HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006 CPB Annual ReportCommunity Police Board Report
2006
Below are the statistics on complaints and compliments about Ithaca City Police Officers
actions received by the Ithaca City Police Board in 2006 The years from 2003 through
2005 are included for comparison.
YEAR
Carried
for" and
FOUNDED
UNFOUNDED
CONCILIATED
WITHDRAWN
TOTAL
2006
6
4
6
1
3
14
2005
3
1
2
1
4
8
2004
1
2
5
5
4
16
2003
0
1
2
4
3
10
Fourteen cases were opened this past year. All occurred after the first few months,
beginning in late April of 2006. The timing and content of complaints appears to be
connected to the new and tougher reinforcement of policies about noise of ( mostly
student) parties. Students had two types of complaints: 1. the fact that they were
constrained in any way from carrying on the tradition of end of the year celebrations, and
2. the manner in which they were treated by officers when apprehended. Three
compliments were received on our official form for three different incidents of officer
helpfulness.
The fact that policy calls for handcuffing anyone who is put in the police car affronted
most student offenders. In addition, there were many complaints about the language and
verbal abuse they claimed the officers used. As the end of summer approached, bringing
the return of our many students, the partying complaints were fewer than usual, hopefully
reflecting some adjustment to the new enforcements by police.
The first column indicates cases that were opened the previous year and not completed
until sometime the following year. Founded complaints were those that had investigations
completed and by collecting information through meetings with witnesses, complainants
and police, were deemed to be valid. Unfounded complaints are those where not enough
evidence was collected or the police officer and the complainant disagreed about what
happened during the incident. Some of these may have happened as the complainant
stated, but there was no way to back that up, and some may have been vengefulness or
resentment on the part of the complainant and exaggerated or untrue. Conciliated consists
of those complainants who either spoke to someone in the IPD or received a report by our
investigating Board member that resolved the complaint for them. Withdrawn includes all
those who did not follow through in responding to our initial contacts, as the Board does
not proceed with an investigation unless the complainant will meet with a
Other events that occurred during the year:
A new 17 year old high school student was accepted in the Youth member position, and the
Board remained at full capacity throughout the year.
Outreach efforts included tabling with attractions for the children who bring their parents
to the display table: at Juneteenth, GIAC, and the Apple Harvest Festival. It was decided
by the Board to drop tabling at Ithaca Festival because of the enormous number of events
and people and the difficulty of conforming to the Festival requirements for tabling. The
Chili Cookout has proven too cold to sit for several hours, and so was recommended to
be dropped from the tabling list. The Colleges on the Commons was not held this year, but
will be included if it returns. In addition, the Chair was interviewed on WVBR and spoke
about our operations, and the Vice Chair has written a column for the Ithaca Journal.
Submitted by Nancy Falconer, Staff
January 27, 2007