young/ So moved.
King/ Moved by Vershawn.
Treloar/ Is everybody that wants to speak...spoken? I just want to make sure that we've
addressed everybody's concerns. I'll second your motion.
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King/ Seconded by Joe. All in favor say aye. All opposed same sign. Motion carries. Thank
you very much.
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