HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000 Community Police Board Annual Report (2)COMMUNITY POLICE BOARD
Report of Activities and Summary of Complaints; Year 2000
Commendations:
The board wishes to acknowledge the many fine officers of the Ithaca Police
Department who routinely perform their duties in an exemplary manner. To
that end, during the year 2000, the Board received reports of 47 letters of
appreciation sent to the IPD from members of the community, commending
various officers for their high degree of professionalism. Many of those letters
commented on the extremely courteous and sensitive conduct of officers in
highly emotional and sometimes tragic circumstances. The Board compliments
the department and, speaking for the community, adds its gratitude to the
officers who perform their duties daily "above and beyond ".
Complaints:
As per the attached chart, the year 2000 saw a continuation of the gradual
increase in the number of complaints handled by the Board from 11 in 1997 to
22 in 2000. As per a request from the Neighborhood and Community Issues
Committee during the presentation of last year" report, the board has reviewed
complaints going back to 1997 to try and determine any significant
trends/ findings.
A total of 66 complaints were filed during the past 4 years. Of those, the
names of the officers involved were not identified on the original complaint form
in about 50% of the cases. Of the 32 cases where the officer was identified, 28
(72 %) of the officers were the subject of a complaint only once. There were 7
officers (22 %) who were the subject of multiple complaints; 4 who had 3
complaints and 3 who had 2 complaints.
Types of complaints included the following *:
1. Excessive force -9
2. Harassment /rudeness /bad attitude -30
3. False arrest -16
4. Predjudice /discrimination -8 total (3 racial;4 disability; l sexual orientation)
5. Questioned procedure -5
6. Denial of taxi license appeal -2
7. Aggressive/ threatening behavior -1
*Total exceeds 66 because some complaints involved multiple charges.
2
Report of Activities and Summary of Complaints; Year 2000 - continued
It is the impression of the board that officers continue, in their zeal to `take
control' of a situation, to sometimes approach people with a degree of authority
that is interpreted as unnecessarily `tough', resulting in response from the
complainant that the officer has been `rude' or `harassing'. Skill in identifying
situations where such an approach is warranted, versus those where a more
courteous approach would serve, is difficult to develop. The board commends
the department for its efforts to move toward a more holistic, community -
policing orientation under the current administration and feels that officers
who are trained in and committed to the concept of community policing will be
better able to make those sensitive judgment calls as needed.
The board continues to support the implementation of ongoing diversity
training in the department, noting that attention needs to be addressed to the
multiplicity of diversity issues that officers may encounter in their work.
Community Police Board Composition:
At the request and recommendation of the CPB, because of the steadily
increasing case load, Council supported a change in the city charter to add one
adult member to the board. The youth position remains unfilled to date.
Community Outreach Efforts:
Community outreach is a continuing focus of the board's efforts. To that end,
the board has engaged in the following events activities in the year 2000.
Tabling this year has included the distribution of brochures and helium
balloons printed with "Community Police Board ".:
Pud Run at Stewart Park
Latino Celebration on State Street
Neighborhood Day at Human Services
Juneteenth Celebration at Southside Community Center
Craft Fair at GIAC
GIAC Festival
Earth Day at Stewart Park
A CPB Open House is planned for January 29th at Titus Towers.
Organizational Connections: Individual Commissioners are taking on the
responsibility of regular contact with various community organizations with
which they are affiliated. Additionally, contact is planned with neighborhood
associations and /or service organizations which would like to hear more about
the work of the CPB. This project will continue into 2001.
Summary of Complaints:
See attached chart
Community Police Board
Report of Activities and Summary of Complaints;Year 2000
Commendations:
The board wishes to acknowledge the many fine officers of the Ithaca Police
Department who routinely perform their duties in an exemplary manner. To that
end, during the year 2000, the board received reports of forty -seven letters of
appreciation sent to the IPD from members of the community, commending
various officers for their high degree of professionalism. Many of those letters
commented on the extremely courteous and sensitive conduct of officers in
highly emotional and sometimes tragic circumstances. The board compliments the
department and, speaking for the community, adds its gratitude to the officers
who perform their duties daily "above and beyond ".
