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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/11/2024 - CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD - AGENDA - Regular MeetingCITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, September 11, 2024, at 5:30 PM 222 Laporte Ave, Colorado River Room (Main Floor) Hybrid Format: In person and on Microsoft Teams Participation for this Citizen Review Board meeting will be available online or in person. The meeting will be available to join beginning at 5:30 pm on September 11, 2024. For public comments, the Chair will ask participants to click the “Raise Hand” button to indicate you would like to speak at that time. Staff will moderate the Microsoft Teams session to ensure all participants have an opportunity to address the Board. Join Microsoft Teams Meeting: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup- join/19%3ameeting_N2Q2NWY4YmMtODViNi00YWM2LWJiMzgtMTk4YThk MTAyMjVj%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2247fa2f5f-0d0a- 4a68-b431-6d1a27b66660%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%220b807040-ec57-48b0- 98a4-0b2190a68fa8%22%7d Meeting ID: 263 765 954 399 Passcode: wxAqVZ Use a laptop, computer, or internet-enabled smartphone. (Using earphones with a microphone will greatly improve your audio. You need to have access to the internet. Keep yourself on muted status. Documents to Share: If residents wish to share a document or presentation, the Staff Liaison needs to receive those materials via email 24 hours before the meeting. Individuals uncomfortable or unable to access the Microsoft Teams platform are encouraged to participate by emailing general public comments to the Staff Liaison, Jessica Jones, at jejones@fcgov.com. The Staff Liaison will ensure the Board receives the comments. If residents have specific comments on any of the discussion items scheduled, please make that clear in the subject line of the email. This information is available in Spanish or other languages at no cost to a person who would like this information translated or communicated in Spanish, or another language. Please call (970)416-4254 or titlesix@fcgov.com to make a request for information in other languages. Esta información está disponible en español u otro idioma, sin costo para la persona que le gustaria esta información traducida o comunicada en español u otro idioma. Favor llame al (970)416-4254 o a titlesix@fcgov.com para solicitor información en otros idiomas. Auxiliary aids and services are available for persons with disabilities. TTY: please use 711 to call (970)221-6753. 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION a. Public Input – 5 minutes per individual 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. August 14, 2024 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Voicemail: None b. E-mail: 2 • Thomas Hutchinson forwarded concerns that he recently submitted to Sgt Ferraro. Mr. Hutchinson is in ongoing contact with Sgt. Ferraro, to whom any complaint regarding an SRO would be referred, so it is currently in the proper hands. • Mark Foley emailed to follow up on concerns that have been sent to Chief Swoboda. Shamera Loose contacted him via email to provide resources for submitting a complaint and outline the board’s duties. c. Training: SWAT Training – Lt. Mark Martinez 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS • Approval of Subcommittee Minutes for PSU2024-011 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS 9. OTHER BUSINESS 10. ADJOURNMENT CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 5:30 PM 222 Laporte Ave, Colorado River Room Regular Meeting This information is available in Spanish or other languages at no cost to a person who would like this information translated or communicated in Spanish, or another language. Please call (970)416-4254 or titlesix@fcgov.com to make a request for information in other languages. Esta información está disponible en español u otro idioma, sin costo para la persona que le gustaria esta información traducida o comunicada en español u otro idioma. Favor llame al (970)416-4254 o a titlesix@fcgov.com para solicitor información en otros idiomas. Auxiliary aids and services are available for persons with disabilities. TTY: please use 711 to call (970)221-6753. 1. CALL TO ORDER: Called to order by Shamera at 5:32 PM 2. ROLL CALL: a. Board Members Present: Amy Hoeven, Elizabeth Grant, Shamera Loose, Mike O’Malley, Michael Ruttenberg, Veronica Olivas, Melissa Rosas b. Staff Members Present: Lieutenant Jeremy Yonce, Assistant City Attorney Sara Arfmann, Sergeant Kim Cochran, Jessica Jones 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION a. Public Input 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: a. July 10, 2024: Amy Hoeven moved to approve the July minutes, which was seconded by Michael Ruttenberg. Motion passed. