HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/10/2025 - CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD - AGENDA - Regular MeetingCITIZEN REVIEW BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
September 10, 2025, at 5:30 PM
222 Laporte Ave, Colorado River Room (Main Floor)
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
3. AGENDA REVIEW
4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
a. Public Input – 5 minutes per individual
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. August 13, 2025:
6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
7. NEW BUSINESS
a. Voicemail: None
b. E-mail: None
c. Training: Less Lethal Training with Lieutenant Martinez
8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
9. OTHER BUSINESS
a. Review 2026 CiRB Work Plan
b. Drawing for Subcommittee – PSU2025-072
10. ADJOURNMENT
Participation for this Citizen Review Board Meeting will be in person at
the Colorado River Room on the main floor.
Masks Strongly Recommended in Indoor Public Spaces
While there are currently no public health orders in place, Larimer County Public Health officials
strongly recommend that well-fitting, high-quality masks are worn in crowded indoor spaces.
For more information, please visit fcgov.com/covid
Citizen Review Board
REGULAR MEETING
August 13, 2025 – 5:30 PM
222 Laporte Ave, Colorado River Room (Main Floor)
1. CALL TO ORDER
a. Called to order at 5:31 PM by Shamera Loose
2. ROLL CALL
a. Board Members Present: Shamera Loose, Mike O’Malley, Melissa Rosas,
Veronica Olivas, Amy Hoeven, Michael Ruttenberg, Valerie Krier (virtually attending)
b. Staff Members Present: Lieutenant Jackie Pearson, Jessica Jones
c. Council Liaison: Councilmember Susan Gutowsky
3. AGENDA REVIEW
4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
a. Public Input – 5 minutes per individual: None
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. July 9, 2025: Correction Sara Arfmann’s last name in the roll call. Motion to
approve by Mike O’Malley, which was seconded by Amy Hoeven. Motion passed.
6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
7. NEW BUSINESS
a. Voicemail: 2 voicemails; 1 from George Hager and 1 from Jason Carpenter
b. E-mail: 9 emails from Antonio Vigil, Jr.
c. Training: Firearms with Off. Tracy and Sgt. Wood
Officers are trained on legality, defensive force, and gaining control to stabilizing an unstable
situation. They are required under CALEA to review policies and laws. Force should be legal,
responsible, and appropriate. It is defined broadly, because it is impossible to predict every
scenario.
Board Member Question: Do officers own their own guns or are they department-issued?
Recently a jury in Cambridge said that the SIG-P320 is a defective weapon?
There has been a lot of press recently about certain models of guns. FCPS does not use it, nor
does any agency in the area use it.
FCPS wants officers to consider what is legal, reasonable, and appropriate. Focus is placed on a
transitional thought process for escalation vs. de-escalation. If an officer draws there gun and
challenges someone, de-escalation will become necessary, at some point. Firearms training isn’t
just about shooting, but about thought processes. There should be a constant evaluation of
tactics, communication, force effectiveness and whether to engage or disengage.
Board Member Question: Does it happen often that officers experience language barriers when
interacting with people? What about people who are mentally disabled?
It doesn’t happen often, but there are instances of it. Officers have an interpreter service and are
trained to recognize people who may be neurodivergent. Officers approach situations far more
carefully than they used to.
Board Member Question: Can you tell us more about what happens if someone gets pulled over
with a blue card? Does it have any indication of what that person may need?
Yes; it is a service that FCPS offers. Usually it is a loved one or caregiver who opts in to the
program, and they are given a blue envelope, where they can place car registration, driver’s
license, etc. When an officer receives it, it is an indication that the person is being cooperative
but may have a different style of communicating. It is designed to be a self-disclosure, so it can
contain anything that the person thinks the officer may need to know.
Board Member Question: I’ve heard of officers having translation tools on their body; does
FCPS have that?
No, not in FCPS. Other departments may have access to those tools. It is important to keep in
mind that many of scenarios happen very quickly, so there may not be time for translation or
discussion.
The state has required standards that FCPS bases their training off of. Officers complete force-
on-force training with firearms and without, along with live-fire decision-making training.
Situations are simulated to present stress, in order to get officers accustomed to it. Trainers
expect them to make mistakes and then walk them through it to examine what went wrong.
Board Member Question: Are the required hours all for handguns?
Yes, there is an additional 40 hour requirement for rifles.
Board Member Question: How is Less Lethal training factored in?
They do quarterly trainings, and laser training is integrated into Firearms training.
Every officer is issued a handgun; the new cadets get rifles with red dots mounted on them, which
allows for shooting with both eyes open, allowing them to keep their eye on the target.
Suppressors are used strictly for the health and safety of the officers. Rifles are very loud and it
is important to protect hearing.
Board Member Question: Do they test regularly for lead in the blood?
Officers are tested annually for both lead and hearing damage.
Board Member Question: Are officers allowed to use their personally owned guns?
The department furnishes each officer with one handgun, which they are required to carry while
they are on duty and in uniform; however, they are allowed to use a personally owned handgun,
that may be smaller or more lightweight, when they are in plainclothes or on an off-duty
assignment. Sometimes different guns are preferred because of the way that they fit in people’s
hands.
Board Member Question: Do the same rules apply if the personally owned gun misfires on an
off-duty assignment?
