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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-20-2023 CPRB Community ForumCOMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD COMMUNITY FORUM APRIL 20, 20239 5:30 PM Iowa City Public Library - Meeting Room A 123 South Linn St. AGENDA ITEM NO. 1 CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL ITEM NO. 3 CONSIDER MOTION TO ACCEPT CORRESPONDENCE AND/OR DOCUMENTS ITEM NO. 4 COMMUNICATING WITH THE CPRB —WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO ITEM NO. 5 IOWA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT CORE VALUES DISCUSSION ITEM NO. 6 PUBLIC DISCUSSION WITH COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD Ikr:115110[•fir ,11911NII1:701hTI Qkr Ifyou will need disability -related accommodations to participate in this program/event, please contact Tammy Neumann at 319-356-5043, tneumann@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD COMMUNITY FORUM 111011 The Community Police Review Board will be holding a Community Forum for the purpose of hearing views on the policies, practices and procedures of the Iowa City Police Department. QUESTIONS & COMMENTS: Send your questions or comments you'd like addressed at the forum to the following by Monday, April 10, 2023 Please include full name and address. (All correspondence is public) CPR13 Or e-mail to: City of Iowa City CPRB@iowa-city.org 410 E Washington St, 52240 Tammy Neumann From: City of Iowa City: Do Not Reply<CityoflowaCity@public.govdelivery.com> Sent: Friday, March 31, 2023 3:31 PM To: Tammy Neumann Subject: Community invited to attend Community Police Review Board forum © SHARE Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. 10WACITY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 03/31 /2023 Contact: Tammy Neumann, City Clerk Administrative Secretary Phone: 319-356-5043 Community invited to attend Community Police Review Board forum The Community Police Board (CPRB) will host its annual Community Forum to hear views on Iowa City Police Department policies and procedures. The forum will begin at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, April 20, 2023, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library. The community is invited to submit questions and comments that will be used during the event Questions and comments are due Monday, April 10, 2023, and can be emailed to CPRB(c)iowa- city.org or mailed to CPRB at City of Iowa City, 410 E. Washington Street, Iowa City, IA 52240. Be sure to include your full name and address as all submissions are public. The board will try to address all questions and comments received. The forum will be recorded and later shown on City Channel 4. You can view programming and schedule at citychannel4.com. 1 P i Questions? Contact Us C17Y OF 101VA CITY U%($(O CIFV of t of RATURt Tammy Neumann From: City of Iowa City: Do Not Reply<CityoflowaCity@public.govdelivery.com> Sent: Friday, March 3, 2023 10:01 AM To: Tammy Neumann Subject: Community invited to attend Community Police Review Board forum E5 SHARE Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. 10WACITY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 03/03/2023 Contact: Tammy Neumann, City Clerk Administrative Secretary Phone: 319-356-5043 Community invited to attend Community Police Review Board forum The Community Police Board (CPRB) will host its annual Community Forum to hear views on Iowa City Police Department policies and procedures. The forum will begin at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, April 20, 2023, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library. The community is invited to submit questions and comments that will be used during the event. Questions and comments are due Monday, April 10, 2023, and can be emailed to CPRB(&iowa- city.orq or mailed to CPRB at City of Iowa City, 410 E. Washington Street, Iowa City, IA 52240. Be sure to include your full name and address as all submissions are public. The board will try to address all questions and comments received. The forum will be recorded and later shown on City Channel 4. You can view programming and schedule at citvchannel4.com. t ; � ww art►Questions? � Mr�,l Contact Us CITY OF 1O%VA CITY U`*TSCOOD 0111TERATURT K5 e= x x x x x x k N p {L M N k k X X x k k 0 M N a x x k k x X x M O M n k o x x x x k 0 M o x k x j k 0 N N x x x x o k x a N N X x X x x x x N 0 k x x o X c o N M x x x x o x X 0 N 0 N h O N o � 0 N o x x x x k x c 0 N N Nz X x x x k x k o° Lzi On M M O M O tl F 4 V W C L tC E OGi L p w z Rc 24 Tammy Neumann From: Dieterle, Caroline M <caroline-dieterle@uiowa.edu> Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2023 10:49 PM To: Community Police Review Board Cc: Iowa Civil Liberties Council Subject: Community Forum question I Rlsx ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or attachments. ** Please explain how the "Drug Recognition Officers" are trained, which drugs they are trained to look for and recognize, and where and