HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-28-2015 Community ForumAGENDA
CITIZENS POLICE REVIEW BOARD
ANNUAL COMMUNITY FORUM
APRIL 28, 20159 6:00 PM
IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY, RM A
123 South Linn Street, IC
ITEM NO. 1 CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL
ITEM NO. 2 INTRODUCTION OF BOARD & BRIEF OVERVIEW
ITEM NO. 3 CONSIDER MOTION TO ACCEPT CORRESPONDENCE AND/OR
DOCUMENTS
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ITEM NO. 5 ADJOURNMENT
We, invite YOU to attend a forum.
The City of Iowa City
CITIZENS POLICE REVIEW BOARD
COMMUNITY FORUM
WHEN: Tuesday, April 28, 201
TIME: 6:00 PM
WHERE: Iowa City F`ublic Library, Rm A
123 Seth Linn Street, IC
TOPIC:
The Citizens Police Review Board will be holding a Community Forum
for the purpose of hearing Citizens' views on the policies, practices and
procedures of the a City Police Department.
mi1
(Find iCPD General Orders at www.icgov.orq under Police Dept)
QUESTIONS & COMMENTS:
Send your questions or comments you'd like addressed at the forum
to the following by Tuesday, April 21st:
Please include full name and address. (All correspondence is public)
CPRS
City of Iowa City
410 E Washington St
Iowa City, IA 52240
Or - o CPRB
kellie-tuttle@iowa-city.org
The Board will attempt to address all correspondence received.
The forum will be taped for rebroadcast.
Kelllie Tuttle
From: City of Iowa Corg>
Sent: Wednesday, March 25 201510:42xw|
To: 0eUeTuttle
Subject: Citizens Police Review Board Community Forum
Contact: Kellie Tuttle
Contact Phone: (319) 356-5043
Citizens Police Review Board Community Forum
Issued by: City
Mai|ingusns): General City News
Originally Posted znsvuiSm4135xM
The Citizens Police Review Board will be holding its Annual Community Forum for the purpose of hearing Citizens'views
on the policies, practices and procedures of the Iowa City Police Department.
WHEN: Tuesday, April 20,2U15
TIME: &UUPM
WHERE Iowa City Public Library, RnnA
123South Linn Street, |C
Questions &Comments:
Send your questions or comments you'd like addressed at the forum to the following by Tuesday, April 21 st:
Please include full name and address. (All correspondence ispublic)
CPR8
City ofIowa City
��
41OEWashington St
Iowa City, |A52240
Ore-mail (oCPRBstaff,
The Board will attempt tuaddress all correspondence received
The forum will hetaped and rebroadcast onthe Interactive City Channel 4.
View this article onthe |C6ovWeb Site: 0C376
This media release was sent,
oonot reply directly »pthis e-maill It is produced from an automated system, and Is not monitored for replies If you have a question or comment
about this information, please contact the mu.v|nou)ls) listed mthe release.
° Unsubscribe or edit VOUr subscription det2ils.
Kellie Tuttle
From: City of Iowa City <webmaster@iowa-city.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2015 9:30 AM
To: Kellie Tuttle
Subject: Citizens Police Review Board Community Forum
Contact: Kellie Tuttle
Contact Phone: (319) 356-5043
Citizens Police Review Board Community Forum
Issued by: City Clerk
Mailing List(s): General City News
Originally Posted 4/9/2015 U0:16 AM
The Citizens Police Review Board will be holding Its Annual Community Forum for the purpose of hearing Citizens' views
on the policies, practices and procedures of the Iowa City Police Department,
WHEN: Tuesday, April 28, 2015
TIME: 6:00 PM
WHERE: Iowa City Public Library, Rm A
123 South Linn Street, IC
Questions & Comments:
Send your questions or comments you'd like addressed at the forum to the following by Tuesday, April 21 st:
Please include full name and address. (All correspondence is public)
CPRB
City of Iowa City
410 E Washington St
Iowa City, IA 52240
Or e-mail to CPRB staff:
kellie-tuttle(@iowa-city.org
The Board will attempt to address all correspondence received.
The forum will be taped and rebroadcast on the Interactive City Channel 4
The agenda is available at: http:/iwvAv.1cgcjy,org/defaulUai)ps/boards/boardList,asp
View this article on the ICGov Web Site: http://www.lcgov.org/apes/news/?newslD=10409
This media release was sent to: kellle-tuttleADowa-city.om
Do not reply directly to this a-maill It Is produced from an automated system, and is not monitored for replies. If you have a question or comment
about this information, please contact the individual(s) listed in the release.
• Unsubscribe or edit your subscriptlon details.
• Visit our lobs page for employment opportunities.
• View more news from the City of Iowa City.
CITIZENS POLICE
REVIEW BOARD
COMMUNITY FORUM
April 28, 2015
PLEASE PRINT
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS
ON THE OPPOSITE SHEET
WHEN YOU ADDRESS THE BOARD
NAME:
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FINAUAPPROVED
CITIZENS POLICE REVIEW BOARD
COMMUNITY FORUM
April 28, 2015, 6:00 P.M.
IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY
123 South Linn Street, IC
CALL TO ORDER: Chair Melissa Jensen called the meeting to order at 6:02 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Melissa Jensen, Royceann Porter, Fidencio Martinez,
Mazahir Salih
MEMBERS ABSENT: Joseph Treloar
STAFF PRESENT: Legal Counsel Patrick Ford and Staff Kellie Tuttle
(Transcriptions are available)
INTRODUCTION OF THE BOARD & BRIEF OVERVIEW.
CONSIDER MOTION TO ACCEPT CORRESPONDENCE AND/OR DOCUMENTS
None to accept.
PUBLIC
DISCUSSION The following individuals appeared before the CPRB:
Julie VanDyke
Fatimah Omar
Brianna Gore
Robert Smith
Adam Sullivan
Shawn Gerden
Heidi Kuchta
Harry Olmstead
Joseph Hall
Latisha McDaniel
Tessa Heeren
Annie Tucker
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 7:08 P.M.
3635 490' St SW, IC
423 Waterway Dr, IC
429 Southgate Ave, IC
1131 Maple St, IC
1819 Chelsea Ct, IC
Iowa City
19181 St, IC
1951 Hannah Jo Ct,IC
1826 G St, IC
Iowa City
327 N Johnson, IC
1425 Oaklawn, IC
(Forum Summary will be submitted to Council)
CITIZENS POLICE REVIEW BOARD
(Formerly Police Citizens Review Board)
ATTENDANCE RECORD
YEAR 2014-2015
(Dleetino. Date)
--
---
TERM
5/19
6/11
S/20
----
9/15
-
]0/13 11/111
1]/25
12/3
7j.4
12i29
2i1Q
3111) 4/7
4/28
NAME
EXP.
X
X
X
X i X
- --
X
Melissa
91 1fi
X
X X
X
X
-
X
- --
X
� X
,Jensen
--
—
-
Donald
9/1 115
--
--
kin
-._
Joseph
- 17
91
X
X
X
'-
X
X X
X
OIL"
X
X
X
X X
T OIE
Treloar
1
Royceann
9/1!16
3i
X
O
X O
O
X X
X
X
O
X
X
X
Porter
Mazahir
9/1 17
X
OIE
D
X
X
i X
X
X
X
O/E
X
O,E X
i,
X
Salih
Tremblay
Fidencio
9/1i15
-
X
X
X
X
O/E X
X
O
X
Martinez
KEY: a = Present
O = Absent
O/E — Absent/Excused
NM = No meeting
-- = Not a Member
CITIZENS POLICE REVIEW BOARD
A Board of the City of Iowa City
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City, IA 52240-1826
(319)356-5041
June 16, 2015
Iowa City City Council
City of Iowa City
410 East Washington St
Iowa City, Iowa 52240
Re: Citizen Police Review Board Annual Community Forum
The Iowa City Citizen Police Review Board (CPRB) held the annual Community Forum, Tuesday, April 28,
2015 at 6:00 p.m. Members at the forum were Melissa Jensen (Chair), Royceann Porter, Mazahir Salih,
and Fidencio Martinez. Legal counsel Pat Ford was also present. Joe Treloar (Vice Chair) was absent.
The forum opened with a roll call vote and an introduction of members. No correspondence was
received for the forum. Jensen shared there was information was available in the back of the room
including brochures, both in English and Spanish, as well as complaint forms. There was a brief overview
of the CPRB given, along with an update on the video soon to be available.
