HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-01Police Citizens Review Board
A Board of the City of Iowa City
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City IA 522401826
319 356 5041
June 8 2009
To City Council
Complainant i3
Dale Helling Interim City Manager E
Sam Hargadine Chief of Police
Officers involved in complaint
From Police Citizens Review Board c
Re Investigation of PCRB Complaint 09O1
BOARDSRESPONSIBILITY
Under the City Code ofthe City of Iowa City Section 887B 2 the Boards job is to review
the Police Chief s Report Report ofhis investigation of a complaint The City Code requires
the Board to apply a reasonable basis standard ofreview to the Report and to give deference
to the Report because of the police chiefs professional expertise Section 887 B 2 While
the City Code directs the Board to make Findings ofFact it also requires that the Board
recommend that the Police Chief reverse or modify his findings only if these findings are
unsupported by substantial evidence are unreasonable arbitrary or capricious or are
contrary to apolice department policy or practice or any federal state or local law Section 8
BOARDSPROCEDURE
The Complaint was received at the Office ofthe City Clerk on February 17 2009 As required
by Section 885 B of the City Code the Complaint wasreferred to the Chief of Police for
investigation
The Chiefs Report was due on May 18 2009 and was filed with the City Clerk on May 14
2009
The Board met to consider the ChiefsReport on May 26 2009 The Board voted to review the
Chiefs Report in accordance with Section 887 B 1 a on the record with no additional
investigation
ALLEGATIONS
This complaint came from an incident that occurred February 10 2009 Complainant alleged
that
Officer A maliciously made false statements to Complainantsemployer about Complainants
driving of a company vehicle which resulted in Complainant being suspended and fired fromhisjob
FINDINGS OF FACT
On February 10 2009 Officer A and Officer B were surveiling Complainant based onn
unrelated investigation Officer A was following Complainant in a company vehicl
Complainant recognized he was being followed and attempted to confront Officer ATo doiis
Complainant pulled the company vehicle offthe road hanging out the window waving his herds
and arms at Office A pulling up right behind Officer As car swerving the company vehicle
within its own lane towards Officer As car and yelling out the window while driving next to
Officer A Officer A Officer B and Complainant agree on these facts regarding Complainants
driving behavior
Officer A appropriately exercised his professional judgment and discretion in reporting the above
erratic driving behavior to Complainantsemployer Officer A did not and was not required to
identify his place ofemployment when making this report Officer A chose not to identify
himself as a police officer so as not to compromise the investigation
Complainant alleges that he was fired as a result ofOfficer As complaint to Complainants
company about his driving but the following shows otherwise Complainantssupervisor
reported that there were other contributing factors which lead to Complainant being placed on
suspension at their job Complainantssupervisor also stated that Complainant would not be
fired due to the driving complaint but would have been monitored closer in the future
Furthermore when interviewed Complainant admitted he quit his job
CONCLUSIONS
Allegation Officer A maliciously made false statements to Complainants employer about
Complainantsdriving ofa company vehicle which resulted in Complainant being suspended and
fired from his job
Complainant agreed with both Officer A and Officer B regarding Complainants
driving of the company vehicle
Officer A used professional judgment and discretion in reporting Complainants
erratic driving behavior to Complainantsemployer
Complainant was not fired by his supervisor but put on suspension
Complainantsemployer stated that there were other contributing factors leading to
Complainant being placed on suspension
Complainant admittedly quit his job
NOT SUSTAINED
BOARD COMMENTS
The Board would like to support the Iowa City Police Department in creating a written policy
procedure rule or regulation which requires officers to request permission to leave city limits
while on duty and NOT in pursuit of a violator or suspected violator as well as requiring that the
supervisory staff identify to the requesting officer the limits to such travel permission and that
such policy procedure rule or regulation be added to the Operations Section of the Iowa City
Police Policy and Operating Procedures Manual
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