under what circumstances they work. Caroline Dieterle Get Outlook for iOS Tammy Neumann From: Pamela Smith <p)vvors@hotmail.com> Sent: Thursday, April 6, 2023 9:49 AM To: Community Police Review Board Subject: Windows RISK ** This email originated outside of the City of Iowa City email system. Please take extra care opening any links or attachments. ** Does the ICPD ticket cars with dark tinted windows? COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD (CPRB) COMMUNITY FORUM: SUMMARY Thursday, April 20, 2023 — 5:30 PM Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A CPRB Members Present: Ricky Downing, Melissa Jensen, Jerri MacConnell, Saul Mekies, Amanda Remington, Orville Townsend, Stuart Vander Vegte. The Iowa City Community Police Review Board (CPRB) held the annual Community Forum on Thursday, April 20, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. 1. Board Chair Jerri MacConnell called the meeting to order. 2. Board members introduced themselves. 3. Two email correspondence were received pertaining to the Forum. First email asked to explain how "Drug Recognition Officers" are trained, what drugs they are trained to look for and recognize, and under what circumstances they work. Second email asked if ICPD tickets cars with dark tinted windows. Both email correspondences were accepted. 4. Jensen shared how to communicate with the CPRB, who we are and what we do. • Board is comprised of seven members appointed by City Council. • Reviews reports after investigation of complaints about alleged misconduct and then issues its own reports that contain detailed findings of fact & conclusions that explain why and to the extent complaints are sustained or not sustained • CPRB reviews police, policies, procedures, & practice, and may recommend modification to them. • CPRB only has limited civil administrative review powers & has no power or authority over criminal matters or police discipline. • All complaints to the Board must be filed within 180 days. • Any person with personal knowledge of alleged misconduct may file a CPRB complaint with the board. • Process— Complaint is filed, copy goes to the Chief for an internal affairs investigation, a copy also goes to the Equity Director. Chiefs investigation completed within 90 days, with a detailed written report with the findings. Copies of the report go to the CPRB, complainant, officers, & City Manager. CPRB reviews the report & may conduct an additional investigation, the board then issues a written report with findings. Copies pf the board public reports are sent to the complainant, the police officers, City Manager, Equity Director, & the City Council. 5. ICPD Chief Dustin Liston shared information about the ICPD defining their core values or guiding principles. Officers should be able to look at core values, and be able to think of them when they're making decisions in the field. CPRB has been asked to provide input, and this is an opportunity for the public to provide input as well. Community member asked if there were any proposed core values that could be viewed. Chief Liston gave multiple examples - partnership, engagement, inspire change, etc. to name a few. Community member asked if transparency would be considered, and referenced tension and the importance of things being public. Further discussion about the importance of transparency but also the reality of having to deal with confidentiality on some issues. 6. Public Discussion: o Discussion on the submitted question on window tint. Requirement is to let 70%of the light through, and tickets can be written. o 2nd submitted question was on drug recognition. Several members of ICPD have participated in nationwide training program that is over three weeks in length. There is also annual retraining. The training is provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. o A community member asked if officers determine whether or not an investigation is made. Chief Liston responded the officers are trained to check if someone is under the influence of alcohol. If someone blows and they're not under the influence, but still show signs of impairment. The officer will typically call for a drug recognition expert. o Community member asked how many complaints are made annually and how much authority does the board have. Discussion from board was while the power is limited, the board makes public recommendations, and public can reach out to council and respond. o In reference to number of complaints for 2022, the board received 18 complaints, 16 were not sustained, and 2 were sustained. Comment from board member, that doesn't mean the board believes everything in the 16 encounters was acceptable; a complaint is only not sustained if there was a policy violation. If there is no policy violation, the board can use the comment section on the public report to make recommendations and isn't shy about doing so. The board also has access to a lot of information including reports, and body camera footage. It's a community