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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCitizen Review Board - Minutes - 02/16/20000 Citizen Review Board Regular Meeting Wednesday, February 16, 2000 City of Fort Collins Human Resources Conference Room Present: Rick Aulino, Brian Carroll, Monica Garica, Maria Martinez, and Carole Stansfield. Staff: Hal Dean, Karen Carlson, Wendy Hartzell, and Greg Tempel Absent: Donald Colby, Becky Richardson and Chuck Wanner, Council Liaison. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m. The January 19 meeting minutes were read. Corrections were discussed and noted. Rick Aulino made a motion to accept the January minutes as amended. Carole Stansfield seconded the motion. No discussion and the motion carried 6-0. Business: Hal Dean introduced Karen Carlson, who will be the new CRB staff liaison beginning in March. Training: The Board discussed the possibility of forming a training subcommittee to plan and coordinate possible trainings for the Board members. Ms. Stansfield commented that there weren't enough Board members to warrant a subcommittee. Brian Carroll agreed and stated he thought it would be appropriate for the Board to discuss possible trainings together and ask for volunteers to coordinate events as they arise. There was general agreement on this by the Board. Mr. Carroll also discussed the recent publicity that the Denver CRB has received, and he thought it might be helpful to have a representative from that board speak to their process and what lessons were learned. Another possible training discussed was FATS training, which Mr. Carroll thought would be useful in that it would help Board members understand more police processes. Lt. Carlson clarified that she will assist in setting up law enforcement type training and outside training will be the responsibility of the CRB members. Web Site: Rick Aulino passed out hard copies of the proposed web site for review. There was a question about the City's ability to house these pages on its server. Mr. Aulino will follow up with the IT Department to confirm that this will not be a problem. There was discussion about what kinds of information that will be included on these web pages. Greg Tempel recommended that the Board adjourn to executive session to hear advice from its attorney regarding possible litigation. Mr. Aulino made a motion to adjourn to executive session, which was seconded by Carole Stansfield. The motion carried 5-0 and the Board adjourned to executive session at approximately 7:00 p.m. At approximately 7:35 p.m., Mr. Carroll made a motion to leave executive session, which was seconded by Ms. Garcia. The motion carried 5-0 and the Board moved into regular session. Mr. Tempel stated that he will revise the standard memo to strike the complainant's name, add a sentence requesting that a copy be forwarded to the complainant, an clarify the reasons for the Subcommittee's decision. Mr. Aulino stated that he will check all previous Subcommittee memos and remove officer names before posting on the web site. Mr. Aulino asked for feedback on the individual case pages. Items included are subcommittee findings and minutes, the Chiefs notice back and extensions. It was noted that the subcommittees are responsible for the accuracy of their minutes. Regarding member pages, it was agreed that only current member names should be listed. There was discussion about spokesperson contact information. It was agreed that this would be discussed further at next month's meeting when Chair and Vice Chair are present. Lt. Carlson suggested the Board have a voice mail box telephone number. This would help to clarify the separation of the CRB from the City. Lt. Carlson will check into this possibility and will report back to the Board in March. There was discussion regarding subcommittee executive sessions and who should be present. It was discussed that the police representative could be excused during the deliberative process in order to help clarify CRB independence. Procedural questions could be answered in advance. Media Coverage: Clarification was made that media inquiries should be directed to the Board's spokesperson and not Police Services in order to maintain the Board's appearance of independence. Spokesperson should have an approved response for the media that would include reference to the Board's web site and dates and times for the Board's next regular meeting. Discussion ensued about the inaccuracy of the recent newspaper article. Mr. Carroll stated he thought there should be some response from City Council clarifying the CRB's role as per its ordinance. There was discussion about getting additional support from City Council. Mr. Tempel stated that Council member Wanner would be attending meetings when there are pressing issues to be discussed or at the request of the Board. Mr. Aulino will invite Council member Wanner to the next regular meeting in March to discuss recent media coverage and a possible response. 2 • Case IA 99-50: Rick Aulino noted that he had spoken with the complainant, who had questions regarding the ability to give pubic input before the executive session; what is reviewed and who will be present; and the use of the taped interview information. Mr. Aulino asked that more information be provided to complainants to avoid confusion about the process and the function of the CRB. Lt. Carlson stated that written material explaining the process would be helpful for the complainant. There was discussion about summaries of the taped interviews and whether police officers and witnesses should be asked to sign their approval of the written summaries. Obtaining police officer signatures on summaries is possible, but it may be more difficult to obtain witness signatures. There was also discussion regarding whether tapes should be transcribed. Lt. Carlson stated it could be set up with the police officers and witnesses in advance to have a summary approved and returned within a set time frame. Later, the Board may need to review its 45-day time limit and address whether this limit or process should be revised. Adjournment: Monica Garcia made a motion to adjourn and Carole Stansfield seconded the motion. There was no discussion and the motion passed 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the HR Conference Room. Agenda items will include spokesperson contact information, report on voice mail availability, discussion regarding media response with Council member Wanner, and any web site updates. Chair 3