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Voicemail: None b. E-mail: None c. Training: Critical Incident Response Team: Each year, a law enforcement agency is selected as a CIRT lead, which means that the CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING selected agency will take the lead for that year on any investigations that do not come from that agency. Their role is to assign a lead agency and investigator. The Manual is publicly available on the District Attorney’s website. CIRT team is led by the District Attorney, and all law enforcement agencies in Larimer County are a member of this team and covered by the CIRT protocol. Board Member Question: Do you, depending on what the circumstances are, ever have a reason to reach out to the FBI for help with processing? FCPS has not done this, historically, but that doesn’t mean that they could not, if necessary. Amongst the various law enforcement agencies that are a part of the CIRT team, there is a plethora of skills and resources, so it just hasn’t been necessary. Critical incidents are defined as incidents occurring in the Eighth Judicial District, involving two or more people, in which a police agency employee is involved as an actor, victim, or custodial officer and where fatal injury or serious bodily injury occurs. So this includes both officer-involved shootings and also other scenarios where an investigation needs to be conducted to see if a crime has been committed. Board Member Question: If an officer is the victim of DV, but they haven’t told any other officers, but other officers know, do the other officers have to report it? Is it a crime or a violation if they do not? Yes, but that requirement is independent of the CIRT protocol. Police employees are mandatory reporters, so they are required to report things of that nature, but not because it is a CIRT investigation. The idea behind CIRT investigations is to take out any possibility of bias that would come from an agency investigating one of its own employees. Examples of CIRT investigations include intentional or accidental shootings, assaults on police employees and volunteers, physical altercations in which the police employee is acting in a private citizen capacity, etc. A venue agency is an agency within whose geographical jurisdiction and an involved agency is the agency with which the involved employee is employed. CIRT protocol is immediately activated and automatically effective upon the occurrence of a critical incident, though it may be scaled as appropriate. The Chief can ask for a CIRT investigation on any case, whether it fits the protocol or not. The involved agency will not be the lead Investigative or Crime Scene agency, and their involvement will be minimal. The Administrative Investigation is subordinate to the criminal investigation. Board Member Question: How long do the presentations to the District Attorney typically take? CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING The most recent one took about an hour and forty five minutes, which is a little longer than usual, but there were four officers involved. The presentation is a summary and recap, because the District Attorney is involved throughout the process. Board Member Question: Is the officer involved allowed to have legal representation on the scene, or a union representative on the scene? The criminal investigation is separate from the administrative investigation. Administrative investigators may be present during the criminal investigation, but are not asking questions and gathering information at that point. The employee has different rights in both situations. In the criminal investigation, the employee has every right that all people would have, not to incriminate themselves, not to do interviews, so they could choose not to participate. Also in administrative investigations, we cannot force them to talk to the investigator. Officers frequently do participate in both the criminal and administrative investigations and they are welcome to have representation, whether that is an attorney or a representative from the union. In an administrative investigation, they are under a Garrity advisement, and if they refuse to cooperate, they are subject to discipline up to termination; even here, they are allowed to have an attorney, or a representative from the FOP. Board Member Question: As an administrator, FCPS may know that an officer is on medical leave for psychological or mental reasons. Would they share that with the investigator? It would depend on the circumstances. Sharing information about an employee being on medical leave would not violate HIPAA. Many times, when an officer is on medical leave, their supervisor is unaware of the specific reason. There is a form that doctors have to fill out that advises of a serious medical condition but does not go into detail. FCPS would not share that info because they don’t have it. Board Member Question: In the event that it is a non-police officer Police employee, would FCPS launch an IA investigation into the incident? And do they still have Garrity? Yes. FCPS policies cover everyone in the department, whether they are sworn or not. So if a non-sworn employee got involved, everything else would still apply: FCPS would still do a Garrity advisement, they’d still be compelled to talk, FCPS would still wait to perform the AI until the criminal investigation had completed, etc. Board Member Question: A lot of the time, this can be a traumatic event and trauma and stress can speed up time and can sequentially mess things up. Is there any consideration given to that, if you have the