effort with the board, the chief & city council member at the meetings as well. o The board commented about objectivity, the board members come from a wide range of backgrounds, and have a wide range of opinions, with multi -faceted, multi different points of view. The board meets the second Tuesday of the month at 5:30 pm at City Hall. 7. Forum adjourned. COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD COMMUNITY FORUM APRIL 20, 2023 Members Present: Ricky Downing, Melissa Jensen, Jerri MacConnell, Saul Mekies, Amanda Remington, Orville Townsend, Stuart Vander Vegte Staff Present: Chief Dustin Liston, Tammy Neumann Others Present: Pat Ford, Legal Counsel; Laura Bergus, City Council MacConnell: All right. I want to welcome all of you here and I am going to have the Board go ahead and introduce themselves and state how long they have been on the Board and we're going to start with you. Ford: You're going to start with me? MacConnell: Yeah. Ford: All right. My name is Pat Ford. I'm actually not a Board member. I'm a lawyer here in town and I'm Counsel for the Board. Vander Vegte: My name is Stuart Vander Vegte. I've lived in Iowa City for about four years now, and I've been on the Police Board now for a little over a year. MacConnell: Ok. I'm Jerri McConnell. I am the Chair for this year. I've been on the Board for three years. Jensen: Melissa Jensen. I've been an Iowa City resident for about 23, 24 years, was previously on the Board, stepped away for a brief period of time, and I've been back now for a year. Downing: Hi. My name is Rick Downing. I've been here on the Board for about a year, and I've lived in Iowa City a long time. I'm a retired RN, and I decided this would be a good way to give my time to the City. Mekies: My name is Saul Mekies. I've been on the Board for two years and in Iowa City since the previous century. Townsend: My name's Orville Townsend and I have been on the Board a long time. I can't remember how long but probably about three terms. Remington: Mandi Remington, I've lived in Iowa City for 23 years and been on the Board for three years. MacConnell: Okay. We're going to consider a motion to accept correspondence and/or documents. Mekies: I so move. Jensen: Second. MacConnell: All right. These are two emails that were sent in. Um, the first is from Carolyn Dieterle. Okay. Thank you. She says, "please explain how the drug recognition officers are trained, which drugs they are trained to look for and recognize, and where and under what circumstances they work." The second email is from Pamela Smith and she's wondering, "does the Iowa City Police Department ticket cars with dark tinted windows?" I need a motion to accept the correspondence. Townsend: So moved. Mekies: Second. MacConnell: All in favor? [OVERLAPPING] Aye. MacConnell: Opposed? Passes. Alright. Jensen: Oh. This is me. Alright. So just to, just to share a little bit of information about the CPRB, what we do, and this information is also in part contained in the brochure that's over there. So, the Community, Iowa City Community Police Review Board consists of seven members. We are appointed by the City Council, and we do have legal counsel to assist us when we're doing our reviews and looking at information. So, Pat helps us with that. We do review reports prepared after investigation of complaints of misconduct. We also then issue written reports about that and that's the really short version of what we do. The CPRB--we look at policies, so we have a regular rotation. We do review police policies, so those come before our agenda. We can make recommendations on those policies. We also have one community forum a year, and so you're all here for that. We also, and this is important, we have limited civil administrative review powers, and we also have no power of authority over criminal matters or police discipline. So that is, in part, by City ordinance and also by state law. So that's just a piece of what we do. We do have, like most -most boards do have, some restrictions. When it talks about our investigations and there's a spot that it talks about, we do investigations. That can mean a variety of things. It's to review the complaint. It's also to read the Chiefs report, which I'll talk about that here in just a second, and then it also may include reviewing other information. So, for example, if a scenario involves a situation, there'd be audio recordings, there'd be body camera footage, there would be other information. We would review that as well as part of our review of the report and investigation. So, a little bit about how all that works, complaint process works. All complaints must be filed with the City Clerk within 180 days of the alleged misconduct. So, all of these steps have some time limits. Any person that has personal knowledge of the alleged misconduct may file a complaint with the Board. And personal knowledge --we've had some questions about that in the past. What that means is somebody that's either directly involved in the