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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCitizen Review Board - Minutes - 12/13/2023CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, December 13, 2023, at 5:30 PM 222 Laporte Avenue, Colorado River Room (Main Floor) 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: Shamera Loose, Melissa Rosas, Elizabeth Grant, Mike O’Malley, Michael Ruttenberg b. Staff Members Present: Lieutenant Jeremy Yonce, Jessica Jones 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION a. Public Input – 5 minutes per individual • Andrew Lipp states that he has been working with the Attorney General’s office over an issue of blatant discrimination. He has autism and has a son that came home with bruises. He and his girlfriend reported the issue, but nothing was done. Someone from the CPS did come to visit him, and he requested the notes from that meeting. In those notes, his tone of voice was described as creepy. People with autism frequently speak in a monosyllabic tone and have strange mannerisms. He wants to make sure that others with disabilities are not treated like this. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING a. November 8, 2023: Mike O’Malley moved to approve the October 2023 minutes, which was seconded by Elizabeth Grant. Motion passed. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Training: FCPS Defensive Tactics. Officer Erin Feit has been with FCPS for 8 years and is a defensive tactics instructor. Corporal Nick Rogers has been FCPS for 15 years and has been with the defensive tactics team for 10 years. FCPS takes a holistic approach to training officers in defensive tactics; they are trained to serve their community using the least amount of force possible. The Defensive Tactics Team is made up of program coordinators, lead instructors, and instructors. 540 hours of training are required before an instructor can become a lead instructor. There is a total of 15 instructors, with 6 leads and 230 officers. It can be difficult to fill positions for this team, because an officer has to be willing to get beat up to train others. The selection process for hiring instructors is very important. FCPS investigates disciplinary files, background history, and IA files, and officers have to pass an oral panel, before they can even be considered. Officers receive 96 hours of defensive tactics training as they go through the Police Academy, in addition to 20 hours of skills and scenario training. Officers must be able to model 67 different skills before they are able to use them. All force should be legal, reasonable, appropriate, reactionary, responding to resistance vs use of force, manage the injuries of officers and suspects. It should always involve control, transitional through process, and use both escalation and de-escalation. FCPS officers need to be able to change their mindset, depending on a changing environment. Year-to-date, they’ve had 46 worker’s compensation claims, and sometimes citizens can be injured as well. FCPS focuses on improving training to improve the outcomes for both sides. When engaging with a suspect, size and strength matter, along with state of mind. If a suspect is clearly inebriated, it will make a difference in how an officer approaches him. Criminal history and previous experience with the individual can also play a factor in the level of force selected to be used. Instances of people exhibiting active aggression have increased over the past several years. Since 2020, and really, going back to 2014, there have been national trends and there is a small portion of the population that have distrust CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING for police. There are also parts of the system that have been undermined; FCPS has what amounts to a cashless bail system now. Assaulting an officer used to carry 5 years of prison time, and now, defendants get out on a PR bond. There are different levels of control, which are all impacted by the presence and demeanor of an officer, the verbal directions they use, etc. After that, they have options for exerting physical control, including chemical agents, intermediate and impact weapons, and deadly force. In regard to tools to address resistance, there are batons, both collapsible and wooden, and then chemical agents like OC spray, which is useful because it can be used at a distance from the suspect. FCPS doesn’t train officers in silos; though tasers are taught by the SWAT team, they incorporate information about tasers into Defensive Tactics training to ensure that the same thought process is attached to each tool. Tasers may go through a thick coat, but it is unlikely to go through a phone, or anything thicker in someone’s pocket. We only use them sparingly, because both prongs must hit the target for it to be effective. Communication skills are essential for every FCPS officer, so officers are trained on this skill as well. Officers are expected to make sure their communication skills are acceptable and improve over time. As they age, they start to understand the value of being understood, and being able to understand, and this information is incorporated into their training. Officers are trained to write detailed reports, and to speak well, in case they have to testify in court. The Defensive Tactics team focuses on failures, not to highlight where they failed, but so that officers are able to go back and review the choices they made, so that when a similar situation occurs on the streets, they have more information and can make a better decision. b. Voicemail: Voicemail from Jason Knebel, who is experiencing conflict over protests held at Planned Parenthood. Elizabeth called him back and provided him with resources for registering a complaint. c. E-mail: Email from Andrew Lipp. Shamera emailed him back to invite him to come to the meeting to participate in public input. d. Case Subcommittee Drawing: • An officer was called to a disturbance about an individual located at the Alley Cat, which is a coffee shop off of Laurel and College. He was yelling racial slurs, had an axe and a can of bear spray. The officer sprayed the citizen, and then deployed the taser. It worked at first, but CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD (CiRB) REGULAR MEETING then disconnected. After the suspect charged the officer, the officer shot the suspect. • Drawing: • Chairperson of Sub-committee: Mike O’Malley • Sub-committee Members: Elizabeth Grant and Melissa Rosas • Alternate: Michael Ruttenberg 7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a. Elizabeth went on a ride-along with FCPS. She and the officer spent time at the hotel on College and Vine. The officer was informed and polite. b. Shamera went on a ride-along with Corporal Bjornstrom and Officer Jones. It was interesting to see the difference between the two officers. 9. OTHER BUSINESS: a. Michael Ruttenberg recommends setting a timer for the public input period to ensure that each individual receives 5 minutes of time. 10. ADJOURNMENT – Elizabeth moved to adjourn, seconded by Michael Ruttenberg @ 7:41 PM.