Following the above, Jensen opened up the forum for public discussion. Julie VanDyke, Fatima Omar,
Brianna Gore, Robert Smith, Adam Sullivan, Shawn Gerden, Heidi Kuchata, Harry Olmstead, Joseph Hall,
Laticia McDaniel, Tessa Heeren, and Annie Tucker (all from Iowa City) spoke.
Questions and concerns raised at the Forum are addressed below.
1. Community member asked for clarification on the responsibilities and authority of the Citizen Police
Review Board.
Established in 1987, by ordinance #97-3792, the Iowa City Citizen Police Review Board (CPRB)
consists of five members, appointed by the City Council. The CPRB has its own legal counsel. The
Board was established to review investigations into claims of police misconduct, and to assist the
Police Chief, the City Manager, and the City Council in evaluating the overall performance of the
Police Department by reviewing the Police Departments investigations into complaints. The Board is
also required to maintain a central registry of complaints and to provide an annual report setting
forth the numbers, types and disposition of complaints of police misconduct. The Board holds at
least one community forum each year for the purpose of hearing citizen views on policies, practices
and procedures of the Iowa City Police Department. TO achieve these purposes, the Board complies
with Chapter 8 of the Iowa City Code and the Board's By -Laws and Standard Operating Procedures
and Guidelines. The Board has limited powers under City and State law, and has no authority over
criminal mattes or discipline.
2. A concern was expressed about the use of repurposed military equipment, particularly "MRAP's.
MRAP or Mine Resistant Ambush Protection is a term for vehicles that were originally designed to
withstand IED's and ambushes, or allow occupants to survive gunfire. Johnson County Sheriff
Department has a MRAP that can be utilized or deployed by any local law enforcement agency or
the Emergency Management Agency for emergency and disaster responses and for a variety of
public safety missions.
According to the Iowa City Police Department, the MRAP has been utilized only for high risk
situations. Permission must be obtained and there has to be a high risk of a firearms encounter.
The department does have a Special Response Team (SRT) and they do have weapons and tactics
that are above the skill set of the average police officer. These officers train constantly and are
highly disciplined for the sole purpose of minimizing the risk to themselves and the potential rescue
of an innocent member of the community should there be an armed encounter.
3. There was discussion on the use of body cameras. In checking with the Iowa City Police
Department, body cameras have been ordered and delivery is expected very soon. An exact date
for delivery is unknown. The policy regarding the use of video cameras will be supplied to the City
Council and public prior to implementation. The ACLU and City Legal provided assistance in the
drafting of the policy.
4. A couple community members shared personal belief and expressed concern about the perception
of racial disparity and profiling.
S. Other concerns expressed were regarding diversity in the police department, and the need to
address human slave trade.
At the conclusion of comments from the public, the Board thanked the audience for their input. Jensen
called for the meeting to be adjourned.
Melissa Jensen
Chair
Citizen Police Review Board
Additional Resources:
Iowa City City Code — Chapter 8 —Citizen Police Review Board:
To view the City Code online, go to www.icgov.org, Go to Government, select City Code, Title 8,
Chapter 8.
Citizen Police Review Board — Website Information:
General information about the Board and its current members is on the main webpage. To
access board packets, the complaint form, forum summaries, public complaint reports, and
annual reports, click "More Information Available" on the main webpage. To view information
online, go to www.icgov.org, Government, select Board & Commissions, Citizen Police Review
Board.
Iowa City Police Department General Orders:
Wide ranges of written directives guide members of the Iowa City Police Department. These
directives range from Federal. State, and Local laws or Codes to Memorandums, which identify
the manner in which the department does its business. Included in these directives are the
General Orders of the Iowa City Police Department.
General orders provide guidance to officers in how to handle a variety of different situations.
While they may provide specific recommendations, they are not necessarily intended as a step
by step guide, but more as a "how to conduct business" reference, for members of the
department. The orders are divided into multiple general headings ranging from Personnel to
Operations. To view information online, go to www.icgov.org, Police Department webpage,
select General Orders from the list on the left side of the page.
Iowa City Diversity Initiative:
In June 2012, the Iowa City City Council established the Diversity Committee which was
formulated to serve as an ad -hoc council committee to review issues relating to diversity within
the City organization. The Equity Director is appointed by the City Manager, the Equity Director
serves as advisor to the City Manager on issues of equity and diversity, and coordinates the
City's efforts and initiatives with regard to education, customer service, partnerships, and
publishing an annual comprehensive equity report. To view information online, go to
www.icgoy.org, Human Rights, Diversity Initiative.
Johnson County MRAP Fact Sheet:
See attached.
JOHNSON COUNTY MRAP FACT SHEET
What does MRAP stand for? Mine Resistant Ambush Protection.
What is an MRAP (an armored vehicle)? It is designed to allow its occupants to survive gunfire of any
caliber and to allow forthe survival of its occupants from either a rocket propelled grenade, a pipe
bomb, a car bomb or for that matter against any type of explosive charge.
Who made it? The Federal Government bought MRAPs from two United States companies, Oshkosh and
BAE Industries (formerly known as Armor Holdings). Johnson County and several Iowa counties have a
Caiman MRAP Variant which was built by BAE Industries in Sealy, Texas. It was used by the U.S.
Department of Defense as an armored troop transport to get people out and back alive during conflicts.
There are many different variants, but this is what this model of MRAP did when the U.S. Army originally
owned it
Does it have any offensive weapons? No! The Federal Government 1033 Program removes the only
offensive weapon system that was originally installed on top of it. That system was used by the military
for counter assault when the vehicle came under attack. It also removed the night vision,
communications, active armor that was used to counter rocket propelled grenades the ballistic turret
and gun mount systems. Offensive weaponry is always removed by the Federal Government prior to
releasing any MRAP to law enforcement agencies nationwide.
How old is the Johnson County MRAP and what are the specs? The U.S. Department of Defense
required upgrades to all MRAPs to meet the latest technology before the conclusion of the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq. The Johnson County MRAP was factory rebuilt to "like new" condition in February
2013 and early 2014. At that time, the data plate was updated to reflect its entirely new drive train,
power plant/engine and new front engine; mechanically, all but the crew area has seen upgrades. (See
photo below). The MRAP has six new run flat tires, ten new seats and new spare parts including
additional tires. It has an emergency light and siren/p-a system, a large spotlight mounted on the roof,
and a backup camera. All told, the MRAP can haul 10 people in seats with additional room in the
center, and it is capable of transporting two additional people lying flat on a stretcher. In addition to
being a 6-wheel-drive vehicle, the MRAP has a CTIS or central tire inflation system that allows for air
adjustments for snow, sand, mud or highway driving and inflates and deflates or refills air in and out of
each tire as needed for the different modes. It has a 110 power -inverter and both a 12-volt and 24-volt
system and a new recovery winch on the front. It uses a commercial Caterpillar C7 diesel 6 cylinder
engine and Allison transmission, both of which have readily available parts that can be obtained locally
and through dealers.
How was it acquired? It was obtained as a Federal Property Transfer which means it wasn't purchased
by a local agency; instead it was transferred from a Federal agency to a local law enforcement agency.
The program is open to only law enforcement agencies and is called the LESO 1033 Program.
Who owns it? The short answer is the Johnson County Sheriff's Office; however, it is a shared
countywide resource much like the special response vehicles such as the Countywide Bomb Truck, and
the Countywide Haz Mat Truck. These vehicles, along with the MRAP, are all covered by the Emergency
Management Commission for liability insurance. The MRAP has been signed over to the Johnson County
Sheriff's Office, but once it is at the end of its useful life, it must be returned to the Department of
Defense for disposal.
What does it cost to insure per year? Since the MRAP can be returned to the Federal Government in
any condition at its end of its useful life, the MRAP is only covered for liability insurance. The cost to
cover liability insurance for 12 months is presently $270.00 through ICAP municipal insurance carrier
and is insured on the policy carried by the Johnson County Emergency Management Commission.
What did the Federal Government pay for it originally? The cost to U.S. Department of Defense new
was $733,000.00
What did it cost locally to get it and make it so it was useful to Johnson County? Local costs to date
were covered using local drug forfeiture or "seizure" funds. This included shipping it on a flatbed semi
from the BAE Plant in Texas to Johnson County for $3,500.00 and it was painted tactical black instead of
the original military sand brown color. That cost was just over $5,000.00 and there were also costs for
adding a backup camera and emergency lights to it. The total covered by seizure funds split equally from
the drug taskforce member agencies is right at $13,000.00 which even included the fuel it has used and
the fees for instructor operator training.