incident or they witnessed the incident. As an example, if somebody viewed something solely on social media, for example, that doesn't include personal knowledge. That is something that a person may be aware of and may have concerns, but to file an actual complaint, they have to either have been involved or have witnessed the incident. An individual that might be underage or incapable or need some assistance in writing a complaint can have a person to assist them as well. Someone can write a complaint for that individual, as well as a person that files a complaint can also have a support person help them and that occasionally will happen. Sometimes depending on what the situation could be. It can be somebody from just, somebody that was with the individual at the time. Um, it could be someone just providing support. That individual typically doesn't speak, um, if they do come in and talk to us, but they can have a support person, so somebody doesn't have to walk through this process, if they choose to go all the way through, on their own if they'd like to have somebody along. So, complaints come forward. Complaint is filed, it comes in, a copy goes to the Chief, A copy is also set, sent right away to the Equity Director and, as well as a supervisor. Then from the supervisor or an investigator from the Police Department will reach out to the complainant to talk with that person and say what happened more about what's going on. If the complaint is about the Chief for example, the City Manager, Geoff From, would complete the investigation in this case. Once the investigation is completed, the Chief files are written report, and that has to be done within 90 days of the complaint being filed. So again, more steps. Detailed written report, um, speaking to the complaint and saying it's either sustained or not sustained. So sustained- not sustained, being insufficient evidence to approve or disapprove that had happened. And sustained, saying that complaint is true. So, the written report from the Chief comes in, it's- it speaks to the complaint to that investigation and whether the Chief believes it's true or not true through the investigative process. Copies of that report at that point go to, come to the CPRB, they go to the complainant, to the officers involved, and to the City Manager. From then the complainant has 21 days to reach back out and say, wait a minute, I want- we want to talk more about this to ask questions so to respond. And if that happens, the Chief has another 10 days to respond back. If the complainant chooses not to respond within that 21 days, then we move to the next step. So, as I mentioned, the CPRB would review the report. We may do an additional investigation. There may be sufficient information at that point in the written report. If there is audio, video, body camera footage, we would review that as well as part of- part of our review. And within 90 days [NOISE] then we issue a written report. We also then at that point say sustained or not sustained. We agree or- or- we feel we disagree with the Chiefs report. Copies of the report at that point- our report is public, and it goes to the complainant, to the officer involved or officers, the City Manager, the Equity Director and to the City Council. We can make recommendations. If we would disagree or have questions about information, we can ask for- make recommendations on changes that we would see that would need to be made. But again, remember that we have- we don't have jurisdiction over criminal proceedings, uh, disciplinary issues, but we can certainly make a recommendation on that. And I think I- I know it's long stuff, a lot of dates, but that's- that's kind of the process as it works for us. So, I will turn it back. MacConnell: Um, we're going to have a discussion on the Iowa City Police Department core values and actually you're going to do that. Jensen: I'm going to do that part? Okay. Uh, so this is an item we placed on the agenda and Chief, I hope you're willing to speak to this a little bit. Um, the core values being defined as how you want the people in your organization to behave. And the City has been working on that. So Chief Liston is here, and we've asked him if he would talk a little bit more about that. Liston: Sure. Okay. Uh, is it on? Jensen: It's not on. Liston: All right. I'm Dustin Liston, I'm the Chief of Police for Iowa City. Um, one of the things along with the City's new, uh, Strategic Plan, this is a five-year plan, right, Counselor Burgess? So, uh, what we've decided to do, uh, is look at our core values. And I wanted to make sure that those were in line with the City's Strategic Plan, as well as what the community thinks, and wants their Police Department's core values to be. And what I mean by core values is just guiding principles. These folks can attest we have an enormous policy manual, but we can't policy and procedure away everything. So, um, some things that aren't in the policy, I would want the officers to be able to look