HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CPB-2000-05-25ITHACA COMMUNITY POLICE BOARD
PLACE: 320 West State Street, first floor conference room
DATE/TIME: May 25, 2000 at 3:30 P.M.
PRESENT: Commissioners Graham, Jones, Laskowitz, Nelson, Killeen
EXCUSED: Chief Basile, lPD and Nancy Falconer, CPB Staff
Commissioner Graham called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.
1. Approve Minutes of Meeting of April 27, 2000
Corrections were made as follows to the minutes of April 27, 2000:
1). To the reference on pages 1 and 2 of the minutes noting that the name printed as
Felicia Lockhart should be changed to 'Zelda Lockhart.
2). Item 4 -F should read " Chief Basile reported on preparation for Senior weeks,
and item following should read # 5, rather than #4 again.
3)A note that Ralph .Tones contributed immensely at the Earth Day information
tabling at Stewart Park should be inserted. The minutes as corrected were then
approved unanimously.
2. Comments from the Public
No visitors were present.
3.. Report from-Common Council
a)Alderperson Pryor reported that there are as yet no new appointments to the CPB
Board.
b) Hate Crimes legislation is in process and will be going to Common Council in
June.
4. Report from Police Chief
a)Deputy Chief Barnes reported that the Community Policing Officers are on their
assignments.
b) Three k -9 teams are on the streets.
5.Old Business
4There is nothing new to report on the status of the search for new CPB members
Alderperson Pryor knows of six names "floating" around as possibilities.
b) On May 18, Commissioners Jones and Nelson went to the High School to .join
Chris Wilburs' afterschool class to speak about the CPB. Some interest in being on
the Board was expressed by these youths The issue of differing perspectives and
differing experiences with the police was discussed (in relation to informing youth in
the community about the availability of a slot on the CPB >)
c) Nancy Schrier is interested in becoming a member of the CPB Board, as is J.R.
Claiborne from the Ithaca Journal.
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Ithaca City Police Board Minutes
May 25, 2000
d) Settings such as meetings or tablings for informing other community groups
about CPB. Following are suggestions by Board members.
1.) Commissioner Laskowitz:: D.A.P. staff meeting, Ithaca College fall
orientation to local groups and clubs.
2.) Commissioner Nelson: Titus Towers, Southside Community Center, Teen
program at GIAC
3.) Alderperson Pryor: Bryant Park and other Civic Associations. High School
Government Classes, ACS School "Street Law" Class
4.) Commissioner Killeen: Kiwanis, possibly mailings, media outlets such as
Cornell Sun, Ithacan, Planned Parenthood, radio stations, Channel 7 on TV,
Newsletters (e.g.: Senior Circle , RSVP)
Staff member Falconer will make a master list of these groups so that the work can
be divided up by Board members.
It was noted that we do have funds for community outreach.
5. Co Chair Graham suggested that we keep the body of the current brochure
and instead of printing the names in it, put them on an insert so that they can be
kept current without reprinting as we change members. Board members agreed to
this.
6. Common Ground Festival is on Sunday the 11th June, not Saturday as
previously noted. the schedule will be 1:00 P.M. Setup through 4 or 5 P.M. for the
tabling. Commissioner Laskowitz will help from 1 to 2 P.M.
Commissioner Nelson from 2 to 3 P.M.
Commissioner Killeen from 3 to 4 P.M.
Alderperson Pryor will be present at 3:00 to be available for the church table, and
will help when she is free.
This is an outdoor event and may be canceled if it rains.
Saturday, June 17th is the day of Juneteenth at which we will table. The
schedule for help is as follows:
1:00 - 2:00 Commissioner Graham
2:00 - 3:00 Commissioner Laskowitz
3:00 4:00 Commissioner Killeen
7: A discussion of why Commissioners chose to be members will be continued
over to next month's meeting.
A motion was made by Commissioner Killeen to adjourn to Executive Session
Seconded by Commissioner Nelson.
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0 Ithaca Community Police Board Meeting
May 24, 2000
potential youth members, and has passed these on to
Alderman Pryor to pursue with the Mayor.
Richard Van Every at I H S is also a good contact and is
willing to help with contacts with youth groups and the
Board.
b) Outreach to the Community:
Staff will prepare a list of the contact groups that have been
named by Commissioners for their use in community
outreach duties. Commissioner Jones will add the Rotary
groups to his list, and Peter Martin at Cornell Law School
was also added.
c) The previously tabled discussion of why Commissioners
chose to join the Board was resumed. Commissioners
named a number of reasons, such as advocacy for people
needing help in dealing with the police force, oversight of the
largely discretionary powers of the street officers in using
their power with private citizens, serving as a safety valve for
occasional citizen's anger at the police by intervening and
0 discussing as intermediaries, and helping the Department to
remain more open to hearing the community citizens
opinions and thoughts about the force.
d) Staff reported that the English version has been modified for
recent changes and is being printed. The Spanish version
will be modified as needed by Commissioner Laskowitz.
6. New Business
At the request of Commissioner Killeen, comparisons of the last
three years numbers of complaints were handed out, and
discussed. Commissioner Killeen asked if there were a way to
'weed out' frivolous complaints before they were assigned, but
the Commissioners as a whole felt that there is no way to
determine this until a complaint is actually investigated. To do
otherwise might result in missing a valid complaint. There was
a decision by the members to discuss this further and to define
a complaint at the next meeting.
A motion was made by Commissioner Laskowitz to adjourn to
Executive Session and was seconded by Commissioner Killeen.
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