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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CPB-1998-11-19 o4TT+ia" , CITY OF F 1IACA (**.eel ' �¢�� 318 North Albany Street Ithaca. Ncty lork I IR O llAJ1I VIII rot' COMMUNITY POLICE. BOARD oq "ti'°OR\TED 11i.pM1onm ou- 5 u-99 ITHACA COMMUNITY POLICE BOARD MEETING MINUTES: Ithaca Community Police Board PLACE: Second Floor Conference Room, City Hall TIME & DATE: November 19, 1998 at 3:30 p.m. PRESENT: Commissioners Jones, Laskowitz, Nelson, Pryor Alderperson Sams. Deborah Clover, CPB Staff. Ted Skibinsky, Public, 1. Commissioner Pryor called the meeting to order. 2. Approve Minutes of Meeting of October 22, 1998. By Commissioner Jones, seconded by Commissioner Laskowitz. RESOLVED, That the minutes of the October 22, 1998 Community Police Board Meeting be approved with correction showing Commissioner Jones as present. Carried Unanimously 3. Comments from the Public: Commissioner Pryor introduced Ted Skibinsy who attended this meeting in response to a newspaper article reporting the need for new Community Police Board members. Mr. Skibinsky may be interested in joining the Board. He also donated a fax machine to the office, and the Board expressed their appreciation for that donation. Mr. Skibinsky stated that he is glad to see a rally being organized against the potential white racist rally that has been publicized to take place in Ithaca on Saturday, November 21. A discussion followed about the this rally as well as the unity rally organized for the same date and about racist group tactics. 4. Report from Common Council: Alderperson Sams reported that the City of Ithaca has created a diversity statement which covers all City departments. Alderperson Sams also noted that the IPD deserves a great deal of credit for their response to the possible white supremisist rallly. Shortly after the rally was publicized the IPD contacted the FBI and coordinated activities with the County Sherrif's Department and the State Police to increase security all around. Finally Alderperson Sams reported that she had seen an email posting by someone in Fall Creek who felt that she and her family were targetted as victims of hate on Halloween and that the responding police officer didn't take their case seriously. Sams will pass a copy of the post on to Commissioner Pryor. qn I4�u.,1 opp, m , ILmpl,. ,,,r,., 1., ,,∎11.1,1.. Jh,niG.m„m. C: ITHACA COMMUNITY POLICE BOARD Page 2 Meeting Minutes November 19, 1998 5. Report of the Chief: Both Chief Basile and Deputy Chief Barnes were excused from this meeting due to their involvement in planning for security for this weekend should the white racist rally mentioned above take place. 6. Comments from PBA President: There was no one from the PBA present. Commissioner Pryor reported that she had contacted Sgt. Drew Martin to inform him that the review of the IPD Diversity Training was scheduled for this meeting. Discussion of this topic was tabled, however, until Chief Basile can be present. 7. Old Business: The CPB reported on the following topics: • Appeals Process: The City Attorney is still working on the Appeals process, and this issue was tabled until next month's meeting. • IPD Incident Tracking: This topic was tabled until Chief Basile is present. • Board Vacancy: An article appeared in the Ithaca Journal stating that the Community Police Board is looking for new members. There is currently one vacancy, and there will be two additional vacancies beginning January 1, 1999, when Commissioners McGruder and Richardson go off the Board. Appreciation was expressed for the good work of both Commissioners McGruder and Richardson. Current Commissioners were encouraged to recruit potential new members. The process for appointment includes filling out an application and submitting it with a letter of interest to Mayor Cohen. The Mayor makes an appointment with approval of Common Council. Discussion followed about the make up of the Board and issues of diversity. Commissioner Nelson asked if there were age limits and noted that it would be good to have a youth representative. Commissioner Pryor noted that we have two African-American members leaving the Board, and that we currently have no Latino or Asian representation. These are areas in which recruitment should be focused. Ideas were discussed for increasing public awareness of the Community Police Board, presenting information to the public, and generating interest in serving on the Board. It was decided that a public meeting should be held at the Tompkins County Human Services Building in January. It was also felt that it would be good to have an information table at Center Ithaca and Pyramid Mall during the holiday season. Other ideas included another article in the newspaper as well as articles in the newsletters of other organizations and associations. It was also suggested that efforts to recruit new CPB Commissioners be coordinated with recruitment efforts for other City Boards. 8. New Business: • The IPD Northside Satellite Office has invited the CPB to hold a meeting there. It was generally felt that meeting at that location would further the image that the CPB is an arm of the IPD rather than an independent Board, ITHACA COMMUNITY POLICE BOARD Page 3 Meeting Minutes November 19, 1998 and so was decided to not accept the offer. However, it was also stated that individual Commissioners should make an effort to stop in to the Northside office to say hello. There was some discussion as to the value of holding meetings in a location other than City Hall as part of the CPB effort to become more visible in the community. This item will be added to the January CPB agenda. • The 3:30 p.m. meeting time was discussed. It was noted that while this is a good time for the Police and some members of the Board, it is not an accessible time for many citizens who work during the day. There was no resolution on this issue. • Office Staffing: Due to increased work commitments in her other job, Deborah Clover is resigning her position as staffperson for the CPB. The goal is to have a new person hired by the end of December. The position has been advertised and a special meeting of the CPB will be held in December to review applications. • Clover distributed a revised "Procedure for Complaint Investigation" which includes corrected address information and is presented in a simpler format in hopes of eliminating confusion. This was reviewed and approved. • Commendations were distributed to all Commissioners and it was decided to send letters to the officers named commending them on their actions. It was also decided to send such letters of recognition to officers on a monthly basis. Discussion ensued as to how to best acknowledge officers who have received past commendations. Staffperson Clover will prepare a report for the next meeting including the names of officers receiving commendations in 1998 and the number of commendations received. 9. Adjournment: The next meeting of the Community Police Board is scheduled for December 17, 1998 at 3:30 p.m. in the Second Floor Conference Room at City Hall. Note that this is the third Thursday of the month due to the Christmas Holiday. On a motion by Commissioner Laskowitz, seconded by Commissioner Nelson. the Community Police Board adjourned into Executive Session.