back at our core values and be able to think of that when they're making their decisions in the field. So, I've asked this organization to help us. I've asked my staff, I've asked this organization, I thought this would be a good opportunity to ask the public, because you're our customers I want you to have a say in what you think the core values of the Iowa City Police Department would be. So that's what the ask is. It's a long process. It's actually taking longer than I thought it would, but I want to get it right. I don't want it just to be random words. If you go on most law enforcement websites, you'll see they have a list of several core values in and we have something similar, but it's more of like guidelines. It's not exactly core values. We have a mission statement that I'm proud of that we've had for a while, but I think we could add to that with the core values. So that's what I've asked this group to help me with as long- as well as my staff. Jensen: So, if anyone would like to provide, uh, to talk about that a little bit, provide some input. I would ask you to step up to the microphone. You do need to sign in name, and you don't have to write your address if you're- just write the city or from, um, you're certainly welcome to do that. Mekies: May I? Jensen: Absolutely. Mekies: This does not need to be bureaucratic. We're here to listen to your concern while you're here. So, let's make it simple. If you have a question or concern, let- let's hear them. Jensen: This is in re- this is in regard to the core values and Saul's right. I mean, we're not trying to be- we're required to, to have a certain format for the meeting, but you can certainly, um- we can get your name and the City asked us to do that, but you can- you can shout it out if you have a question about the core values. There's a point- we're getting to the point where if you have any other questions for us, we'll talk about that as well. Audience: Is there or are any set of proposed core values? Is that something we could view? Liston: I've got a laundry list, so and we're obviously not going to have, you know, 25. But these are- these are some of them. Partnership, engagement, selflessness - selflessness, patience, inspire change, relentless, courageous, consistency, logic, accuracy, fairness, procedural justice, trust, integrity, compassion, respect, accountability, vigilance, trauma informed, professionalism, ethical conduct, impartiality, respect, responsibility, readiness, inclusive, welcoming culture, acknowledge and embrace differences, foresight. These are ones that members of my staff have come up with. And again, we can't- we can't have every word in the dictionary on there, so we've got to whittle it down a bit. But those were some that we- that we had come up with. Good question. Vander Vegte: Thank you Chief: Townsend: I think the pillar of our core values is based on a reality that our city is very unique in terms of we were one of the first cities to have a Police Review Board. Over the years, I've had situations where I've had friends or that enco- had encounters with the police and they walked away feeling very bitter because they felt that they had been treated unfairly. And in those days, they didn't have any avenue to get that addressed. Well, today we do, you know, we have a Police Review Board and basically it is the citizen's board. I mean, if they have a problem, they can bring it to us. I think the City is very committed to this, our meetings, the Police Chief, we have a representative from the City Council. I mean, you know, we're very serious about this. And- and the reason we're serious is because you as the citizens, you matter. And we want you to have every fairness and every opportunity that's possible. Jensen: Anybody else? Abuissa: I've got a question, I think. Jensen: Okay. Would it be fair at this point to say we could open it up to any questions for us? And too, at this point, if- if it's specific to, um, the core values, that's fine. If anybody has questions, they would like to ask us as a group or if anything that we can answer. Abel: I understood the questions had to be submitted beforehand. Jensen: They could be, but you certainly could get up and you could ask a question here. Abel: Thank you, but that wasn't- that wasn't the way the meeting was presented. MacConnell: That's right. Jensen: Okay. Yeah. I- I apologize for that, sir. I- I am not familiar with that piece, but I hear you. Go ahead, sir. Abuissa: Yeah. So, I heard accountability as a proposed, um, core value. And I'm curious if you'd consider transparency. I know that there's a sort of tension because if every little thing that the police department does is public, then it's harder to fight some forms of crime. So, there is a tension there, but I value transparency so. Jensen: Thank you. Townsend: Thank you. You know, we talk about transparency and that's very important. But I think we also need to address the reality that we also have to deal with