Complaints:
As per the attached chart, the year 2000 saw a continuation of the gradual
increase in number of complaints handled by the board, from 11 in 1997 to 22 in
2000. As per a request from the Neighborhood and Community Issues
Committee during the presentation of last year's report, the board has reviewed
complaints going back to 1997 to try to determine any significant trends /findings.
A total of 66 complaints were filed during the past 4 years. Of those, the name(s)
of the officers involved were not identified on the original complaint form in
about 50% of the cases. Of the 32 cases where the officer was identified, 28
officers (72 %) were the subject of a complaint only once. There were 7 officers
(22 %) who were the subject of multiple complaints; 4 who had 3 complaints and
3 who had two complaints.
Types of complaints included the following *:
1. excessive force- 9
2. harassment /rudeness /bad attitude- 30
3. false arrest- 16
4. prejudice /discrimination- 8 total (3 /racial; 4 /disability;) /sexual orientation)
5. questioned procedure- 5
6. denial of taxi license appeal- 2
7. aggressive /threatening behavior -1
*Total exceeds 66 because some complaints involved multiple charges
It is the impression of the board that officers continue, in their zeal to "take
control" of a situation, to sometimes approach people with a degree of authority
which is interpreted as unnecessarily "tough ", resulting in the response from the
complainant that the officer has been "rude or harassing ". Skill in identifying
situations where such an approach is warranted, versus those situations where a
more courteous approach would serve, is difficult to develop. The board
commends the department for its efforts to move toward a more holistic,
community - policing orientation under the current administration and feels that
officers who are trained in and committed to the concept of community policing
will be better able to make those sensitive judgment calls as needed.
page 2
The board continues to support the implementation of ongoing diversity training
in the department, noting that attention needs to be addressed to the multiplicity
of diversity issues which officers may encounter in their work.
Community Police Board Composition:
At the request and recommendation of the CPB, because of its steadily increasing
case load, Council supported a change in the city charter to add one adult
memberto the board. The board also recommended, and Council supported, the
addition of a youth representative to the board. The youth position remains
unfilled to date.
Community Outreach Efforts:
Community outreach is a continuing focus of the board's efforts. To that end the
board has engaged in the following events activities in year 2000:
Tabling this year has included the distribution of brochures and helium balloons
printed with "Community Police Board ":
Pud Run at Stewart Park
Latino Celebration on State St.
Neighborhood Day at Human Services
Juneteenth Celebration at Southside Community Center
Craft Fair at GIAC
GIAC Festival
Earth Day at Stewart Park
A CPB Open House is being planned for January 2001 at Titus Towers.
Organizational Connections: Individual commissioners are taking on the
responsibility of regular contact with various community organizations with
which they are affiliated. Additionally, contact is planned with neighborhood
associations and/or service organizations which would like to hear more about
the work of the CPB. This project will continue into 2001.
Summary of Complaints:
See attached chart.
T
x .4
A 'm
On
O
0
x
��
oZ
�O
d
4
%0O
00 rA
dz
f+ V1
�O
t0
F
H
O
x
H
b
O
A
bd
O
S
:4 cl
o
w
N �
O
x
A
O
O
N
O
d
O
�
N
!71
O
fJl
GJ
d
a
x
w
w
in
w
N
r
o
d
d o
W
v �
O
r
r
r
d
C CA
O
O
O
O
t=1 to
d x
d
x
C7
W
p1
W
�d
O
O
N
O
Orx
l7
Er.+
Ui
OD
N
y
T
x .4
A 'm
On
O
0
x
��
oZ
�O
d
4
%0O
00 rA
dz
f+ V1
�O
t0
F
H
O
x
H
b
O
A
bd
O