[Cprb] Santa Cruz Citizens' Police Review Board Dismantled - santa cruz indymedia: newswire/3103

This article and the one in the following e-mail are relevant because our
model ordinance is based on the Santa Cruz ordinance, and because Santa
Cruz is a municipality somewhat comparable in size to C-U.  This
illustrates several of the many pitfalls lurking out there for citizen
police review boards.  Every community is different in terms of how it sets
things up and how it responds.

John



   Citizens' Police Review Board Dismantled
   by arieldeva
   Email: eva_lucien (at) yahoo.com (unverified!) 11 Feb 2003

   Notes from City Hall: City Council unanimously passes motion to
   disband (or to keep disbanded) the Citizen Police Review Board during
   meeting on Tuesday February 11th, 2003.

   After a long night of discussion in the City Council meeting, mostly
   (an hour and a half) pertaining to an application to modify a property
   at 600 Meder Street, the Council passed its resolution to end the
   Citizens' Police Review Board.

   Among those testifying against this action were CPRB Chair Mark
   Halfmoon, former Mayor Christopher Krohn (who asked for an extension
   of the timeline and reassessment of the effectiveness of CPRB) and
   HUFF spokesman Robert Norse. Halfmoon spoke first, for about twenty
   minutes, voicing concerns that this action would greatly harm the
   civil liberties of the community, most specifically in the areas of
   racial profiling, and police misbehavior. Halfmoon also spoke of the
   need for a "grassroots movement of the people to monitor the police,"
   and that even after the CPRB is dismantled, there will be a movement
   to do so.

   After Public Comment and statements, Halfmoon, Norse, and all speakers
   that had voiced solidarity with CPRB stood up and left the room,
   presumably in demonstration against the verdict that was sure to come.
   Despite Norse's statement that this action signified a "progressive
   shutting down of debate" and that the move to an auditor system of
   review would be "more expensive, less transparent and not community
   based," the Council members Ed Porter, Tim Fitzmaurice, and Mayor
   Emily Reilly voiced desire to continue to listen to community voices
   as part of the police review process. Mayor Reilly invited the public
   to call her office to schedule appointments to discuss a greater
   community involvement.

   After a series of statements by Council members, (made "for the
   record,") the motion was passed unanimously. For more information on
   the issues of the CPRB, see the earlier published articles on this
   site.


Comments

   Police board falls victim to budget ax
   by DAN WHITE
   dwhite (at) santa-cruz.com (unverified) 14 Feb 2003

   Police board falls victim to budget ax
   <http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2003/February/13/local/stori
   es/08local.htm>
   February 13, 2003
   By DAN WHITE
   Sentinel staff writer

   Angry members of the Citizens Police Review Board couldnt stop the
   council from taking a final, decisive vote to cancel their group
   Tuesday night.

   CPRB members had hoped the council would delay action for three
   months so they could have time to show that the group, long
   accused of being weak and mostly symbolic, was gaining efficiency
   and power.

   The council cited budget concerns as the primary reason for cutting
   most of boards $90,000 annual budget. Group members said the
   council could have found the money by slashing part of the citys
   $21.2 million public safety budget.

   Council members say replacing the group with a paid, contracted
   auditor who answers to the city manager is more efficient and less
   costly.

   Activists, however, say the council is being undemocratic,
   substituting civilian control with a lawyer hired by the city.
   The group was set up 10 years ago to address complaints about
   alleged police misconduct.

   Mark Half Moon, the current chair, said hes now the leader of a
   group in exile. He said the council claimed to be progressive folks
   but gave far too much support to police and short-changed social
   services.

   Half Moon said he found it striking that more established members of
   the community convinced the council to roll back a decision to shut
   the Harvey West Pool, yet the CPRB and supporters can't sway the
   council to change its mind about their group.

   Councilman Scott Kennedy was one of the people who helped craft
   the ordinance that created the CPRB in the early 90s. Last week he
   said the group had done some good and improved the police
   department but that negative activists who attend CPRB meetings,
   such as Robert Norse, clouded the atmosphere.

   He said that while CPRB members say the decision was done in
   haste, there has been public discussion as far back as 2001 about
   rolling back the group.

   Members of the CPRB take issue with arguments that its meetings
   are a venting forum for people who dislike cops. Critics, including
   cops, say members exaggerate their stories of tensions between
   civilians and police.

   Norse and supporter Bernard Klitzner derided the council for its
   decision Tuesday. Klitzner accused the council of trying to cover up
   police brutality and said it willfully disbanded the group because the
   group was getting stronger and was getting closer to exposing the
   truth.

   The council also heard from ex-mayor Christopher Krohn, who
   apologized for refusing at the last meeting to stop talking after
   repeated entreaties from Mayor Emily Reilly.

   Krohn said the council would be wise to delay the vote, and
   convene a committee to look at the good, the bad and the ugly of
   civilian oversight.

   The CPRB is often derided by frustrated residents who say it lacks
   real power to address complaints about police.

   Half Moon maintains the board was set up by a half-hearted
   ordinance that forces members to rely on one-sided police
   information when making its findings.

   Councilwoman Cynthia Mathews said the CPRB was a
   well-intentioned effort. Over time it failed to meet expectations. She
   also said it was expensive.

   Councilman Mike Rotkin said group members say they are hampered by
   a weak ordinance but that it has failed to exercise some of its power,
   such as its ability to conduct independent investigations.

   He said the group's failure to carry out investigations has been
   frustrating at times when CPRB review could have put rumors to rest
   in controversial police cases.
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   Contact Dan White at dwhite (at) santa-cruz.com