confidentiality. MacConnell: Did you have something you wanted to comment on? Liston: I can address the- the submitted questions now. MacConnell: Okay. Jensen: Okay. Liston: So, the two previously submitted questions, one was the window tint and yes, that's part of the code. And, eh, officers in Iowa City do enforce the code so they can write a ticket for it. So yes, we can. I think the requirement is it has to allow 70% of the light through, so we address that. The second question was in regard to drug recognition experts and that's a nationwide, uh, program that we have several members of the Iowa City Police Department participate in. They receive extensive training. It's over three weeks of training, half of which is classroom and then half of which they lately we've been flying people down to. er, Jacksonville Florida to do live testing with people who are volunteers, who are under the influence, which is kind of an interesting, uh. Vander Vegte: It's Florida. Liston: Right. Um, and then there's constant, uh, retraining every, annually they go through another eight hours of training, and they have to manage, they have to do four evaluations a year to maintain their certification. And again, Iowa is an implied consent law. Meaning if you're driving, if you have a driver's license, you've agreed to consent to a specimen of blood, breath, or urine, and that's, uh, and if you decide you don't want to, that's fine. But then you end up getting your license suspended through implied consent. So that's how DRE works. Most people think of OWIs as alcohol -related only DREs focus on things other than alcohol. How many types of drugs do they- they're trained for seven different classifications of drugs. And then under those- you know, under those classifications are all different types of drugs. But I hope that answers that question. Abel: Do you know what the classifications are? Liston: Do I? Abel: Yeah. Liston: Do I? No, not off the top of my head. Abel: Who provides this training in Florida and the-. Liston: It's The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Abel: What is that? The National Highway -is that a Government Organization? Liston: Right. Mekies: That's federal, right? Liston: Yes. Abel: Oh, thanks. There were some more parts to your question. Jensen: You want me to reread it? Liston: Sure. Jensen: Please explain how the drug recognition officers are trained, which drugs they are trained to look for and recognize and where and under what circumstances they work. Liston: Under what's, so again, the seven types of drugs I don't have those committed to memory. But where do they work? They're working all different shifts. Or you ask is a question, when are the DREs? Abel: Is it up to the officer to determine whether or not the investigation has made? Liston: Sure. Abel: It sounds pretty subjective to me. Liston: Right. Well, when the officer is doing an investigation and they determine someone is under the influence, then they use whatever probable cause they have to conduct that investigation. So, with, uh, with anything, when I pull someone over, it's my job to do- to determine if I feel like they're under the influence and if I have reasonable suspicion leading up to probable cause, I will conduct that investigation. And these officers are trained further. All of our officers are trained in field sobriety. That is to check to see if someone's under the influence of something. But we do the portable breaths test, which will tell if someone's under the influence of alcohol. And if someone blows that they're not under the influence of alcohol, but the officer is still showing signs of impairment, they will typically call for a drug recognition expert. Abel: They call for the drug recognition expert? Liston: That officer may be a drug...we have several on our department. Yes. Abel: But if that officer is one of the arresting officers, then you need to call someone in. Liston: Sure. It could be another officer working or those officers are on call too if they happen to not be working, we can call someone in. Abel: I'm just trying to understand how this works. Thank you. Liston: You're welcome. Jensen: Good question. And I apologize if I misunderstood when you originally asked me the question, so sorry about that. Thank you. Anyone else? Questions for us? Comments? Yes, sir. MacConnell: It's okay. Abel: Thank you. I'm Dean Abel. I'm a long-time Iowa City resident. I'm curious as to the relationship of the complaints. And after they're reviewed and suggestions are made to the Chief, I'm just curious as to how many complaints are made annually. How many of those complaints are upheld? How many are dismissed? I'm also concerned that --I know that the Board doesn't have any power to enforce suggestions. I believe the Board does have subpoena power. I'm curious as to whether that subpoena power has ever been used in any investigations. So, you can see where my question is going. My question is, uh, what authority does the Board really have? I