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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCITIZEN REVIEW BOARD - MINUTES - 06/11/2025 MINUTES F©rt Collins aoa�ds& CITY OF FORT COLLINS -BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS Commissions Citizen Review Board REGULAR MEETING June 11, 2025 — 5:30 PM 222 Laporte Ave, Colorado River Room (Main Floor) 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:31 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present— Mike O'Malley, Melissa Rosas, Shamera Loose, Valerie Krier, Amy Hoeven, Veronica Olivas, Michael Ruttenberg b. Board Members Absent - None c. Staff Members Present— Lieutenant Jeremy Yonce, Assistant City Attorney Sara Armann, Jessica Jones, Sergeant Kim Cochran d. Guest(s) - None 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: a. Correction: Melissa Rosas nominated Mike O'Malley to Vice Chair, and Veronica Olivas graduated from the LCSO Citizen Academy. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Training: IA Statistics with Lieutenant Jeremy Yonce The board only sees a select number of IA investigations that are the most serious. The total number of IA investigations is actually around 40 cases per year, which is a comparatively low number. The number of cases that are sustained are a little less than half of that number. They are categorized under Performance, Level 1, Level 2, and Information Reports. Performance complaints are related to rudeness, not showing up for meetings, etc. Information Reports are reports that are resolved on a first call, but FCPS has updated their procedures so that these are now reported on as well. Board Member Question: Does FCPS have a class for cadets related to civil discourse or civility to keep the number of cases down? One of the great things about FCPS having their own Police Academy is that this is taught; the program is designed around soft skills as much as laws and skills. Types of complaints include biased-based profiling, conduct, failure to investigate, untruthfulness, use of force violation, vehicular pursuit violation, abuse of authority, etc. Internal complaints are complaints that come from a supervisor or someone else within FCPS. External complaints are citizen-initiated. Internal complaints are sustained at a higher rate than external complaints. In 50% of the sustained cases, the employee receives oral counseling or oral reprimand, due to the low level of the offense. Board Member Question: Has the culture of police changed? Historically, if an officer complained about a SWAT team member, they would not get promoted, and experience all kinds of other issues. FCPS has a culture of accountability. There have been dozens of times when employees have complained, and the rest of the department believes that the reprimanded person got what they deserved and are glad that people bring forward things like that. In one instance, FCPS had reports that an officer was sexually harassing people on calls, and officers showed up in force to sit on the prosecutor's side, to show the victim that FCPS is behind them. If supervisors recognize that the severity of a violation can impact others, they are going to document it prior to a performance evaluation. A lot of employees in other departments are only evaluated on a quarterly basis. For FCPS, the sergeant goes to the daily briefings, listening to calls and going out on them, etc. If there is something that needs correction, they are often already on the scene to have a conversation right then. If there are patterns, the discipline is more serious. Briefings are used to evaluate mistakes, so there is an atmosphere of safety and learning. There has been a recent whistleblower protection law that passed this year. Fort Collins won't be impacted that much because the City already has so many protections in place, but other places will experience significant changes. Board Member Question: If someone says they smell alcohol on an officer's breath, can they claim ADA because they are an alcoholic? Historically, officers have gotten DU Is and still kept their jobs, but that has changed in recent years. Now, DUIs cause licenses to be suspended for up to a year, and there is no way an officer can keep their jobs while they don't have a license. These investigations apply to all police employees, not just officers. FCPS anticipates cases to rise now that they have an additional IA officer and can handle more cases. Board Member Question: Are compliments tracked at all? No. They are passed on to the supervisors who may have a chance to put it in their performance evaluation. Board Member Question: What about for promotions, due to going above and beyond? Supervisors would include that in the quarterly performance evaluations, but these evaluations aren't used to evaluating promotions. Board Member Question: Is there a minimum standard that has to be met for promotion? No. But the promotion process is intense. If someone isn't doing well, in addition to the behavior going on a QPA, it could be elevated to a performance improvement plan, which do weigh in on promotion processes, until a certain amount of time has passed. Board Member Question: Does the Chief have the final say? Yes. He sees all the names of the candidates, and then interviews the top three, and he promotes one of those candidates. Board Member Question: As part of the promotional process, is staff doing the interviews? The first part, which is an evaluation of their professional resume, officers have to speak to that to a panel of three. There are 3 panels, that have a mix of internal and external people. Then the third stage is an interview with executive staff, and the scores are added up for a total score. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a. Shamera Loose and Mike O'Malley met last Friday to talk about administrative processes. It was decided that the board should dedicate an hour to presentations and questions. Board members should raise their hands if they have questions to help out with the minutes. Any additional suggestions for changes that board members have can be sent to Shamera for discussion b. Shamera did the Wake Dog Training at Taste of Fort Collins. Board members should let Shamera know if they are interested in participating, and she can forward the contact information. c. Board members are encouraged to do ride-alongs with FCPS. 9. STAFF REPORTS 10. OTHER BUSINESS 11. ADJOURNMENT a. Mike O'Malley motioned to adjourn, which was seconded by Melissa Rosas. Meeting adjourned at 6:27 PM. Minutes approved by the Chair and a vote of the Board/Commission on 07/09/2025, 11 '' � Signature7a(t,�l/&, l� 06/11/2025- MINUTES