Why get it? It was acquired as a Defensive Vehicle. It has no weapons systems, gun mounts or a turret
on it. It allows officers to save lives and safely remove wounded persons as well as deflect the blasts
from bombs. Pipe bombs (which are not uncommon) will have little impact on this vehicle. Parking this
vehicle on or near a volatile situation will provide shielding until bomb team professionals can come and
safely remove a hazardous device. The MRAP will also allow officers to go into hostile situations
reducing the risk of being shot and would allow safe rescue of citizens from gunfire situations. Johnson
County is not immune to shootings and other dangerous situations. Since its primary use is for hostile
active shooter or explosive device situations, it is basically a ballistic shield on wheels for up to 10 seated
occupants and is capable of transporting 2 medical stretchers patients lying flat for use in transporting
wounded or injured people. The MRAP can also be used in natural hazards. Johnson County as recently
as 2011, had winter storms so severe that 4x4s and HUMVEES got stuck. Deep snow or high water
events, where ground clearance and mobility are a problem for standard four wheel drive vehicles, can
now be handled with the acquisition of the MRAP.
What are its uses? It can be utilized or deployed by any local law enforcement agency or the Emergency
Management Agency for emergency and disaster responses and for a variety of public safety missions.
In fact, during the 2014 summer floods its first call out was to rescue people from their flooded property
south of Hills. The area in question had no way to get a boat to the residence but yet the water was too
deep for a standard 4x4 patrol truck to respond to. Therefore a deputy in a lifejacket and waders with a
rescue tether was used as a spotter to make sure the vehicle stayed on the hard surface of the roadway
and led the MRAP operator and team to complete the rescue. The truck made its way through waist
high water at the deepest point to access the properties and allow the people to evacuate their
residence in the safety of the vehicle. The story was covered by KCRG TV and is available on their
website.
How much does it weigh? After removal of all the non -useful mounts and other non -essential items,
Iowa DOT motor vehicle officials determined the following:
Left Side Right Side Total
Axle 1 9,700lbs. 9,100lbs. 18,800lbs.
Axle 2 8,700lbs. 8,500 lbs. 17,2001bs.
Axle 3 8,600lbs. 8,100 lbs. 16,7001bs.
Total Vehicle Weight is: 52,7001bs.
So how does that compare to other vehicles on the road?
Here are the weights of some common vehicles you will see in Johnson County. A fully loaded tandem
axel Johnson County Secondary Roads dump truck hauling a load of gravel or sand weighs in at 65,000
lbs. loaded, a fire department ladder truck, like the one Iowa City Fire Department calls Truck 1, weighs
in at 73,400 lbs., and a standard fully loaded cement truck weighs about 70,000lbs. The MRAP is slightly
lighter than these types of trucks and has similar fuel standards at about 5-7 miles per gallon of diesel
fuel.
Are the drivers trained? Yes, drug seizure funds were used to hire a U.S. Army Reservist to teach the 24-
hour MRAP operator course to members of various local public safety agencies that had experience in
driving large trucks or had prior military experience. Though not required, most operators have Class -A
drivers licenses with airbrake endorsements. Many had driven similar or sometimes even the exact
same trucks in the military. Presently eight people are MRAP operators. Operation and maintenance
manuals were provided to the mechanics and the drivers who operate it by the government.
Can it go anywhere? No! Every vehicle has its limitations and part of the 24-hour driver training and
safety course required for MRAP driving certification took the trainees to the Iowa City landfill with the
purpose of teaching them its limitations and what gets it stuck and what it can get through. It is a 6x6 all
terrain high ground clearance vehicle with a heavy duty recovery winch on the front of it. The high
ground clearance combined with the 6-wheel-drive capability plus the vehicle weight, allows it to go
through deep snow, water, some dirt and mud etc.
Has it ever been stuck since we got it? Yes, twice intentionally at the landfill and it was pulled out with
a bulldozer both times. This was to allow operators to see what it can and can't do and its limitations.
Also during training, one operator pulled over on the shoulder of a gravel road to switch drivers and the
truck sank into the soft shoulder and had to be pulled out by a towing company. That towing bill was
also paid for using drug seizure funds. Though it was an unplanned incident it also proved to be a
valuable lesson to the operators taking the course. The rut was re -graded after the truck was pulled
free.
Who else has them? There are 15 MRAP or armored vehicles used by public safety agencies in Iowa
Below is the list as of August 2014.
7 Station (LEA)
tzm"41M
10usmkyl Model
JOHNSON COUNTY SHERIFF DEPT
MRAP
1 6x6 Caimen MRAP
FLACK HAWK COUNTY SHERIFF OSPT
MRAP
1 6x6 Caimen MRAP
MUSCATINE PDLIC.E DEPT
MRAP
1 6.,(6 Caimen MRAP
SIOUX CITY POLICE DEFT
MRAP
i 6x6 Caimen MRAP
MARSHALLTOVVN POLICE DEPARTMENT
MRAP
1 6x6 Cainlen MRAP
STORM LAKE POLICE DEPT
MRAP
1 6X6 Caimen MRAP
JASPER COUNTY SHERIFF DEPT
MRAP
1 6-&. Caimen MRAP
WASH INGTON POLICE DEFT
MRAP
T 6x6 Caimen MRAP
MASON CITY POLICE. DEPT
MRAP
1 6):6 Caimen MRAP
.STORY COUNTY SHEERIFF u OFFICE
MRAP
i 6x6 Caimen MRAP
ELENA VISTA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
MRAP
i 4X4 OSHKOSH MAX PRO
SCOTT COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE
MRAP
t 6X6 MRAP RC33
WATERLOO POLK:E DEPT
LEW.0 BEARCC:!
1 L€:r c:o Beamat
DES MOINES POLICE DEPT
LENC:O BEAR
i Lenc.o Bear
LeMsm POLk.E DETT
PEACEKEEPER
1 PEACEKEEPE.R
Can we see photos?
Data Plate below:
Rear crew compartment with 4 seats per side. The stretcher mounts are in between seats and swing
down when needed and up out of the way when not in use
Inside upfront with portable radio mounts, antenna connections, the siren/pa box, and the backup
camera monitor shown
Picture of the side and front of it below with winch and spotlight shown
April 2S, 2015 Citizens Police Review Board Annual Community Forum Page 1
Board Members Present:
Board Members Absent:
Staff Present:
Melissa Jensen (Chair), Royceann Porter, Mazahir Salih, Fidencio
Martinez
Joseph Treloar
Pat Ford (legal counsel)
CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL:
Jensen/ Okay, if we could go ahead and like to call the meeting to order. Um, first off I gotta do
roll call. So ... Joe Treloar is our Vice Chair and he's absent. Fidencio Martinez.
Martinez/ Present.
Jensen/ Royceann Porter.
Porter/ Present.
Jensen/ Mazahir Salih.
Salih/ Here.
Jensen/ And Pat Ford.
Ford/ I'm here as well.
Jensen/ Thank you very much!
INTRODUCTION OF BOARD & BRIEF OVERVIEW:
Jenseir/ Okay, um, just a really quick overview for the folks in attendance. Sorry about that!
Have to remember to speak into the microphone. Um. we're going to do just a quick
introduction of the Board Members. So... if you don't know some of the Members, you
can learn who they are and ... if...if we would, uh, as we share the information, how long
we've been on the Board just for ... for everybody's information, and then if there's
anything else I'd like to share. So ... Royceann, if you want to start!
Porter/ My name is Royceann Porter and I've been on the Board since March of 2010.
Jensen/ Okay, and I'm Melissa Jensen. I'm the Chair of the CPRB and I've been on since...
November of 2010. Uh, Joe Treloar, our Vice Chair, has been on since... [ believe 2009.
Saliah/ Mazahir Salih, I'm on the Board for two years now.
Martinez/ My name is Fidencio Martinez and I've been on the Board for about five months.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City Citizens Police Review
Board Annual Community Forum of April 28, 2015.
April M, 2015 Citizens Police Review Board Annual Community Forum Page 2
Ford/ My name is Pat Ford. I am not a Board Member. I am the legal counsel for the Board.
Pro an attorney here in Iowa City and I've been, uh, in that capacity about a year.
