HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-14-1999 Public ReportsPCRB PUBLIC REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
This is the Report of the Police Citizens Review Board (the UBoard")
review of the investigation of Complaint PCRB #99-03 (the "Complaint").
BOARD'S RESPONSIBILITY
Under the City Code of the City of Iowa City, Section 8-8-7 B, the
Board's job is to review the Police Chief's Report ('Report") of his
investigation of a complaint. The City Code requires the Board to apply a
'reasonable basis" standard of review to the Report and to "give deference"
to the Report "because of the Police Chief's...professional expertise."
Section 8-8-7 B.2. While the City Code directs the Board to make "findings
of fact," it also requires that the Board recommend that the Police Chief
reverse or modify his findings only if those findings are "unsupported by
substantial evidence," are "unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious," or are
"contrary to a Police Department policy or practice or any Federal, State or
local law." Sections 8-8-7 B.2(a),(b), and (c).
BOARD'S PROCEDURE
The complainant initially contacted the Mayor's office (date unknown)
and was sent a PCRB complaint form.
On May 4, 1999, the Complaint was received at the office of the City
Clerk. As required by Section 8-8-5 of the City Code, the Complaint was
referred to the Police Chief for investigation. The Chief completed his
Report and submitted it to the Board on July 30, 1999. The Board voted to
review the Complaint in accordance with Section 8-8-7 B.l(a), which means
the Board may examine all complaint information on the record with no
additional information.
The Chief's investigation includes an interview with the complainant
conducted by internal affairs at the Iowa City Police Department on May 13,
1999, before the Complaint had been formally filed with the PCRB. A
transcript provided to the PCRB is a synopsis of the interview session. The
interview lasted 19 minutes.
The Board met on August 10, and August 24, 1999, to consider the
Report.
FINDINGS OF FACT
At approximately 1:15 a.m. in April 1999, the complainant and two
friends, all Hispanic males, left a local bar in the downtown area and
proceeded north on Dubuque Street enroute to Moline IL. The complainant
was driving a Toyota 4x4 pickup truck with oversize tires. The streets were
wet and there was a light rain at the time.
As they proceeded north on Dubuque Street, they were followed for
three to five blocks by a marked police car, which eventually made a right
turn onto a side street. All three passengers in the Toyota were aware of
the police car behind them. The two friends of the driver told him to be
careful and watch the speedometer since they had been drinking.
Continuing north on Dubuque Street after the police car turned off on
a side street, they met a second police car southbound in the 600 block
which, after passing the Toyota, made a U-turn and began following them.
The complainant was aware of the second police vehicle behind him. Both
vehicles continued north on Dubuque Street before being stopped by Officer
900430 just north of Foster Road. Officer 900430 approached the pickup
truck and told the complainant that be was stopped because he had been
speeding. The complainant felt he had not been speeding and told the
officer so. After admitting to drinking a few beers, the complainant was
given two preliminary breath tests, both registering .06. Officer 900430
3
then issued the complainant a speeding ticket for ten miles over the speed
limit (35 mph in a 25-mph zone), As the complainant continued to deny
speeding, he was told by the officer, according to the interview at the Iowa
City Police Department on May 13, 1999, that he could have given him two
speeding tickets. The officer told the complainant that he clocked him at 25
mph over the speed limit just before he made the U-turn on Dubuque Street
and again farther north on Dubuque Street. Also during the interview, the
complainant said he asked Officer 900430 if he could see his speed as
registered on the radar. When this request was denied, the complainant
asked the officer to tell this to his friends. His friends were told by Officer
900430 that he did not have to show the speed reading because it is not
Iowa law. The complainant was not allowed to drive because of the breath
test. A passenger was given a breath test and then allowed to drive the
truck.
CONCLUSION
Allegation//1. The complainant feels that he was stopped only
because the officer observed three Hispanic males in his truck and not
because of the speed, He believes that the first officer following him would
have given him a ticket if he had been speeding. Officer 900430 states that
when he met the truck and detected the speed, he could not see who was
in the truck due to the rain and glare of lights. The officer said he did not
know there were Hispanic males in the truck until after the stop was made,
The question of ethnic bias on behalf of the officer was discussed by the
complainant and his passengers on their return to Moline and again later
that day when a friend of the complainant, a former police officer, said that
the complainant fit the profile of certain people that are stopped by the
police. However, there was nothing said during the stop regarding ethnic
bias. The question at that time centered on the speed of the vehicle which
4
was denied by the complainant but will be a matter for the court. The
refusal to allow the complainant to see the reading on the radar unit
probably created serious doubt in the mind of the complainant about the
validity of the stop, but it appears the officer is not required to permit this.
Accordingly, the conclusion in the Chief's Report (1) that there is no
evidence to indicate a traffic stop was initiated due to the complainant's
ethnic origin, (2) that the complainant's vehicle was detected to be speeding
by radar, and (3) that nothing was said during the stop to indicate ethnic
bias is supported by substantial evidence and is not unreasonable, arbitrary
or capricious. The allegation is NOT SUSTAINED.
DATED: August 24, 1999