benefit of a camera and can compare what they say to what is shown? CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING FCPS has a very robust program to provide support to employees. FCPS has a full-time staff psychologist, Peer Support, etc. There is a lot of awareness within our agency about the stress of these types of investigations on the people involved. They are also welcome to seek any outside help they need as well. Body worn cameras can distort distances so that it appears to be a larger distance than it actually is. Investigators expect there to be differences in what the employee says and what the camera shows, and they understand it doesn’t mean that the employee is lying. Breaks and fractures were removed from the definition of “Serious Bodily Injury”, only so that it would not automatically trigger a CIRT investigation; however, FCPS would still engage in a CIRT team consult where they can evaluate what happened and decide if an investigation is needed. An officer is prohibited from viewing body worn camera video prior to the interview. Once the initial interview is done, they are given an opportunity to watch the video, and then if they want to come back to give clarification, they can do that. Board Member Question: Are the officers prohibited from wearing a Go Pro and getting their own recordings? FCPS does not have a policy that prohibits it, but officers may not want to. The Investigation Team leads are responsible for all follow up investigations, canvassing, writing applicable warrants, conducting all critical interviews and preparing an Investigative Summary Report to present to the DA and CIRT agencies. The Crime Scene Team is responsible for all crime scene investigations, including indoor/outdoor crime scenes, interviews at the hospital, ambulance and of medical/fire personnel, vehicles, involved and witness officers, the suspect, and the autopsy. Board Member Question: Using the example of the shooting over the weekend on Remington, where the person is still at large. If the officers apprehend the suspect and it is an officer-involved shooting, there is the CIRT response. Because time has passed since the shooting occurred over the weekend, would that be considered a separate crime scene for CIRT, or would it not even be involved at all, because too much time as passed? Yes, because of the passage of time, that earlier crime scene would have already been processed and released, from the homicide that occurred a few days ago; however, if it happened more simultaneously, for example, with a shooting in Old Town, so there is a crime scene there, and then the suspect takes off in a vehicle and drives 5 miles to the south end of town and exchanges gunfire with Police there – in that circumstances, the “officer involved” part only occurred in the south part of town, and the downtown part would not be handled by the CIRT team. CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING All public information is released on behalf of the CIRT team, not the individual agency, which requires a great deal of coordination. Board Member Question: Is there a statute of limitations for a CIRT investigation? It would fall under whatever the statute of limitations is for the crime. If that amount of time has already passed, there can’t be a criminal investigation, or an administrative investigation. Board Member Question: Does FCPS call out PIOs to the scene to deal with crime scenes? Or are they asked to stay outside until the investigation is done? It depends. A lot of these investigations occur in the middle of the night, so the POIs are often back at the office, coordinating with PIOs from other agencies to decide what info will be put out. If there is press showing up, then FCPS will send a PIO out there to talk to them. The PIOs are adept at deciding how to provide what information they can. 2022 had a record number of CIRT investigations, with 10 occurring that year. The average is less than 4 a year. Board Member Question: Is the data on CIRT investigations on the DA’s dashboard? Is it something that they track? No, it is not on there, because it was put together by FCPS. FCPS cannot speak to what they track on their end. They may not have a reason to track it, because they are focused on crime and prosecution. Board Member Question: Can a person go into the DA’s website today to read about the decisions issued in the Karen Garner case? Yes. Some of the CIRT decision letters are still in there, and also available through other online sources. They are quite detailed and give a lot of information about what happened. Board Member Question: If an officer has been involved in 6 CIRT cases, is that held against them? If they are found to have violated policy, then they would be held responsible for that. On the other hand, if an officer is involved in multiple shootings and if they are cleared criminally and internally, then it means there was no wrongdoing. The fact that they are confronted with shootings more often doesn’t mean they’ve done anything wrong. CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING Board Member Question: Does FCPS assign officers to certain parts of town and do they get to rotate out, or do they just go anywhere? Officers, per the collective bargaining agreement, they pick the area and shift that they want by seniority. Most officers choose the same area year after year, but it is their choice. Board Member Question: Has there ever been any thought given to having a segment on community engagement at the Police Academy, so that they actually pick the downtown area because they did a survey with merchants and feel connected with that community? FCPS has a robust community policing training, throughout the Academy and it is engrained in the whole agency. There are many officers who do prefer being downtown, and others who prefer community policing neighborhoods. Other officers like to move around. 