[CPRB] Police contract includes both allowances and limits on CPRB

[Brandon Bowersox]

Dear CPRB coalition,

The City of Urbana and the Police union reached an agreement for a 4- 
year contract.  The agreement approved by the union and by City  
Council December 20 covers the usual topics -- such as pay and  
benefits -- and it also includes both allowances and limitations on a  
Civilian Police Review Board.  Since this community group first  
advocated for a CPRB, I want you to be aware of the outcome and the  
next steps.

As discussed on this list, the police union believed that a CPRB was  
a negotiable subject in labor negotiations.  However, many others  
felt it should not be negotiable because that would remove the  
decision-making power from the Council and the citizens of Urbana to  
choose how to create and operate a CPRB.  It is unfortunate that this  
citizens group could not be made aware of activities for so many  
months, but negotiations remained private to comply with labor law.   
In the end, both sides made difficult compromises to reach a mutually- 
agreeable contract which is now public.

The contract agreement includes the following CPRB-related provisions:
- The City may adopt and maintain a CPRB.
- An officer's appearance before the CPRB is optional.
- No person convicted of a felony is eligible to serve on the CPRB.
- The CPRB may not conduct independent third party investigations of  
an officer's conduct.

I suggest you review details of the full agreement available here:
   http://www.city.urbana.il.us/Urbana/City_Council/Agendas/ 
12-20-2006_sp/ordinance_2006-12-147.pdf
See Page 37 (Article 22 CPRB) and Page 48 (Side Letter with further  
CPRB provisions).

You may be disappointed in some of these limitations, as I am.  Keep  
in mind that the City still contends that the CPRB issue is not a  
bargaining issue, but the City had little choice but to discuss it  
and make some commitments in order to reach a contract.  If  
negotiations were forced into binding federal arbitration, we could  
have ended up with no say in how the CPRB could function.  The City  
will be bound by this contract for 4 years and I hope our experience  
creating and operating the CPRB will be positive for the police- 
community relationship.

Now that labor negotiations are completed, the next step will be  
Council consideration of an Ordinance to create the CPRB.  Since a  
majority of Council members support the CPRB, I expect the ordinance  
will be discussed in earnest in the Spring and I expect the Council  
will begin with the ordinance written by the Task Force.  The Council  
is on holiday until January 8, and I expect that late January is the  
earliest possible time the Council could discuss the CPRB.  I will  
plan to email this list with notice if the item is placed on  
Council's agenda.  Regards,

Brandon

Brandon Bowersox
Democrat, Urbana City Council
http://ward4.org/, bowersox at prairienet.org