CONSIDER MOTION TO ACCEPT CORRESPONDENCE AND/OR DOCUMENTS:
Jensen/ Okay! Um, Item #3 on the agenda tonight is ... uh, considering a motion to accept
correspondence and/or documents. We received no correspondence, so there is nothing
to accept. So we'll move on to ... um, just a ... I'd like to do just a quick overview. If
you've heard this before bear with me, um, but I feel .... I'd be remiss if i didn't share the
information. A couple of things on the table, the back table, there are, urn, brochures
about the CPRB. They are both in English and in Spanish. It ... just kind of an overview,
talks about the process. There's also some other information that lists things like the City
web site, um, and other resources, places you can get information, and then there are
forns for the complaint process, so that you can see how that works, as well. Um, so
those are back there. Feel free to pick those up, um, and read through those. Um, quick
overview. The Board was, uh, originally formed in 1990, and... couple things kind of
interesting — it was originally named the Police Citizen Review Board, and a couple of
years ago that was changed, based on feedback from the community, to the Citizen Police
Review Board. Most recently, um, upon recommendation from the Charter Review
Commission, there was a suggestion to Council to ... change the name again, but, uh, I
think a ... a great change, but to change it to the Community Police Review Board. So
again, keeping more that community rather than citizen, and using that language. That
does have to go through three readings at Council, if I ... if I'm correct, and so that change
has not been made yet, but you will probably see that coming down the road. Um, there
are live of us Board Members and ... as Pat mentioned, we do ... he is our legal counsel.
Um, he is legal counsel to the Board and doesn't work for the City. Um... and again, the
information in the back kind of explains what we do. Um, and how things work. So...
hopefully that information is helpful. Um, just this past year, we did, uh...one thing I
want to mention and I was hoping that this would be finished by now, but we're very,
very close to finis... finishing a short educational video that, um, will be on City Cable
Channel. It will be possibly used some other places, and so that's really close to being
done. We had it pretty much finished, made some modifications, and that should be done
here shortly. Um...and then information, um, about... complaints and information that...
about reports that we do, um, that come through. That information is all available on the
different complaints that are filed. The ... the final reports on those are available on the
City web site. So, you can go there, and again, that ... that web site is listed on the
document in the back of the room. So you can go there and you can look at those, that
information on ... the variety of those complaints. Those are the reports that go to
Council. You can see that. So, urn ... other than that, um, let's move on, if we would, to
Item #4, that's public discussion and a couple of things about that. We are being
recorded, obviously, and that's so it will be, um, this will be available on ... the City
Channel at a later date. Um, if you come up to the microphone, we ask that you please
sign in and then introduce yourself. Let us... use the microphone, let us know who you
are, and then I would ask, um, that you be respectful of others that are here tonight, so try
to limit, um.. your ... your comments to five minutes, and then once everybody's had a
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chance to speak that wants to, if you have something additional you'd like to share, you
can get back up. Absolutely! And we'll stay as long as we need to, um, you know, to
make sure we get through everything. So, if that sounds fair, why don't we go ahead and
open it up to public discussion!
PUBLIC DISCUSSION CITIZENS POLICE REVIEW BOARD:
VanDyke/ It's a really difficult time right now for everybody and I'm thankful I live in Iowa
City. More thankful than ... I am, or not in Iowa City, but in the Iowa City cotmunity,
and I'm rather thankful for it more ... more so than I have in the past. Um, I'm much
older than I often act and ... I'm turning 50 next year and I grew up with Eric Shaw, um,
knew him very, very well. I J n...Professor Goertz, who was killed by Gang Lu, was the
father of a, um, two of my friends that I went to high school. I went to high school here,
and over these years that I have lived here, gone to San Francisco for nine years and
come back, I have seen a significant change in culture here. And I'm really appreciative
for the work that you guys do and for what you've done and what you've opened up,
because you've opened up a lot of that change and you've helped affect that culture.
Cultural change here, which is, you know, always...needs to be ... you know, fine-tuned
and worked on, and it's not something that ends. It's ... it's a ... it is a community
engagement and... and... and the work that you guys have done has been really, really
important. Um, but I'm also really, really happy.
Jensen/ Ma'am, if i could (both talking) I apologize!
VanDyke/ Julie VanDyke, 3635 4901h Street SW. I won't usually do that for the School Board
cause I get stalked! But ... (both talking)
Jensen/ Thank you for sharing that! I forgot, I should have (both talking) apologize for
interrupting you.
VanDyke/ My bad! I'm out of my element as you all may well know, but um, I just, you know,
Fm very upset about the things that are happening in the world and in this country, and I
foresee a very dangerous summer for a great many people across the United States, and
I'm fearful of it, but I'm thankful for the culture that you guys have helped affect change
to here, because I've seen change here, and I'm thankful for the... the... the changes that
Hargadine has affected here, and I've seen, you know, I've lived through what, three,
four different police chiefs here? And ... um, what I've seen is openness to ... self-
examination of the Department that I don't think we see in very many other police
departments in this country right now. Um, and...and um...and you guys have helped
with those things. I ... I've seen ... a very different relationship with the Iowa City Police,
um, and the community. I've seen the entire shift show up to the Homeless Children's
Trust, and I'm really proud of them for doing that, and I've seen so many officers show
up to the Martin Luther King celebration at Grant Wood, and that was on their own time.
You know, we can't even get our School District to recognize the holiday or talk about it,
but they all showed up there and they respected the community and they respect other
communities as well, and I appreciate this, and I appreciate this as we go into a summer
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that I think is going to be very dangerous, and I would actually say that the relationship
that you guys have s...have worked on with them and the changes that you've all
contributed to are actually an example to other communities throughout the country,
because we have a police department here that actually works in the community and
wants to make positive change, and yet they make mistakes. We make mistakes, but...
but they're actually looking at them and doing things, and you guys helped do that. and I
appreciate that. Um, I look at our ... our police and we were some of the first to have
body cameras on there, instead of fighting it! You know, and that protects everybody —
them and the people that they pull over. It protects everybody! And, unr, you know...
(sighs) 1 just ... I see increased cultural competency and a willingness to look at that. 1 see
what's happened with the report that, as I understand it, Hargadine actually went after,
the study that was done, that actually showed where there were officers that had issues
that were not in -line with what our community wants, and my perception is that those
issues are now being addressed because of that, and a lot of police departments and a lot
of police chiefs (laughs) wouldn't have gone after that study, and they sure as hell
wouldn't have released it when it showed something that wasn't perfect, or they would
have spun it, and they didn't! They got it out there and they took responsibility. And
know that after what I've watched happen over the last year and two years, in...ui other
communities that when I've seen re ... some recent issues that were, um, in the. _in the
media, such as the man who was pulled over, and I won't, you know, say narnes or
anything like that, but the man who was pulled over who had a ... a wea...who was drunk
driving and had a weapon in his sweatshirt. I look at that and I read that and I'm like, Oh
my god! We are so lucky because nobody got hurt! That was actually handled so
beautifully here that he didn't get shot and the officer didn't get shot, and I'm just really
thankful for all of this and I'm thankful for the work you do. and please continue, and
please continue to, you know, examine. It... it is on -going, but um ... I thank you and I
thank the Iowa City Police Department for ... for actually examining the cultural
relationships between the police department and the variety of communities that we have
in ... within our community, and that you are all open to that and working at it, instead of
just getting defensive and, um, digging in. So, I appreciate that, and I appreciate the
officers here who, urn...who... are the kind of officers that I want to see on the street, and
I have to say, I have sympathy for many, many different factions in what's happening
around us right now, and I of...also have sympathy for them because... just because they
have the uniform on, they end up becoming a target for the rage that we're not able
to ... to...to deal with, um, and um...I appreciate them sticking it out in that and I
appreciate the officers that ... that show up at the Homeless Children's Trust and Martin
Luther King Day celebration that I was at, because...um... they're setting an example and
they're setting an example for other people with on ... within the police force here, but
also for other police departments, and thank you for engaging with them and allowing
them to do that too and encouraging it, because it helps them do it, and I think we
actually set a really pretty darn good example here to other communities throughout the
United States, and definitely throughout Iowa, and thank you so much for all that you do!
Jensen/ Thank you.
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Omar/ Hello, my name's Fatimah (can't hear) Omar and I'm from Iowa City, Iowa. Um, I'm a
sophomore in college. Fm a business management student and I'll be going to Iowa in
the fall and I've always had a huge interest in socio... um, in societal issues and the
whole, um, socio... sociological aspect, and um, I would like to start off with this quote.