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS 9. OTHER BUSINESS: a. Jeremy Yonce explains that the board can anticipate receiving information on an officer-involved shooting to be reviewed. Board members can expect to receive a notice from either Jeremy Yonce or Kim Cochran informing them and then the 45-day review period will be tolled once the District Attorney’s decision letter is received. b. Elizabeth asks about details for touring facilities. Jeremy explains that board members can take these tours with up to two members at a time and should reach out to him to schedule it. 10. ADJOURNMENT: Mike O’Malley moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:31 PM, which was seconded by Elizabeth. Meeting adjourned. CITY OF FORT COLLINS 300 LaPorte Avenue, P.O. Box 580 * Fort Collins, Colorado 80522-0580 CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (970) 416-2707 crb@fcgov.com Citizen Review Board Subcommittee Meeting Minutes August 14, 2024 300 LaPorte Avenue P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 Case PSU2024-011 Present: Elizabeth Grant, Subcommittee Chair; Mike O’Malley, Subcommittee Member; Amy Hoeven; Subcommittee Member; Shamera Loose, Subcommittee Alternate Member Absent: None Staff: Sgt. Kim Cochran, Assistant City Attorney Sara Arfmann, Lt. Jeremy Yonce Public None Call to Order: The subcommittee meeting was called to order at 6:44 p.m. by Chairperson Elizabeth Grant. It was noted that there were no citizens present or other attendees and no absences. Case PSU2024-011: Ms. Elizabeth Grant advised that pursuant to the provisions of Sections 2-144(f) et seq. of the Code of the City of Fort Collins, the Citizens Review Board Subcommittee will undertake a review of an internal investigation conducted by the Office of Police Services, Case No. PSU2024-011 relating to an incident involving “Policy 309.4 Verbal and Visual Warnings; Policy 309.5.1 Application of the ECW; Policy 309.5.2 Special Deployment Considerations; Executive Session: At 6:47 p.m., a combined motion [City Code sections 2-144(f)(7), 2-72(b)(2), 2-31(a)(1)(b)., and 2-31(a)(2)as well as Colorado Revised Statutes sections 24-6-402(4)(f) and 24-6-402(4)(b)] to go into Executive Session for the purpose of receiving and considering evidence relating to an internal investigation number PSU2024-011conducted by Police Services. Another purpose of this executive session is to consider a complaint against a City employee and for the purpose of meeting with the City Attorney to receive legal advice regarding the manner in which the subcommittee’s actions may be affected by existing law. This motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously. Prior to adjourning into Executive Session, Ms. Elizabeth Grant advised that no final policy decision will be made, nor will any resolution be passed or other formal action taken by the subcommittee while in Executive Session. Attorney Client Privilege: Stopped Recording at 7:05 pm for legal definition of “Deadly Force and Deadly Weapon”. Resumed Executive Session at 7:09 pm Regular Session: At 7:29 p.m., a motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously to exit from Executive Session. There was no discussion. A motion was made to agree/disagree with the Internal Affairs finding of sustained involving the subject officers concerning “Policy 309.4 Verbal and Visual Warnings; vis a vis the captioned case. The motion was seconded and the subcommittee voted non-unanimously, 2-1, with no discussion to agree with the Internal Affairs finding. After the motion was passed, there was a brief discussion regarding how Policy 309.4(a) is worded, specifically the word “should.” Subcommittee members discussed the general difficulty for officers to know when a warning is needed or not in the moment. A motion was made to agree/disagree with the Internal Affairs finding of Exonerated involving the subject officers concerning “Policy 309.5.1 Application of the ECW; vis a vis the captioned case. The motion was seconded and the subcommittee voted unanimously, 3-0, with no discussion A motion was made to agree/disagree with the Internal Affairs finding of Exonerated involving the subject officers concerning “Policy 309.5.2 Special Deployment Considerations; vis a vis the captioned case. The motion was seconded and the subcommittee voted unanimously, 3-0, with no discussion Adjournment: A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously to adjourn at 7:43 p.m. ___________________________________________________ Subcommittee Chair File: PSU2024-011 Subcommittee Minutes