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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 2021 (FY21) COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD A Board of the City of Iowa City 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, IA 52240-1826 (319) 356-5041 July 13, 2021 Iowa City-City Council City of Iowa City 410 Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240 RE: Community Police Review Board Annual Community Forum The Iowa City Community Police Review Board (CPRB) held the annual Community Forum on Monday, May 17, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. Due to the Covid Virus the program was held virtually via zoom Board member participating in the forum were Chair-David Selmer, Vice Chair-Orville Townsend, Jerri McConnell, Amanda Nichols. Staff participating were Chris Olney and Kellie Fruehling. Patrick Ford, Legal Counsel also participated. The chair opened the forum and gave a short summary of the CPRB’s functions and responsibilities when attempting to hear and address citizens’ complaints when they feel they have been treated unfairly. It was also mentioned that the CPRB reviews policies and practices of the ordinances related to the Police Departments responsibilities. The CPRB also makes recommendations to the Chief and City Council when review findings indicate it appropriate. There was discussion of the 13 recommendations the CPRB submitted to the City Council for possible changes. 1. That in instances of a sustained misconduct complaint, the CPRB be given information about the corresponding discipline, and that the CPRB be allowed to include in its report its findings on whether the discipline is reasonable and fair. 2. The CBRP shall have the authority to request the city council have a disciplinary hearing. 3. That an accused officer be required to comply with a CPRB investigation or be disciplined by the chief of police/city manager. 4. A complainant shall have the right to respond to the chief’s findings in the chief’s report before the CPRB shall conduct its investigation. The online database of officer complaints shall be improved to allow for quick searches of complaint history and a computerized risk-management system to analyze trends. 5. The online database of officer complaints shall be improved to allow for quick searches of complaint history and a computerized risk-management system to analyze trends. 6. All complaints of misconduct shall be included in the police department’s monthly disclosures to the CPRB. 7. CPRB shall be provided with additional information in the police department quarterly reports to review for certain trends 8. CPRB should have the authority to hire an independent auditor to review the police department’s internal investigation procedures. 9. CPRB shall be provided city funding to promote awareness of the CPRB and enhance accessibility to its services. 10. Complainants shall have access to a lawyer and social worker/medical professional with trauma awareness training for purposes of assisting complainants throughout the complaint process. 11. Expand the membership of the CPRB from five to seven or nine members, with an emphasis on minority representation and representation from a current or former member of the police or police policy expert. 12. CPRB complaints should be permitted whether filed anonymously or through third persons so long as there is sufficient knowledge of the underlying circumstances. 13. The statute of limitation for filing a CPRB complaint shall be lengthened from 90 days after the date of the alleged misconduct, to 180 days after the alleged misconduct. When preparing to accept questions from the public the Chair mentioned that the Forum/Program was being recorded and would be replayed on Channel 4. The Chair opened the Forum to the public and the following individuals participated: Temple Hiatt, Deion Broxton, Joe Coulter, Susan Bryant, Dan Kauble, Tammy Nyden, and Travis Breese. The following areas were mentioned: • Gun free spaces-the question was “how do we notify the public that these spaces are no longer gun free?” In response to this question Chief Liston stated that it is the property owner’s responsibility to inform the public of gun free status. • Tracking demographics on use of force – the question was “Does information/data include race? Are these incidents reported to the FBI?” The response to this question is that this information is tracked. • The 13 Recommendations – Question about the 13 recommendations the CPRB made to the City Council. (discussed earlier in the meeting) • Priorities of the 13 recommendations – the question was which of the 13 recommendations submitted to the City Council are the top priority. Board members stated that they are all priorities. • Restructuring of the Police Department – The question was “How involved is the CPRB in the restructuring of the Police Department.” The response was that the Board is limited to what the ordinance allows. • The question was about Laura Bergus’ comment on abolishing the Police Department. • The question was about qualified immunity, but no discussion on this topic. • OIR Review - Recommendations made by the OIR Review related to the demonstration on June 6, 2020. • City Managers plan for enhancing the police. • Does the review only focus on policing and procedure or do they address Officers behavior? • Status Chart for CPRB Recommendations - Recommendations that a status chart be posted on the website indicating the progress on the CPRB recommendations to the City Council. The 13 proposals along with information on policies being reviewed. • Relationship of Iowa City Police and Iowa State Patrol - Relationship between the Iowa City Police and the State Patrol. An individual expressed concern that the Iowa City Police may be put in a situation where they support a groups orders that may be unfair to citizens. • Questionable Conduct Tools - Tools to identify officers who exhibit questionable conduct. • National CPRB Associations - Are there any National Associations or systems for CPRB – The response is that Iowa has the oldest CPRB. • Police and Mental Health Situations/Issues - Police dealing with individuals with mental health situations/issues. -Efforts have been initiated to collect information on contacts related to mental health issues. • Interest/Involvement with CPRB - How important is it to keep public interested/involved with the CPRB? • Guidelink Center - Discuss the Guidelink Center as a welcome resource. Police Chief shared that the Guidelink Center is an alternate to putting some people in jail. He fells it is a great option to jail and can help people get the services they need. The Chair reminded viewers that the forum was recorded and could be seen on Channel 4. The Forum was adjourned at 7:00 p.m. Orville Townsend, Vice-Chair Community Police Review Board (Transcriptions are available at ICgov.org)