HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009 - Citizen Review Board - Annual ReportMEMORANDUM
Date: January 25, 2010
To: Citizen Review Board
From: Captain Jerry Schiager
RE: 2009 End of Year Report
The 2009 End of Year Report includes an assessment of the progress on the
2009 Work Plan and a statistical overview of the cases reviewed by the Citizen
Review Board.
Citizen Review Board
2009 Work Plan
• Continue the review of Police administrative investigations via
subcommittee. Accomplished.
• Continue monitoring and reporting CRB voicemail and Bias Policing
voicemail. Accomplished. During 2009, the CRB updated the
voicemail systems to reflect current contact information. In addition,
the CRB added an email reporting component that allows citizens to
report concerns directly to the Chair and Co-Chair of the CRB via
email.
• Explore options for educating citizens about the existence and purpose of
the Citizen Review Board. Accomplished. During 2009 the CRB created
and produced an educational video that illustrates the process for
reporting complaints and the purpose and role the CRB plays in
complaint review.
• Continue liaisons with appropriate Boards and Commissions, including the
Human Relations Commission. Accomplished. A member of the Human
relations Commission regularly attends CRB general meetings and
provides updates on HRC activities that may be of interest to CRB
members.
• As opportunities present themselves, identify and establish relationships
with specific groups within the community. Not Accomplished. No new
relationships were identified or established in 2009.
• Provide and monitor training for any new board members. Accomplished.
During 2009 three new members who began their terms in late 2008
were provided basic training that addressed a myriad of CRB
process and law enforcement practices.
• Continue to arrange annual training for all board members. Board
observation of scenario based training of recruit officers was well received.
Continue the expansion of this training opportunity. Accomplished.
During 2009 each member received annual updated training at their
request and many tenured board members voluntarily attended new
member training as a refresher.
Citizen Review Board
2009 Annual Report
The Board considered four cases in 2009. This was a decrease of four cases
from 2008. Five additional cases came in during the final days of December
2009 and will not be reviewed by the Board until 2010.
A new Internal Affairs case management system (IAPro) was implemented in
2007, so the new numbering system has been applied to old and new cases to
aid in understanding:
PC2009-xxx: Performance Complaints
LI2009-xxx: Level 1 Complaints
LII2009-xxx: Level 2 Complaints
2009 is for the year and the “xxx” is the number identifier for that particular type
of complaint (i.e. 001 would be the first case, 002 the second and so on.)
(On past reports “EC” and “IC” were used [Externally vs. Internally Generated Complaints] this
was changed to the current tracking system. Additionally, past reports may not have been
accurate as to what year a case was reviewed in. For example a late 2005 case may not have
been reviewed by the Board until 2006, but showed up on the list of 2005 reviewed cases due to
its number. That has been corrected in this report.)
2006 2007 2008 2009
1 LII2005-005: SS LI2007-005: CO LII2007-008: CO LII2009-001: SS
2 LII2005-007: RP LII2007-001: CO LII2008-001: CO LII2009-002: CO
3 LII2005-008: RP LII2007-003: UOF LII2008-003: CO LII2009-003: CR
4 LII2005-009: UOF LII2007-005: CR LII2008-004: UOF LII2009-004: CR
5 LII2005-010: SS LII2007-006: CR LII2008-005: UOF
6 LII2005-011: SS LII2007-009: UOF LII2008-006: UOF
7 LII2006-001: UOF LII2008-007: CO
8 LII2006-002: OIS LII2008-008: CO
9 LII2006-003: UOF
10 LII2006-004: UOF
11 LII2006-005: UOF
12 LII2006-008: CR
LEGEND
UOF – Use of Force
OIS – Officer Involved Shooting
CR – Civil Rights
RP – Racial Profiling
SS – Search and Seizure
CO – Criminal Offense
DEFINITIONS:
Performance Issues
1. General: It is expected that an employee’s supervisor will investigate
any performance issue that comes to the attention of the department
by any source. This may involve a citizen’s perception about an
employee’s behavior, a minor violation of agency directives, procedure
or practice, or a concern expressed about the way an incident was
handled. Subsequent performance issues involving similar conduct by
the same employee within a twelve-month period may result in the
elevation of the investigation to Level One.
Level One Investigation
1. General: A Level One investigation involves an allegation that an
employee violated clearly established departmental directives,
procedure or practice and may be brought to the attention of the
department by any source. A Level One investigation involves an
allegation that if substantiated could result in disciplinary action beyond
that usually expected in a performance issue. A Level One
investigation is not appropriate for allegations that require the review of
the Citizen Review Board pursuant to Section 2-139 (2)(a) and (b) of
the City Code. However, the Chief can forward any investigation to
CRB at his or her discretion.
Some examples of investigations that should be considered Level One
include, but are not limited to, allegations that:
• The police tactics used were inappropriate or unwarranted, but do
not rise to the level of a use of force allegation that would be
classified as a Level Two investigation.
• An employee’s behavior presented a significant safety risk to
another person or a significant threat of property damage.
• An employee’s driving presented a significant safety risk to another
person or a significant threat of property damage, whether or not it
resulted in a motor vehicle accident.
• An employee was involved in dishonest, untruthful or fraudulent
conduct.
• An employee engaged in conduct that tends to seriously impair the
operation or morale of the agency, may cause the public to lose
confidence in the police department, violates the public trust, or
affects the reputation of the agency or any member.
• An employee’s treatment of others was biased, unequal, or
discriminatory in nature, but not rising to the level of a civil rights
violation that would be classified as a Level Two investigation.
• An employee participated in sexual harassment of another
employee or citizen.
• Subsequent Level One investigations involving similar conduct by
the same employee within a twelve-month period, may result in the
elevation of the investigation to Level Two.
Level Two Investigation
1. General: A Level Two investigation is one in which review by the
Citizen Review Board is required or anticipated. It includes allegations
that:
• A police officer or community service officer used force or
discharged a firearm in violation of an agency directive or
applicable law;
• A police officer or community service officer committed a crime;
• As a result of a police officer’s or community service officer’s act or
failure to act, a person sustained severe injury or death or suffered
a civil rights violation;
• A police officer or community service officer used deadly force,
whether or not the use of such force results in death;
• Any other matter the Chief or the City Manager determines should
be a Level Two investigation or forwarded to the Citizen Review
Board for review.