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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CPB-2010-06-25 ITHACA COMMUNITY POLICE BOARD MEETING APPROVED MINUTES: Ithaca Community Police Board PLACE: Third Floor, Common Council Chambers, City Hall, 108 East Green Street TIME/DATE: June 24, 2010 @ 3:30 pm PRESENT: Commissioners Bush, Firenze, Laskowitz, McGruder, and Slattery; Chief Vallely; Staff: Herden ABSENT: Alderperson Zumoff(excused); Commissioner Smith GUESTS: none Chairperson Slattery called the meeting to order at 3:35 pm. 1. Approval of Minutes of Meeting of May 27, 2010 Commissioner Firenze moved to approve last month's minutes. Commissioner Laskowitz seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously. 2. Comments from the Public There were no comments from the public. 3. Report from Common Council There was no report from Common Council. 4. Report from Police Department Chief Vallely reported on a variety of police-related issues, including: 1. The End-of-Year Parties Associated with Ithaca College and Cornell University Students. According to Vallely, this was one of the quietest end-of-year periods. He credits this, in part, to the graduating seniors' being the first group of students to go through all four years of school under the current noise ordinance policy. Vallely emphasized that parties are acceptable unless a complaint comes in. The party/parties on Prospect Street was a nonissue this year. Participants conducted themselves responsibly, including cleaning up afterward. 2. Independence Day Holiday Community Fireworks. This year there will be no community fireworks in Ithaca. They will, instead, take place at Tompkins Cortland Community College. 3. IPD Officer Recruitment. A record number of people showed up on May 8 to take the written test. Of the 240 test-takers. 40 were from the protected class (women and non white men), another record number for the IPD. The Chief reported that there had been a great deal of outreach, with the intent of attracting a diverse pool of applicants. Because the police exam certifying group does not meet during summer months, test results are not expected until September or October. 4. Community Outreach. Commissioner Bush praised Officers Goldsberry and Paolangeli for their great community outreach efforts. Chief Vallely informed the Board that IPD has instituted a tracking system to get numbers on community outreach visits. In addition, he reported that the Department is getting good feedback on their efforts. ITHACA COMMUNITY POLICE BOARD MEETING APPROVED MINUTES: Ithaca Community Police Board PLACE: Third Floor,Common Council Chambers,City Hall, 108 East Green Street TIME/DATE: June 24,2010 @ 3:30 pm Page Two of Two 5. Old Business a. To date, no new appointments to the Ithaca Community Police Board have been made. No notice of new applicants has been received by the Chair. Commissioner Firenze plans to set up an appointment with the Mayor to discuss the status of any current applications and to get an overview of what the Mayor's Office is looking for in a CPB commissioner. Commissioner Slattery reported on his meeting with a potential Youth Commissioner applicant from the New Roots School. CPB staff will send out requests to GIAC, the Youth Bureau, and other youth- focused groups for assistance in identifying potential Youth Commissioners. 6. New Business a. The Community Police Board will soon be moving into the newly renovated GIAC building. Open hours will be set and posted in the near future. b. City Clerk Julie Holcomb alerted Commissioner Slattery to an upcoming issue regarding CPB's complaint files. A time limit may be established on how long complaint files can be held in CPB's offices before they are taken to City Hall. City Hall may view CPB complaints as personnel records, to be retained forever. Chief Vallely's position is that CPB complaint files should not be construed as personnel records. The Chief respectfully requests that there be a definitive answer to this issue. c. Commissioner McGruder asked Chief Vallely how many IPD officers live in the City of Ithaca. The Chief responded that very few do. d. Commissioner Bush inquired about the absence of a CPB table at the recent Juneteenth Festival. Although community outreach during festivals has focused on the Apple Harvest Festival in the past few years, commissioners and staff felt this was an outreach opportunity that should not have been missed. It will be put on the CPB calendar for next year. 7. Adjournment to Executive Session Because there were no new complaints and no activity on any of the open investigations, there was no adjournment to Executive Session. 8. Adjournment Motion by Commissioner Bush, seconded by Commissioner Laskowitz, to adjourn the meeting at 414. No new complaints were received between the May and June board meetings. Five letters of compliment from the public came in this past month, one of which references two IPD officers. In addition, seven letters of compliment from one law enforcement officer to an IPD officer were also received.