The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral during a crisis. This
quote is originally from Italian poet, Dante Alighieri but was used a lot by President, um,
John F. Kennedy. I'm here because I would like to talk about the racial dis...
disproportionality when it comes to non -traffic arrests. Between 2009 and 2011, Johnson
County prisons held an average of 40% or more African American inmates when they
only make up 28% of the residents here in Johnson County. Not only is this a local issue
or a national issue, but ... ifs also a global issue. Take Australia, for example. The
majority of people there are white and are from Irish or English descendants, but their
prisoners are most ... their prisons are mostly filled with Australian natives, the
Aborigines, and Asians, such as Filipinos, Indians, and Laotians. Most African
Americans and Latinos I know ... here, um, said they have had an experience where they
have felt that they were racially profiled by an Iowa City police, or know someone who
has been, and ... not saying all Iowa City police are bias. Um, Iowa City police... um,
some Iowa City police need to do a better job of practicing equitable policing proc...
procedurals and practices. There needs to be a stop on Fourth Amendment violations and
unnecessary strip searches when it comes to African Americans and Latinos. Growing up
here my whole life, I have heard many boast about how diverse and liberal this
community is. But, diversity is more than just University racial demographics or
diversity banquets where you get to sample different cultural foods. Many people here
focus a lot on animal rights, woman's rights, and friendly environmental practices, but
are hesitant or at a discomfort... discomfort when it comes to racial issues here in this
community, such as ... unequitable policing and racial dis... and racial disproportionality
and crime. The only time people are... interested in black issues or other minority issues
or saving a black, uh, life is when it comes to breeding good athletes or entertainers. I
just hope one day our community will be as diverse as we say it is, because I want to
settle down here after I graduate from college and raise a family here in Iowa City, and...
I don't want my future children or grandchildren to be racially profiled. I know we can
make a change in this community and we can start with the Iowa City police, because if
we don't strive for see ... for social change then this just might... this might be the next
Ferguson and we might have some future Trayvon Martins or Eric Garners. Thank you.
(applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
Gore/ Hi (clears throat) Excuse me! Have kind of a sore throat. My name's Brianna Gore. I've
been in Iowa City since I was one years old. You know, basically bom and raised here in
Iowa. Whoohoo, Hawkeyes! (laughter) Um, I've been going to Grant Wood
Elementary School ... I went to Grant Wood Elementary School, Southeast Junior High,
and City High, been growing up here. At first, I didn't really see a lot of ..a lot of people
of my race, you know, when I was younger. So, it was kind of hard like to find out who
you really are if you don't have like a lot of culture here, you know. And... growing up,
it was kind of difficult for our family because we lived in a predominantly white
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neighborhood and I got told even... when the black people 1 would see at school, like oh,
you talk white! Or you talk this certain way, you know, I wasn't black enough. So, it
kind of affected me. When I got older, I started to realize a lot of people in our
communities when a lot of ... a race would start to move in, like near Broadway and all
those places, I noticed the police was patrolling really well over there and just waiting for
something to happen, and it's mighty funny like how even my dad, I mean, no...no bad...
he has a really good driver's record and everything, but he stop ... he's stopped by the
police and he's immediately asked, `Can we see your license, registration, insurance,`
quickly, without even... and he's wondering like, `Why did I get pulled overT and 'Oh,
your taillight is out,' you know, little excuses, and asking, `Sir, can you step out of the
vehicle.' you know, asking small things that's unnecessary and ... I was looking, I'm like,
okay that's kinda awkward like for my dad to be slopped. So ... I'm riding along with a
couple of my friends and I and yes they were speeding and they get stopped by the police
and...I was, and they're predominantly white, and ... when they get stopped, it's a whole
different attitude when they're approached. and I feel... and it ... and the police officer
basically stopped 'em over like, 'Oh, could you slow down,' and `have a nice day.' They
didn't ask 'em to gel out the car or check `em or anything. I feel like ... I mean, just even
from that small example, racial profiling, it's really high here and when we talk about
culture, what culture are you talking about'? We're not talking about Africa. We're not
talking about where... we're originated from. We're not talking about basically that we
were kings and queens and ... for someone to even say that, 'Oh, the police department,
they came to, oh, Martin Luther King Day at school.' How many times are we going to
preach about Martin Luther King when we need to learn about Marcus Garvey and all the
other political figures that were from Africa, you know, and also with the police
department, it seems like when they... coming to like Taylor Drive and Broadway
neighborhoods, they're always searching for a prom... problem, like in the summer of
August 2013, like there was even some guys like just sitting out on the front porch of the
Broadway Neighborhood Apartments, just sitting out there and they were predominantly
black, sitting out there and the police came over and was harassing them right away. And
I'm just wondering, why? Like ... and they're saying they're loitering. How are they
loitering when they live there? You know, little small things like this, and... (mumbled)
I'm 19 and I'm noticing this. You know? I have a son. I want my son to at least, you
know, look around where ... to where he doesn't have to feel like he has to dress
differently or act a whole different way just to be accepted by the police. I feel like we
should do ... l feel like the police department should do a lot better, a whole better job
than just to look at the color of your skin and stop them right away, because ....what I'm
seeing is basically... racial profiling and you can tell us to, 'Oh be quiet,' or 'We're fine.'
You know, you can throw me the statistics but from what my people, what we're seeing,
is we're being racially profiled and I feel like a huge change should be done in our
community and stuff. And I don't want to hear anything about culture... cultural things
because barely anybody knew the (mumbled) place in the middle of April ... of this year,
barely anybody knew that! So ... l don't know what else to say but I feel like there's more
work need to be done with the Iowa City Police Department, and also the Coralville
Department. Thank you.
Jensen/ Thank you (applause)
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Smith/ Hello, I'm Robert Smith. Um ... Iowa City resident since 2000 and, or 1998. Pretty
much... she touched on a lot of points that I would like to address. Um, racial profiling
has become a bigger issue. When I first moved here I was one of the only African
American kids in my classroom. Once I got to high school 1 started to notice that there
were a lot more African Americans in our classroom. It got to a point where ... the
African Americans in our classroom were doing things that were —making it hard for
other white students to attend classes or whatever it may be, and it became very apparent
that they were scared. I think —the Iowa City Police Department sees African Americans
as a threat ... to the society. Racial disparity is ... it's blatant, it's in our face. I don't like
to ride around with my African American friends because I feel like I'm at a higher
chance of getting pulled over for no reason. I'm not a troublemaker. I was an athlete...
my entire career in high school. it kind of pains me to see ... that a community as, that's
supposed to be so liberal ... when I first moved here, I ... I, it was actually great, but now to
a point where ... it's hard to ... it's hard to look at. Urn ... thank you. Um ... African
Americans, I think, make up about 25% of our population, yet we are over eight times
more likely to be ... prosecuted for marijuana when in all actuality, African Americans
and Caucasians use marijuana at the ... pretty much the same rate. Uh... the ... the
discrepancy in that pretty much proves our point, that there is racial profiling going on,
there is ... the war on drugs is ... is affecting lives in communities as small as Iowa City. I
think that's all I'd like to touch on. Thank you. (applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
Sullivan/ Hello. My name is Adam Sullivan. I've lived here in Johnson County for 25 years.
Uh, and 1 live on the east side of Iowa City right now. Um, I came to this event last year,
uh, and I told you 1 was worried (noise on mic) Excuse me! I'm breaking stuff over
here! Uh, 1 told you 1 was worried about, uh, all of the military equipment that's coming
back from Iraq and Afghanistan and it's ending up in police departments all across the
country. I come here tonight a year later to tell you that it's worse than it was a year ago.
