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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PCR-1992-08-10 POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS TASK FORCE CITY HALL,ITHACA,NY 14850 Approved minutes from the Steering Committee meeting held on August 10, 1992(4:30- 5:30 pm). Present: Coordinator Alvin Nelson,Chief Harlin McEwen,Clay Hamilton,Amy Lewis, Irene Stein, Sara Shenk,John Johnson,Drew Martin,Pat Kennedy (in place of Mayor Nichols),Dwayne Milton (visitor-Youth and Family Program Coordinator at Southside Community Center) Absent: Mayor Ben Nichols(prior notice),Rick Williams,Gerald Dumay,Jose Montanez 1. Al Nelson introduced Pat Kennedy and Dwayne Milton to the Steering Committee. 2. Irene Stein read the minutes from the Jury Selection subcommittee. a. Irene noted that Jim Kerrigan has resigned from the subcommittee. b. Questions and clarifications were addressed. 3. Minutes from the 8/3/92 Steering Committee meeting were presented. Corrections and additions were made. Vote carried,minutes approved. 4. Al Nelson informed the Steering Committee of Rick Williams's impending resignation as chairperson of the Community-Police Board subcommittee. a. Rick will bring a formal letter stating the reasons for his resignation at a later time. b. Rick suggested to Al that John Marcham be the new chairperson for the subcommittee. 5. Amy Lewis said that she would present the official minutes of the Police/Community Involvement subcommittee at a later time. a. Amy read a letter that she is going to present to her subcommittee suggesting the cancellation of the"Field Day"event scheduled for 8/22/92.* Through realistic assessment of what the subcommittee can do successfully in such a brief amount of time and without the volunteers needed,the event will be postponed until a later date(possibly next year). Amy said though she is disappointed,she would rather have a well organized event rather than a poorly planned one which would inevitably discourage some participants. b. Chief McEwen noted that planning two events so close together(referring to the Southside Festival scheduled for 8/15/92) is sometimes too much to ask the community to be involved with. 6. Sara Shenk represented the Community-Police Board subcommittee. a. Sara stated that she thinks John Marcham is a good suggestion for chairperson of the subcommittee. b. Sara also expressed a fear that there is a false interpretation of the subcommittee. The Task Force may think that the subcommittee is not doing what the community wants. * The letter that was read to the Steering Committee was passed by the Police/Community Involvement subcommittee, and has been distributed to all affected parties. • c. Discussion continued regarding Rick Williams's resignation. Al suggested that the Steering Committee needs to decide whether Rick will continue as a member of the Steering Committee after his official resignation as subcommittee chairperson. d. Al addressed the subcommittee chairpersons by asking what their expectations were of the volunteer members of the subcommittees. Sara said that lack of organization and lack of consistent attendance of the meetings were some contributing factors to the problems. e. Irene said that one of the factors contributing to the view that the subcommittee is ineffective may be that the initial concerns of the subcommittee were not reflected in the minutes. This may be offputting to people not aware of the difficulties within the subcommittee. f. John said that he did get a different perspective of the subcommittee meeting when John Marcham read the minutes to the Steering Committee. g. Amy said that one of the key issues that seemed to be bypassed was the issue of accountability. Sara noted that there are differences in opinion as to whether or not that issue has been addressed by the subcommittee,and whether it is in fact a key issue for discussion. Amy suggested a formal,written step process dealing with accountability for the Board to follow if they are not being heard. 7. Clay Hamilton said that he will have minutes from the Training Subcommittee next week. a. Chief McEwen referred to Barry Langerlan's comments at the last subcommittee meeting. He noted that in general practice,checking stats(officer's arrests) is traditional,but he,at present,does not pay attention to stats unless there are extenuating circumstances. Drew agreed that this is not a general practice of the Chief. b. Clay asked Chief McEwen to clarify if an officer"never" makes an arrest,does that mean he/she has found appropriate alternatives to arrest? Chief McEwen replied that ultimately,the decision of whether the alternative was appropriate is up to him. NEW BUSINESS 1. Pat Kennedy expressed Mayor Nichol's view in support of an ombudsperson for the Community-Police Board,but since the topic was not discussed thoroughly, she would let the Mayor express his own views at a later time. 2. Drew Martin expressed his opinion that city committees in general do not function adequately. He will be prepared to elaborate on this subject at a later time. 3. Dwayne Milton presented some topics to the Steering Committee. a. Expressed that he welcomes the knowledge that a committee such as the Task Force exists,and it is something he would like to be involved in. b. Feels that there are two sides to the law. (1) The actual law,and(2)the law that people are forced to take into their own hands if the actual law breaks down. There needs to be some way to get information out about how the law works and how the community can abide by it. c. Concerned about how the youth in the community feel about police officers. He thinks that there is an explosive situation existing that must be addressed. d. Addressed the drug situation. He believes that the Police Department needs to take a more active stance by using more forceful measures to erase the problem. e. Chief McEwen said that the Police Department has a good handle on the drug problem in the community,but that it is sometimes difficult to eradicate the problem efficiently. 4. Amy presented a problem to the Steering Committee. a. Received false accusations that she had made a complaint against an officer for an individual. b. Believes that her own personal time that she devotes to being an advocate for certain individuals does not involve the Task Force. c. Chief McEwen feels that the situation has been taken care of. Meeting adjourned at 5:30 pm.