haven't been to a board meeting recently, but there was a time when I observed several meetings. This was more than ld years ago. So, I'm just curious about an update about whether the Board is really being useful in following up complaints when you really don't have any authority and it's pretty, uh, many things go up to the Chief or the City Manager as the ultimate authority. Any comments on my feelings about that? Remington: I would like to say I absolutely hear you and I agree that it is concerning, uh, the lack of actual power that the Board has. That's been something that we've been trying to work on the last couple of years. We made 13 recommendations to the City Council at their request to try to gain some more power. Uh, I definitely consider our work to be worthwhile, even if we can't actually enact policy changes ourselves. We are able to bring light to issues within policy when we make our public recommendations. The policy recommendations do go to the Chief and to the City Council. So, when that information becomes public, it offers an opportunity for the public to also reach out to the City Council and let them know what they think about those recommendations and, um, apply any needed requests, pressure, et cetera. Um, whether they agree or disagree with the recommendations that we're making. MacConnell: Okay. Answer your question also. Um, for 2022, the Board, um, received t8 complaints. Uh,16 were not sustained and two were sustained. And by the time we read the report, we read the complaint, we watched the body camps. I mean, that's required that we watch the body cams so we can see exactly what's being said, what's not being said. One of the things we find is that often people misunderstand what is accepted policy. They may see something that they think isn't- shouldn't happen when in fact it can happen. And, um, often the complaint is not substantiated when you watch the tape. It's something different from what the complaint was. Remington: Now, when that does happen, um, and this is I think, where a lot of our value and our investigations lies as well. You know, with the 2022, we had 16 not -sustained complaints. That doesn't necessarily mean that we think that everything that happened in those 16 encounters was acceptable. A complaint is only not sustained if there was an actual policy violation. Now there are times that we watch videos, and we see encounters and we think that there was something that happened that was not acceptable. We can't sustain the complaint because it wasn't a policy violation, but that's where we're able to go in and use the commentary section on our public reports and make recommendations that the policies be changed for future scenarios. Townsend: You know, I think is very important, you know. It's like we expect a lot of our Police Chief, but I think we have to be honest and fair about it. He can't, you know, deal with something that he's not aware of. You know, and I think basically, our part of it is, we actually get to see the body cam and we can see exactly what's going on. And that can lead to a lot of different areas. Sometimes, you know, we will say that the officer acted inappropriately, other times the officer acted appropriately but there's a leaming situation there where something could have been done better. In an upcoming session, we can- we can share that with the Chief. I mean, our Board is here to help the City. We're not here to make laws and ch- and make drastic changes. We're here to be an objective eye and give feedback whenever possible. Vander Vegte: I'd like to address some of that objectivity. We have a very wide range of backgrounds. Uh, we have a lot of wide range of opinions and that's what I love about this Board, is that, you know, for instance, I have three black children, I have two adopted black sons. And so, it's important for me to make sure that they're treated appropriately. And we have the gambit of all different kinds of opinions, all different kinds of ways we come at the problem. And I think that's one of our greatest strengths here for the Board, is that we can see the multi- faceted, the multi -different points of view, not only from the police situation, but from the complainant. And we do get to see how the body cam footage, all the different angles of all the officers involved. And that's been very helpful, uh, to the Board, that we get access to all that information. Mekies: May I answer? With regards to subpoena, uh, to my knowledge, we've -we've never been refused any information that would help us in making our decisions. So, we haven't had to use any of that. Uh, all of that is, uh, is transparent and we have access, uh, multiple times to, uh, the body cams where we see everything. When- when something does happen, even though we- we, uh, agree, uh, with the outcome, uh, we- we're not shy about pointing out to, uh, the lack of professional language or behavior, uh, and so we- we- we stress that. And we also stress the fact that- that the