Um, in the past year we found out that the Johnson County Sheriff s Department, um, has
a big old tank. They call it an MRAP, um, but it is a war machine built for desert
warfare. Uh, I understand that's a different jurisdiction than yours — that's the County
and this is the City, but as you know, the Iowa City Police Department, uh, does
participate in the Johnson County Drug Task Force, uh, which that vehicle will
presumably be used for. Uh, the Iowa City Police Department, uh, for its own piece, has
a full SWAT team, full SWAT equipment. They have ballistic coverings. They have
tactical weapons. They even have chemical munitions — they have tear gas that they
could throw at citizens if they wanted to. I think we've all seen in the past few days the
scenes from Baltimore. Um, what I've seen has been very scary. Uh, you see full
military style officers, decked out with their shields and their weapons, standing apart
from, uh, almost entirely unarmed people. In fact, all unarmed people. I don't think that
should happen anywhere in the country and I definitely don't think it should be
happening, uh, here in Johnson County, uh, and I'm worried that it could. Um right now
the police department has a wide range of, uh, reasons they can call in their, what they
call the `special response team; their milis...military style officers. I think we need a
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policy that says unless there's an active shooter or a bomb threat, that we're... we're
going to leave the MRAP in the garage. We're going to leave our semi-auta... automatic
weapons at the shop. And so I'd like to see your Board, as well as the rest of the
community, come together and, um, get the City Council to take a serious look at what
rules we need in place to govern the military style equipment that we have. Thank you.
Jensen/(applause) Thank you.
Gerden/ Hi, I'm Shawn Gerden. I've been part of this conununity since I. uh, started
kindergarten at Roosevelt Elementary in 1995. (clears throat) And, um...l wanted to talk
to you guys today about the body camera program that is in place and is being ramped up
and implemented. Um ... you know, I think one thing that we saw with Eric Garner was
that, uh, the police choked a guy to death while they were on camera. While other people
were holding the camera. Uh, we've heard a lot of accounts of officers are, uh, just
turning their cameras off. In fact there was an officer that was indicted in a different part
of the country for continually having his camera off, uh, when confrontations happened.
Jensen/ If you would just speak a little more directly into the microphone.
Gcrden/ Thank you very much!
Jensen/ Thank you.
Gerden/ So ... urn, with the body, uh, camera program that we have —um, what I, you know, what
I'm looking at is that Eric Gardner was killed on camera. Other officers have been
caught not turning their cameras on, or turning them off. Uh, our cameras are going to be
officer controlled, and so, urn ... you know, I think we definitely need, uh, guidelines for
what the appropriate way to use these is and how the information is disseminated. Uh, on
one hand if they're going into aprivate home, uh, for a medical call, I don't think we'd...
we necessarily want a ... curious parties or the media to be able to see the interior of
someone's home. On the other hand, uh, when there's a public controversy, I don't think
we want them to be able to sit on that ... I don't think we want them to be able to sit on the
footage, uh, and say, `It's an active investigation.' and just sit on it for a year or two
years, until the point where the outrage has died down, and so I think what we really need
are, uh, some of these policies looking at, uh, the militarization, looking at the way raids
are used, looking at civil (mumbled), uh, and marijuana policy, and we need real
substantive changes because i don't think these body cameras are going to be, um, a
silver bullet by any means the way that, uh, they've been perp...portrayed and people
were very excited about (clears throat) A very excited about 'em. So I guess the ... the
three specific questions that I have, uh, that I would hope you would choose to address,
or else I'm just sort of here just talking for no reason, uh, what I'd —what I'd like to
know is ... what should we do if, uh, we have a police officer who's continually not using
his body camera? What should the punishment be for that? Um ... you know, what would
we ... what we do in that case, and I ... and I guess I have —and I guess I have another
question, which is, um ... we saw the Walter Scott shooting in South Carolina, where we
got a panoramic view of a police officer chasing after a guy and gunning him down,
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shooting him eight times in the back as he ran at a full sprint. Um, and so you have the...
you have the photographer for, uh, Eric Gardner, he actually is in jail right now. He's in
jail and has been in jail, uh, but it seelns often that these, uh, these police abuses, um...
are best portrayed when it's done with a private citizen cell phone. So the first —the first
question is, and it's only two, is ... what do we do if an officer isn't using his body camera
or turns it off? What's the enforcement mechanism, and what's... what's the, uh, what's
the penalty, what's the punishment for the officer? And then second question is, what
should the penalty or a ... be for an officer if he intimidates, uh, someone from recording
on their own cell phone, or if he attempts to delete that footage? Uh...you know, what a
lot of people hear, right before they're killed by the police, is that the police are worried
for their safety. So can I stand at this distance and film you if you're a police officer, or
is he going to scream in my face and say he's worried about his safety? And so ... Your
body cameras aren't going to be a silver bullet, so what's the punishment and
enforcement for those? And then also, um, what's the protection of citizen's right to
record the police? Thank you. (applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
Kuchta/ Hello, my name is Heidi Kuchta and I've lived in this town for about 10 years.
Jensen/ Heidi, if you could sign in real quick, I'd appreciate it. Thank you!
Kuchta/ I will!
Jensen/ Thanks! We do that in part not because we're trying to keep track of everybody, but
more that when there's a transcript done of this and it's included as part of our annual
report, we make sure that we have people's names correctly and that information, so...
Kuchta/ So I actually have some concerns, or just things that I've noticed about the actual
complaint process itself. Um, so one thing that I noticed is that the police chief has sort
of the absolute authority over sort of the investigation. He will ultimately make the
decision as to whether or not an officer, uh, you know, basically under his power will be
punished or not. And then I noticed that after the ... (clears throat) after the little sheet
you have here for a complaint, it says ... a person who reports or causes to be reported
false information to a fire department or a law enforcement authority, knowing that the
information is false, or who reports the alleged occurrence of a criminal act, knowing the
same did not occur, commits a simple misdemeanor. And then it goes on to say that...
if...i f you're contesting a more severe crime, and you lie about that, then you will
actually get an aggravated... or a more serious misdemeanor. So my concern here is that
in some ways, someone who's already been sort of victimized, um, by ... not sort of, but
someone who has been victimized by a police officer wants this sort of form of recourse,
they're actually almost signing on to the possibility of being charged with a misdemeanor
if the police chief finds out, for example, that ... well, not if the police officer finds out,
but if the police officer, you know, finds the officer in question not guilty or something,
he could say, 'Oh, well, you made a false report. Now you also have a misdemeanor.'
And so I feel like the people who are... who need this process might be sort of turned off
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by the idea of opening up an investigation at the end of which might result in them
getting a misdemeanor, on top of the bad incident they already had. Um, I...1 could see
this happening and so I'm just wondering more about... sort of the process in general and
how the review board, you know, you and its, how we're going to help these
investigations not further criminalize people who already had a ... a problem or a
confrontation. And that's my only concern and comment today. Thank you.
Jensen/ Okay. Pat, you want to (applause) speak to that a little bit or...
Ford/ I don't know if this is the right time to (both talking)
Jensen/ Okay. Okay! All right. Thank you. (someone speaking from audience) I ... I'm sorry,
can't hear you, ma'am. (several talking) Yeah, you bet. You're more than welcome to
...after everybody's had a chance to speak, to get back up if you have something
additional you'd like to share. Absolutely!
Olmstead/ Hi, my name's Harry Olmstead, and one of the things I'm concerned about that we're
kind of ignoring in our community, and that is ... the human slave trade that's going dovvn
highway 80. We have children as well as adults that are kidnapped or not ... they
disappear, uh, but they're being put into a slave trade of prostitution, uh, and other types
of, uh, of slavery, and I think we have to take and, uh, address this issue and I would
highly recommend that the Police Review Board go in collaboration with the Human
Rights Commission to take and put together a program, an educational program, in this
community that can address this. Thank you. (applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
Hall/ Uh, good evening, my name is Joseph Hall. Do 1 have to give more information?
Jensen/ No, that's fine.
Hall/ I mean, I don't mind. I just don't know that it's relevant. Una ... I don't know. .. urn ... if I'm
saying things that aren't within your jurisdiction or not. It's ... there's too many things to
look up, but uh, I think that a lot of your work is reviewing complaints from citizens, uh,
about conduct of police. Um, and that's... good, um, and you're supposed to be making
recommendations to, uh, City Council. Um, one possible recommendation, um, could be
looking, uh, at like for example there was a study done by St. Ambrose University, uh,
for disproportionality in police stops and police arrests. Um, and it showed that Iowa
City Police are, um, twice as likely to, at least twice as likely. Some are far more than
twice as likely. Uh, to pull over or stop, uh.... a minority person as opposed to a white
person or ... within the context of this study, uh, a white person or an Asian person. Um,
but there's also, um, so there's all kinds of things that go into why that could be. Um, but
there's racial biases, a huge one, but there's also like financial incentives for police to be
stopping people. Um, they get, uh, federal money for drug arrests. They get, um, they're
able to seize property, uh, within those contexts, and use the proceeds of that with, like
for the police department. Um, and so ... disproportionately stopping, uh, black people
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tends to be okay for Iowa City, as most people here have been complaining about. Um,
it's not okay for me. I don't think it's a lot of case ... it's okay for most of the people in
this room, uh, but there's not a huge public outcry against it. Um, and so it seems that the
Iowa City Police Department is able to utilize maybe their own bias, um,
and... the... disregard of most of the city, uh, for the rights and the liberties of African
Americans in this community to also profit from that abuse, ran, and I don't know if
you're able to add more people to your staff with expertise, um, but ... uh, if you could
find somebody that could help consult with you on that or, I mean, I'm not an expert or a
statis...statistician, um, but...I think there's a lot of ... validity in what I'm suggesting.
