HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-PCR-1992-08-24 POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS TASK FORCE
CITY HALL,ITHACA,NY 14850
Approved minutes from the Steering Committee meeting held on August 24, 1992(4:20-
5:30 pm).
Present: Coordinator Alvin Nelson,Mayor Ben Nichols,Chief Harlin McEwen,Clay
Hamilton,Irene Stein, Sara Shenk,John Johnson,Amy Lewis, Drew Martin,Marilyn Ray
Absent: Rick Williams,Gerald Dumay,Jose Montanez
1. Marilyn Ray was introduced to the Steering Committee as a representative from the
Community/Police Board subcommittee.
2. Minutes from the 8/15/92 Steering Committee meeting were presented.
Corrections,questions,and clarifications were addressed.
Vote carried, minutes approved.
3. Irene Stein asked the Steering Committee for reactions on the proposal from the Jury
Selection subcommittee.
a. Chief McEwen said that he approves of the proposal. He then asked what was
going to be done about other possible deficiencies of the system not addressed
in the proposal. Irene said that that those problems are addressed through
changes in the procedure suggested in the proposal. Marilyn Ray also noted
that the stratified random sampling system has been successfully used in
Monroe County.
b. Motion to adopt the report by the Steering Committee of the Task Force.
Vote carried,none apposed,one abstention,motion passed.
c. Irene expressed her interest in following through with the report,taking it
through the procedure to be adopted.
4. Marilyn Ray explained some of what the Community/Police Board subcommittee has
been doing.
a. They are revising a draft of a proposal which will be available to Steering
Committee members after it has been approved by the subcommittee.
b. One of the biggest problems that the subcommittee faces is its intent to preserve
the mediating role of the Community/Police Board,and that members of the
Board are not trained investigators,therefore needing outside assistance,
possibly through a professional investigator. It is difficult to convince
community members of the Board's impartiality when the people being
investigated are involved in the investigations.
c. The subcommittee is also asking to have its existence extended to conclusively
make worthwhile recommendations.
d. Due to the negative connotations associated with the"Community/Police Board"
name,the subcommittee thinks that it would be beneficial to change the name of
the Board.
e. The subcommittee has discussed increasing the number of members on the
Board from five(5) to seven(7) members because of the previous history of
lack of representation as well as work overload. Along with this topic,the
subcommittee has discussed reserving two(2) seats on the Board for members
of the African-American community. One of these would be for a member of
age twenty-five(25)or younger. The mayor would solicit names of potential
candidates from the community(youth organizations,etc.) to fill these seats.
f. Due to poor attendance,the subcommittee has discussed penalties for
unexcused absences over a certain limit to be determined.
g. The subcommittee does feel that the Board needs some type of hired clerical
worker,but that Neighborhood Legal Services may have conflicts of interest,
and therefore should not be considered as a source for this purpose.
h. The subcommittee feels that the grievance complaint itself should be simplified
into"plain English."
i. Trained advocates from the community should be available to complainants to
assist them.
j. The subcommittee discussed having a complainant's first meeting with the
Board without the presence of police officers,therefore decreasing inhibitions
from the complainant in telling the Board about the problem as they perceive it.
k. They may recommend that the Board improve its reports to complainants on
what actions were taken.
I. The subcommittee has also discussed increasing the Board's visibility in the
community.
m. Chief McEwen and Drew Martin noted that neither the Police Chief nor the PBA
have been consulted on the points that are being discussed within the
subcommittee. Drew also noted that the Training subcommittee and the
Community Involvement subcommittee have discussed their intentions with the
PBA.
n. It was clarified that one of the purposes of the Steering Committee is to act as a
forum for discussion of the issues presented by the subcommittees.
o. Chief McEwen expressed his concerns about the brief synopsis of the
subcommittee's discussions. He explained his disapproval of expanding the
Board. Increased attendance and commitment from the existing members
would solve the problems instead of expanding the Board to seven(7)
members. He is adamantly opposed to having reserved seats within the Board
for any set groups or individuals. Also,he is opposed to having a private
investigator added to the Board,and believes that it is against the labor contracts
to hire one. Overall,Chief McEwen expressed that some of the problems
addressed by the subcommittee are ones which do not need to be addressed at
this time.
p. Drew Martin noted that the PBA is not obligated to participate in the
investigations,and has done so in the past out of courtesy. The
Community/Police Board has no authority over the officers in the Police
Department. Sara Shenk noted that she has argued against a private investigator
within the subcommittee. Drew expressed that the PBA would be against a
private investigator because it is unnecessary,and it has no authority over the
officers. He also said that the problem is with the community's perception of
the Board,not the Board itself. Sara noted that the Board has been able,in the
past,to conduct its investigations successfully.
q. Drew expressed his objections to having one third (1/3)designated seats on the
Board. Marilyn said that this came as a reaction to specifically the African-
American community's dissatisfaction with the Board's work. Clay Hamilton
noted that the current mayor has been sensitive to the needs of the minorities of
the community in this respect,but that there may need to be a policy to continue
this practice.
r. Drew expressed that an unfounded complaint should not be followed through
with. Marilyn clarified that the Community/Police Board also acts as a mediator
between the officers and the complainants,but that further investigations would
not continue if a complaint was unfounded. Sara said that there have been
unfounded complaints,but that there hasn't been an official follow-up on those.
s. Mayor Nichols expressed his concern about the Community/Police Board's
ability to function as an independent organization. He does not think that hiring
an independent investigator is an answer to that problem. Chief McEwen said
that he doesn't disapprove of an ombudsperson or advocate.
t. Drew said that he believes that the African-American criminal community has
made most of the complaints about police-community relations. Several
members of the Steering Committee disagreed on that point,and believe it is a
misconception.
5. Because of time restraints,the reports from the Community Involvement and Training
subcommittees will be discussed at the next Steering Committee meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 5:30 pm.