Chief of Police is aware of our comment on- on those, uh, on those kinds of behavior. And he assures us that, uh, he reads those comments, and he reads our minutes. Uh, so, um, all of these considerations that you've, uh, you've expressed are- are taken into consideration. Townsend: And as far as transparency, our meetings are open to the public. But if it comes to a point where we have to deal with something that's confidential, then only board members can be present for that, but otherwise, public, you know, is welcome to sit in on our meetings- MacConnell: We meet the second Tuesday of the month at 5:30, at City Hall. Remington: And with that, like the policy portions are typically open to the public if we're reviewing any policies or looking at making any recommendations for policy changes. The confidential stuff just comes when we're actually reviewing specific investigations involving specific individuals. Liston: I think that's a really good question that you had. Because when I moved here, I - it took me a long time to figure out, uh, because it was- it was different in Texas. Uh, we had civilians. A lot of things were different in Texas. But we had civilians that were part of the, uh, discipline review board and they were a voting member. Iowa is different. I- I'm the only person that gets to discipline a member of my staff and I'm the one who makes the final decision. So, I- I would ask myself the same thing. What is their- what- what is their power? And- and as Mandi pointed out, their power is being able to make- me being at the meeting every week- the member of City Council being- or every month, a member of City Council being there. And ha- and the transparency that you mentioned, they get to see probably more video than they would prefer to see sometimes. And- and then they get to provide these comments. A lot of times, uh, and this is something I've explained to them, a lot of times a complaint will be not sustained, but there's still some opportunity for improvement and they're quick to point that out. And so am I with my staff. But I think that's where their value and their power is. Is giving us, giving me the feedback. They have direct access to me, giving me feedback, and - and also being another set of eyes. Because most of our complaints don't come in through the CPRB. They- they come in, a- a supervisor sees something and, um, but the ones that do, we've got seven people up here who are going to be scrutinizing it and that's great. That's great. I think it gives us a little more credibility because, uh, even though I'm the one who has to make the decision and I'm the one who has the liability with that decision too, I appreciate the help that these- these people provide. So, I think it's very valuable, I can understand how it would be frustrating, I know members of- past members have been frustrated with the perceived lack of power. But if you look at it the way Mandi mentioned it, I think that's where the power is, you know. With- with the influence and the- the - the opportunity to make suggestions, so. Jensen: I don't know the answer to this question, but we used to be the only, uh, city in Iowa that had a Community Police Review Board. MacConnell: We were the first. Jensen: We were the first, and w- and I think we're the - Liston: Coralville has one. Jensen: Coralville has one now? Okay. I'm a little behind. Other questions? Comments? Townsend: You know, I'll just say, you know, usually in situations like this, a lot of people feel that our Board should have more power and- and be able to be more involved. And I just want to go on record as saying, I disagree with that. Because the way it is now, the Board, the Police Chief, everyone involved, it's a cooperative effort. When you start at getting too many people, too deep into it, making decisions, you're going to have them bumping heads, there's going to be miscommunications, and things aren't going to go as smooth. There are going to be a lot of loose ends. So, I would prefer to have us stay where we are with our process because I think the way we handle it, we are making a difference and we are doing it so that that citizens of our city have another eye that gives them a great opportunity to assure that they're going to be treated fairly. MacConnell: Does anyone else have comments or questions? Liston: There is a historical study, um, what the CPRB had done since its beginning until 2020, that was in the preliminary plan to restructure the police department that was published by the city manager's office in December of 2020. It's on our website. It's a- it's a big document, but there's a handful of pages on the CPRB and I think that there will be some valuable information for that. Jensen: If there are no more comments, I will ask for a motion to adjourn. Townsend: So, moved. Vander Vegte: Seconded. MacConnell: All those in favor? [OVERLAPPING] Aye. MacConnell: Opposed? The meeting has been adjourned. 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