Um, and it may be possible to spend some of your time looking into things in which —or
ways in which the police department, uh, systematically, wn... kind of behind the scenes,
um, even perhaps not necessarily, uh, that they're even cognizant of this, uh, in terms of
the. ..the incentives they have, to abuse certain people's rights and certain people's
liberties, and certain people's bodies, uh, for their own profit. Um, and so... starting to
try and look in those directions, as well as the individual cases that are brought to you,
uh, might be a fruitful endeavor. Thank you. (applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
McDaniel/ Hi, my name is Laticia. I'm sorry I'm really kind of sick, so I'm going to try to ... talk
as great as I can, but I just basically had one question about, um, according to the
literature that you have. It says that you only have limited civil administrative reviews,
powers, and have no power or authority over criminal matters or police discipline. So
Fln just a little bit confused about what actually you do, because (laughs) if you have no
power to actually make any recommendations for discipline, when there is a chance of
misconduct within the police department. So, I mean, what is the purpose of this board?
If you...if you can't do anything, and also, uh, what is it as citizens that we can do to
actually give you more power and more... within the board, is it something that we need
to do as far as like a ... a ballot initiative or talking to City Council and ... cause we want to
give you more power and more accountability, um, to go after police officers who are
being abusive to people and to actually cut out the chief when it comes to these kinds of
things, because I don't think he should have a say on what you should review and what
you shouldn"t review. So that is what I wanted to say, so if you can answer those two
questions about what actually you do and how can we help you to become a more
powerful board, to actually deal with abuse in Iowa City. Thank you. (applause)
Jensen/ Thank you. (several talking) Yeah, typically what we do is we take the information and
then that is shared back with Council and we look at questions and we will respond to
those, but it's...this is more of an opportunity for members to share their concerns. So...
Gore/ Hi, me again! I would also like to bring up a point. For the body cameras. Um, you did
bring up a good point about the body cameras. What's really the main point of body
cameras, cause... even if...someone's standing aside and getting a whole video tape of
whole ... of what's going on, um, I feel like the body cameras and the police, it would just
be front -forward, you know, of what's going on in front of you. You know ... I'm just
concerned like about like ... like how wide of a range is the camera going to like —what
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it's gonna get, because even when the video camera is even shot from the police car, it
gets a wide range of what's going on, but it doesn't really, you know, look into like
what's actually, you know, happening in front of you. I feel like it's also a bad idea
cause... even when you have a police cam ... or a body camera on you, 1 feel like you're
just giving us like a ... excuse for us to be quiet like, oh, they have a body camera; it's
okay! You know'? That's all I have to say about that. (applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
Heeren/ Urn... my name's Tessa Heeren and you guys can't answer any questions right now, is
that right? I just wanted to know, you mentioned the, um, education vid... educational
video. What is that'?
Jensen/ It's just a very short video that, um ... was another way that we came up with to get
information about the CPRB. So, who we are, what we ... what we do, um, another way
of reaching out to people.
Heeren/ Okay. And, um, so ... as far as I can tell what's going on here is we make suggestions to
you, you make suggestions to the City Council, and then they —suggest things to the
police and that's how we're addressing this? Addressing these concerns, is this chain of
suggestions? (laughter) I ... I guess ... I mean, that's something to think about, I guess.
Urn ... yeah, so, um, I'm studying social work here at the University, and I've been doing
a lot of research about, um, disparities in education and the justice system. And, um, I
think that racism is something that's systemic. It's bigger than schools and the police
force, and it's something that those institutions just happen to have the numbers for...
that show these big gaps. Um, yeah, and I wanted to talk about, uh, I don't mean any
disrespect to the lady that spoke earlier, but she was kind of praising the police force for
not shooting somebody, and I just don't want that to be our standard for expectations is
somebody not dying (laughs) because uh, that's pretty low expectations, I think. Um...
yeah, and as a social work student, um, when we're talking about disproportional ity and
um, all of these, uh, obvious ... unjustices. it seems that the interventions are always
focused on the... victim or the perpetrator (mumbled) it's more like preventative, oh, we
need to you know help them, they, you know, they're the ones who are breaking the law
and they're the ones who need to be addressed, but um, iV s really a two ... there's two
parties involved in this, right. It's the police force and the community, and all of the
focus of the people that we need to fix are going to the community, and the police force is
infallible and they continue to do what they're doing. So I don't ... I don't know if there's
any kind of opportunity to, urn... really, and I know you ... seems that you guys don't have
very much influence in police policy... yet. So ... urn, and another thing, uh... this St.
Ambrose Study that this other gentleman was just talking about, I was also looking at that
and urn... the... diversity within the force is pretty dismal. I think there's three people that
aren't white, and of the 77 people on patrol, all of the leadership, sergeant, lieutenant,
captain, um, are white people and I don't think that's any... um, I'd guess I just want to
know what the police force is doing to actively change those numbers because I don't
think, um, those three people that aren't white in the police force really have a chance to
move up. I mean, working in that kind of environment, you know, you kind of wonder
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what the culture is like there, within the force. I mean we can talk about cultural
competency with the police and the public, but —what about the police officers
themselves and the people that they work with. You know, how... what would it be like
to work in the police force as a minority person. So —there's that. Um ... yeah, I think
the, um, focusing on these small things is really, uh, someone was talking about it earlier,
just the ... unin the waving of the Fourth Amendment and the, um, I was looking at the
Know Your Rights presentations that the police do and they do that upon request, I guess,
and I just don't know that, um, it's on our responsibility to request that information. I
guess 1 just wish they would do it more regularly, open to the public, so people do
know ... I think peopled be less defensive and less, urn, ready for conflict if they were
comfortable knowing what their rights were, knowing if they do need —do have, um, if
the officer has a right to search them at that time. 1 guess, and um ... yeah, and I guess
(laughs) another thing. Sony, I'm going on forever, but um, another thing I wanted to
talk about was just the enforcement and the accountability within the force, and um, with
that ... with that culture 1 was kind of mentioning earlier of this overwhelmingly white
force, um, I kind of wonder what it's like when someone has a, um, questionable
encounter, whether it's like, hey, don't do that! Or, you know,l don't know ... I ... I would
like to see something that is documented that is transparent, that urn... follows that
officer. um ... and ... yeah ... I guess that's, okay, one more thing (laughs) Um,
when ... when I'm looking at the disparities in the education system, Georgetown
University is, um, working on this really good, uh, program that takes almost every kind
of infringement in the school system, and it's breaking it down into very objective
policies. If this action happens, this is the action that we take, and um, 1 guess I would
just like to see something more like that in the justice system, and if we can take the
subjectivity out of it, and the officers are following a policy, that is set... set in place, then
they can't ... they can't be, um, blamed for what they're doing. I guess. So, yeah! I think
that's all I had. Thanks! (applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
Sullivan/ I apologize. Uh, I didn't want to take up too much time. Adam Sullivan again. Um, I
just wanted to add one more voice, um, to the idea that, uh, this Board is not as powerful
as it needs to be. Um, you don't have the authority to make the substantive change that
we need for our police department, um, and I also wanted to make, uh, everyone here
aware that, um, this Board is established, uh, through our City Charter. Um, there is a
process for citizens to amend that Charter, and so if you think we need a better, uh,
Community Police Review Board, uh, we can do that. It's not too arduous a process, um,
and I think that's a really healthy conversation for our community to start. (applause)
Jensen/ Thank you, Adam.
Gore/ (laughter)
Jensen/ That's all right!
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Gore/ Also another thing, um, I feel like we should get the more ... word out and to where my
people (laughs) should know about this cause I feel like, you know, how many ... there's
like a trickle, a handful, of black people here (laughter) so I feel like our people should
know, and we should really get the word out. My friend showed me on the bulletin
board, you know, there's a bunch of advertisements. I feel like we should have a big, you
know, poster of it, you know, just bragging about it, so ... (laughter) (applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
Tucker/ Okey dokey. Hi, Annie Tucker. So, urn ... first, um, responding to what you're saying.
