HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Relations Commission - Minutes - 02/20/1992Present:
Gary Wells
Linda Beardsley
Harold Wallace
Man Oberoi
Rudy Garcia
Staff:
Jaime Mares
Becky O'Donnell
HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION
February 20, 1992
MINUTES
Absent:
Elaine Boni
Alysa Stanton Rickie Calkins
Mary Daniel
Meeting was called to order by Alysa Stanton at 5:35 p.m. A motion was made to
accept the January 9th minutes. Motion was accepted by all members present.
The February HRC meeting will focus on the police citizen review process.
Human Relations Award
Alysa mentioned that the HRA developed flyers for the HRA breakfast. She asked the
HRC members to hand-out the flyers and get the word out about the awards.
CED
Elaine Boni will be coordinating the translation proposal. There seems to be enormous
amount of interest in the proposal. There will be no charges from Colorado State
University students. Eleven people attended the voices training. Mary did mention that
she would not be available to facilitate all requests for training units. Linda will facilitate
the first "Voices" request with the assistance of Mary Daniel, which is set with the City of
Fort Collins Employee Development Department.
Police Report
The Health and Safety Committee, HRC, and the Police Chief met on February 13 to
discuss how they should proceed with police citizen review process. The group was
concern with the lack of citizen participation. Therefore, the group would like to have the
HRC provide the Health and Safety Committee with a synopsis of the all the open forums.
HRC February
minutes
page 2/2
Overview
The facilitators of the open forums made the following observations:
■ Due to the fact that only a small number of people participated in the open
forums, may mean that citizens are satisfied with the current process or the
police are doing a good job.
■ Small participation may also mean that people are afraid to attend the meetings
because of fear of retribution.
■ Police are doing a good job, but there should be a system for a fair review for
all citizens.
■ A large section of the community would like to have a citizen's review board, but
there is a concern on who should be on the review board.
■ No matter what happens to the current process, certain citizens will not be
satisfied.
■ Many people do not know about how the current process works, it should be more
objective. A citizen review board would give the citizens a check and balances
system.
■ Whether it is a closed or open system, why doesn't the citizen have a chance to
present his/her case in person.
General Summary Statement
■ When the public learns of how the current system works, they are not satisfied
with the current system.
■ There is concern that if a board is established, members of that board should be
independent.
■ The perception of the forums was that there is some concern with the current
system, and citizens should be given options.
After reviewing the open forums and the synopsis developed by the city staff, the HRC
believes that there should be another alternative for individuals who have police related
complaints. In closing, the HRC would be willing to serve or assist the Health and Safety
Committee with developing a new process.
HRC February
minutes
page 3/3
Even with the small number of complaints that are filed with the police department,
citizens should have a review process that is fair and impartial.
Meeting is adjourned at 7:45 pm.
Gary Wells, Chair
Rudy Garcia, Secretary