Only if the officer is taking police action. If an officer injures another person, that will fall under
CIRT. Officers have to comply with FCPS Policy 312. When they are off-duty, there is a variety
of guns they can use; however, every officer has to qualify for a rifle.
FCPS Training Philosophy is to “elevate thought, improve judgement, and act with purpose.
Board Member Question: You have both an indoor and an outdoor shooting range?
That’s correct. The outdoor shooting range is borrowed, from a third party vendor, which is called
Great Guns. They reserve areas for law enforcement.
Board Member Question: Do you practice in other spaces, like in schools?
Yes, every July, FCPS conducts active shooter training, and they almost always use empty
schools, which offer complex layouts and also allows the officers to get familiar with the building.
Board Member Question: Are there other places that you’d like to practice at?
The SWAT team did a live-force portion in Loveland one time that officers would love to do again.
They used a lab business that had closed down, and it was perfect because it had an odd
floorplan and they were able to practice a simulated work incident.
Board Member Question: Do you work with PFA to use any of their buildings?
FCPS has in the past. They have a Firehouse and the Vine Training Center has been used for
other trainings. FCPS also does rescue task forces with PFA, to practice how everyone’s efforts
come together.
Board Member Question: Some years ago, FCPS was trying to get panoramic cameras for the
schools; did that ever pan out?
During COVID, they created a response plan that contains the layouts of all the schools, which
are labeled with numbers and diagrams. Officers are dispatched with that plan, which marks
staging areas, areas for media, casualty checkpoints, and areas for bussing kids out.
Board Member Question: Are you allowed to carry back up weapons?
They are, but not many do.
Board Member Question: Do you ever have people drop out of training?
Yes, FCPS has had a cadet drop out, but it isn’t common. Part of the purpose of the training is to
mentally prepare them. FCPS has had to remove cadets because they did not have the skills or
ability to process information that was needed, but that is because of FCPS’s high standards.
8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
a. Veronica Olivas signed up for the Emergency Services Exploration Series with the
Larimer County Sheriffs. Additionally, she attended a Fentanyl Awareness class in
July.
9. OTHER BUSINESS
a. Sub-Committee Drawing for PSU2025-046:
• Chair: Mike O’Malley
• Subcommittee Member: Michael Ruttenberg
• Subcommittee Member: Amy Hoeven
• Alternate: Shamera Loose
b. The Board would like to make an edit to the Citizen Review Board webpage, to
clarify that most reviews will only apply to incidents that have occurred in the past 12
months. Jessica Jones will get information from Sara Arfmann and the Boards and
Commissions Liaison on how to update it.
10. ADJOURNMENT
a. Amy Hoeven moved to adjourn the meeting, which was seconded by Melissa Rosas.
Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 6:41 PM.
Minutes approved by the Chair and a vote of the Board/Commission on
09/10/2025.
Signature:
08/13/2025– MINUTES
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
300 Laport Avenue
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (970) 416-2707 crb@fcgov.com
September 13, 2025
Citizen Review Board
2026 Work Plan
Goals
• Assure appropriate review of Police Services Internal Affairs investigations through
subcommittee process. Meet all required timelines, including those for Subcommittee
Meetings, Decision Memos and Subcommittee Minutes.
• Chair and/or Vice-Chair will regularly monitor the Citizen Review Board voicemail and
email. They will also handle or forward any issues raised promptly and appropriately as
dictated by the nature of the communication.
• Recognize and pursue opportunities to liaise with other appropriate Boards and
Commissions, such as the Human Relations Commission, as well as other community
agencies whose purpose encompasses similar or parallel missions, such as Crime-
Stoppers.
• Arrange and provide appropriate training modules for new and existing Board Members
throughout the year. Identify, prioritize and schedule training for any additional noted
opportunities.
Training
• New Member Orientation
o Trainer: Chair/Vice-Chair, City Attorney staff, Internal Affairs (if needed)
• Mock Subcommittee Training
o Trainer: CRB member and City Attorney staff (if needed)
• Internal Affairs Process
o Trainer: FCPS Professional Standards Unit
• Mental Health Co-Responder and Development Disabilities Tactics
o Trainer: Mental Health Response Team
• Firearms/SWAT/Less Lethal and Defensive Tactics
o Trainer: FCPS Staff
• Ride-a-long or Sit-a-long (after hours)
o Trainer: FCPS Staff
• CIRT
o Trainer: TBD
Additional Training Options (as time allows and dictated by need)
• Use of Force Simulation
o Trainer: FCPS Staff
• Homeless Issues Update
o Trainer: TBD
• Police K9
o Trainer: FCPS Staff
• Domestic Violence
o Trainer: FCPS Staff
• Parole/Probation or Alternative Sentencing
o Trainer: TBD
• Divisional Round Table
o Five minute briefs on specialized divisions, ex. School Resource Officer,
Neighborhood Engagement Team
• Accreditation Training and Policy Process Overview
o Trainer: FCPS Staff
• Specialized Drug Task Force
o Trainer: TBD
• District Attorney or Public Defender Office
o Trainer: TBD
• Polygraph Training
o Trainer: FCPS Staff
• Any additional outside training relevant to the board
o Trainer: TBD