You know the School Board has had meetings like at The Spot and other places to
encourage being able to listen to different parts of our community say what's going on.
And maybe that's something that would be good for you guys to do, and maybe you
could have the Chief with you and a few officers. I don't know if it would be too scary
or too threatening for someone if there were officers there, but it was really powerful to
hear, um ... problems being expressed to the School Board Members... directly, in areas
where ... that were in people's neighborhoods. So, number one, that. Okay, good. So .
then number two, so I had like a list also. Um, on the —the CPRB, great, I saw that,
Mazahir, you said that it should be changed to Citizens Police Review Board. That's
great. That sounds good. Um, the other thing to know is that other cities have different
investigation procedures. There are cities that —where there's an independent body. It's
people funded by the city but they're not city staff, and they do the investigation, and
they are authorized to go in and look at the videos, and look at the records, and make an
investigation and report independently back to you. So I think that's an important
component of changing the system and so I think we should all be working on that, and
so maybe we can share some contact information so we could begin that process, so that
we're not just.. laying it on them. It can come from us. Okay, so I'm short so 1 need to
have it lower. Urn ... I agree, I was going to bring up the thing about the ... the body
cameras, as well. I think we all know about situations where the cameras on the cars,
which is what they used to only have, and do they have the body cameras? Did they
finally get the body cameras? Yes or no? Do we...
Jensen/ I believe we don't have them in place yet.
Tucker/ That's what 1 heard.
Jensen/ They're coming and —sometime, last I heard, summer, fall, potentially but there's...
they're not all in place yet, no.
Tucker/ Okay, that was ... that was my most current information too. So, here's the deal — you
said like when someone doesn't turn on theirs, but there's also people who have them on
or turn them off on purpose, and then say, oh gosh, we don't have... this has happened in
a legal case ... that the officer said, oh gosh, it was the changing of the shift. We don't
have that video. Darn! Seriously? So there should be penalties for that, and I would like
you guys to consider whether you need us to raise that or whether you want to make that
proposal to the City Council. There should be consequences for people not having their
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cameras working and providing effective information. There should be consequences.
Um, I like the word penalty, you used the word penalty. Urn ... the other thing is...so
here's the deal. I was at the, um, the Arts Fest last year. You know, I was just sitting on
kind of a lamppost base, talking with a friend, and all of a sudden... and the music was
going. 1 was thinking of going up and dancing but this person couldn't dance so I was
waiting for a while. So, um, all of a sudden this far in front of me someone is going, get
up! Get tip or I'll make you get up! So I turn my head from my conversation, I look and
there's an officer in front of me saying that. I follow his eyes, and there happens to be a
guy sitting next to me, happens to be a white guy, who's drinking a beer. But he talked to
`em like that, and so then he and his co -officer took `em some place and I kind of
followed at a distance cause 1 knew that (laughs) yes, I knew ... I knew that, uni„ 1 didn't
want to distract them, but I also wanted to really monitor them, and I wasn't smart
enough or savvy enough technologically to have been able to video if Fd thought about
it, but from now on I will. But it turned out that things did not seem to go awry, I mean,
the ... the disrespect and ... from his voice was... did not seem to be manifested in
behaviors that happened before he, um, I mean he was handcuffed, he was put in a car,
but he was not treated roughly to my eyes, but later I asked... asked the guy's partner
what his name was and I called in about that. I found out who the shift supervisor was
and I called in. Now the problem is, I've never filed a written complaint, but I will do
that. I've written it up, and I've found out the guy's name, but at the time I talked to the
supervisor and he said something that I heard yet again when 1 told the story two months
ago, and you were there when I told the story. And 1 got the same response from the
officer I told then, as I told ... are you following me'? I told it two months ago. That
officer said this response, the same one that the guy's supervisor said, and it was this,
which is useful for us to know: we have an ever-growing young force, and when we get
these young officers, these two more seasoned officers said, you know, they're ... they'vc
got an idea of what their job is. You know, and it takes a while for that to wear off.
What? I ... that's, actually that's a misquote, but that was my impression of what they
said. So let me be clear about that. But ... but the point is that... that if two officers who
are older and going to be leaving the force are saying, yeah, we got some ... Nye] I, I don't
want to use my own words. We have some younger officers who have that kind of
behavior. We're working seriously on correcting that behavior. And this one from two
months ago said to me, and this was not when you were in the room. It was a different
time. He said, um, you know, 1 think that the Iowa City community wants officers that
are respectful to people. And I think that our officers need to know that, which to me was
a heads -up that I don't think we as a community have communicated well enough to say,
you know what, here's what we want from our police force, here's what we expect. I
mean, my office is in adult's correction. I volunteer in the prison. I never hear any
officers speak disrespectfully to people who are incarcerated or have been, you know,
and here was this guy, um, speaking very disrespectfully. So, one, I think an additional
thing for us to do is work on as a community, common... communicating to the police
officers and our City Council and saying, `This is what we want in a police force.' This
is what ... the kind of behavior we expect. And likewise, I think that either we or you or
all of us need to say to the police ... to the police officers, given the climate in our country
and the events happening, given the disproportionate minority contact with ... with law
officers here, and other ... and just systemic disproportionate minority differences here,
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um, I think the police department has to really make a much bigger effort ... to connect
with our community and not just, I mean, great to be at the MLK thing. Great to be at the
other thm,,—that she mentioned, but I...1 think they need to be building relationship like
things working here is based on good relationships. I don't think I'm naive. Respectful
relationships and not going from zero to 60 with military stuff or tough cop attitude, uh,
that doesn't make things better here. So, let me just look... okay, that's it. Thank you.
(applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
Heeren/ I just...I just wanted to follow up with what Annie said because I was ... I was in that
conversation with her, uh, earlier, and um, she told that same story and the officer we
were talking to says, oh, it takes about five years for an officer to really settle in to his
role as the actual... building that community relationship and really understanding, um, I
think lie kind of said it was something like, uh... ifs ... it makes the job easier once you
get to that five year mark and you understand what your role is, that you're not this, you
know, kind of, uh, enforcer character but um, my reaction to that was when I get a job, I
have 90 days (laughter) 1 have 90 days before if 1 mess up I'm going to get fired if 1 don't
get up to code, you know, and so I'm wondering why our police force is given so much
leniency in their jobs that are very important, I think. So, yeah, I think just, um ... really
putting... putting their paychecks, putting their jobs on the line and not just saying like,
uh, don't do that. It's not okay, here's a warning, here's your next warning, um, really,
uh, making it ... making the job fit the actions, making the actions fit the job, I guess.
(applause)
Jensen/ Thank you.
Tucker/ Um. I just want to thank you all. You ... you have a really tough job. You have a big
commitment, and you don't have as much power as you need. So thanks for sitting in
those chairs and doing your work, in the interim, before things change.
Jensen/ Thank you. Anybody else? Any additional comments? Concerns? Okay! Item #5 on
the agenda is adjournment. Oops, excuse me!
Olmstead/ Not yet!
Jensen/ Okay!
Olmstead/ I was listening to the news regarding Baltimore, and police chief said that even though
there was obvious,, uh—uh, violence that went on with the police, that they could not fire
those officers right away because the city wouldn't let'em. I think we need to look into
that. If we have an incident like that, uh, can we fire the officer? We need to get rid of
`em, or at least put `em on administrative leave without pay. Thank you. Oh. Fro Harry
Olmstead.
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Jensen/ Thank you! (applause) Okay, if we don't have any further concens or comments, Item
#5 of the agenda is adjournment.
Tucker/ I have one.
Jensen/ Yes!
Tucker/ I just want to say, in ... in, to add to that, um, the first woman who spokes —thing. I just
want to say, let's not forget that article in the Little Village about the SWAT team. Let's
not forget the SWAT team video that was the recruiting video that is still on line at The
Guardian. Let's not forget those things, that those are part of the culture that we're
dealing with and I just want the record to show, Frn sure that ... I know that ... I know
personally that there are great officers, but what I think we've expressed some concerns
about the culture in the police department, and ... and that's part of their record. Thanks!
ADJOURNMENT:
Jensen/ All right (mumbled) we're adjourned! Thank you very much. Thank everybody for
coming!
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