[CPRB] recent developments

[Randall Cotton]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ricky Baldwin" <baldwinricky at yahoo.com>
To: "coalition policereview" <cprb at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2006 10:45 AM
Subject: [CPRB] recent developments


: Fellow CPRBers-
:
: Do we need to meet?
:
: Rev. Chambers from the NAACP announced at their recent
: meeting that a cprb proposal might be in the works in
: Champaign, and made it sound like it  was almost as
: far along as the one we've been working on in Urbana!
: Then yesterday's News-Gazette reported (A-3) that a
: subcommittee of the Police Community Relations
: Committee has recommended a cprb and Chief Finney says
: he isn't opposed.  (Schweighart still says he is
: opposed.)
:
: Some of this has happened before, of course, but it
: seems the context is different now.

Yes, indeed, and Mike Monson of the News-Gazette seems to know a lot more than
we do. He's had two articles in the NG in the last two days (see below).  The
Champaign Police Community Relations Committee doesn't seem to have a web
presence. And this appears to be the first time that review board activity
within Champaign have been covered by the NG, despite the reported fact that
"The 10-member subcommittee, whose members included City Manager Steve Carter
and Deputy Police Chief Troy Daniels, studied the issue for over a year." How
did we not know about this, I wonder?

: At the same time, it may not be urgent to meet with
: the same faces again.  I propose that we have a
: meeting with either Rev. Chambers or Rev. Burks who
: was NAACP's rep on the Urbana Mayor's Taskforce with
: us, maybe with Tracy Parsons, too?   And anyone else
: we think we ought to meet with.

Rev. Chambers, Tracy Parsons and Giraldo Rosales have been and may still be on
this Champaign Police Community Relations Committee (I gather this from past NG
articles) and that may be why Rev. Chambers and Parsons have received material
on this review board proposal. Rev. Chambers mentioned he received a stack of
material on this at the last (Sep. 26th) NAACP meeting. I left a message with
him a few days ago requesting more info from him, but he has not returned my
call so far. I encourage others to call as well 8-)

The two recent articles from Mike Monson at the NG:

Citizen review panel proposed for complaints against police
By Mike Monson
Friday, October 6, 2006

CHAMPAIGN - A city advisory panel has endorsed the creation of a citizen
committee to review complaints against police officers.
The proposal would, if implemented, add an element of citizen oversight to the
resolution of complaints against Champaign police, but is less encompassing than
the citizens police review board that has been proposed in Urbana.
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The proposal is contained in an 18-page report from a subcommittee of the
Champaign Police Community Relations Committee. The committee includes
representatives from the minority community and its mission is to improve
police-community relations.
The police community relations committee will review the report at its October
and November meetings and could then opt to forward it to the city's Human
Relations Commission and/or the city council.
Six city employees were a part of the 10-member subcommittee, including City
Manager Steve Carter and Deputy Police Chief Troy Daniels.
"I think everyone agreed it's something we needed to talk about because it's a
concern," said Carter. "This is an issue in the black community and we thought
it deserved discussion."
City staff has taken no position on the issue at this time, Carter said, who
called the proposal a "discussion piece."
Current practice is for the police department to do an internal investigation of
a citizen complaint against an officer. Police staff make a recommendation on an
outcome of a case, and Chief R.T. Finney reviews the recommendation and makes
the decision about any disciplinary action.
Notice of the decision is sent to the person who filed the complaint. If the
person disagrees with the outcome, he or she can appeal to the city manager.
Under the proposal, the internal investigation of complaints against officers
would continue, but the committee would act as another set of eyes to ensure
fairness and thoroughness. The committee would make its own recommendations to
the police chief, who would consider them before deciding.
Specific complaints would be discussed by the committee in closed session, and
committee members would be advised not to talk publicly about them. The names of
police officers and the person filing the complaint would be omitted in
documents submitted to the committee whenever possible, but otherwise the panel
would get to review evidence.
Recommendations from the citizen review committee would be made public,
including a summary of the nature of the allegation, the committee's
recommendation and whether that recommendation agreed with or conflicted with
staff's recommendation.
Tracy Parsons, president of the Urban League of Champaign County, said his
office is reviewing the recommendation but is not prepared yet to give its
reaction.
Pam Burnside, as assistant Champaign County public defender who served on the
subcommittee, said she supports the recommendation. "We need this in this
community," she said.
Stan Levy, a retired University of Illinois vice chancellor who served on the
subcommittee, said the report represents "a very important step in helping the
city, through its Human Relations Commission, come up with a proposal for the
city council."
"What we're trying to do is put together something that makes sense for the city
of Champaign," he said. "It may not be the perfect model for purists on the
subject, but it's something that might be eminently workable for the city of
Champaign."
A police department document in the report shows that citizen complaints against
police resulted in some form of discipline in 46 cases during 2005. Those
outcomes included 26 written reprimands, three 1- to 3-day suspensions, one 5-
to 10-day suspension, and 16 referrals to counseling.
In Urbana, the proposed citizens police review board is an ongoing topic of
negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police. Urbana's proposed model would
be an investigative board. A citizen filing a complaint could ask for review by
the board if he is unhappy with the police chief's determination or unhappy
about the outcome of mediation. Residents would have the option of choosing
mediation.
The proposed Urbana board would have access to case-specific records and files,
with no restrictions about identity, and would issues its findings to the police
chief. If the findings of the board and police chief differ, they would meet to
try to reconcile those differences. If they cannot, the case would be referred
to the mayor and chief administrative officer for decision.

***************************************

Champaign police chief says he's OK with citizen review board
By Mike Monson
Saturday, October 7, 2006

CHAMPAIGN - Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney said Friday he could live with a
proposed citizen review committee that would give him input on complaints filed
against city police.
A subcommittee of the 22-member Champaign Police Community Relations Committee
has said its "preferred model" of citizen oversight of complaints against police
would be creation of a citizen review committee. The recommendation was
contained in an 18-page report issued last month.
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Under the proposal, citizens could file a complaint against an officer within 30
days of an incident with either the police department or the community relations
office. The police department's professional standards unit would investigate
the complaint and make a recommendation to the chief about disposition.
The citizen panel would then become involved and review the complaint and
evidence in the case, though the names of the officer and person who filed the
complaint would not be revealed to the extent possible.
The committee could then either:
- Agree with the process and staff recommendations.
- Recommend more investigation.
- Agree with the process, but recommend a different disposition.
- Agree with the process and disposition, but recommend review of an overall
policy.
The committee would then make two statements, one for public review and a second
confidential statement to the chief.
The chief would make the final decision on whether a complaint is valid and if
an officer should be disciplined, as is now the case. If the complaining party
objects, the complaint can be appealed to the city manager, as is currently the
case.
Finney noted that three police officers served on the subcommittee and had input
into the recommendations.
"I think it's important to look at anything that would bring more credibility to
the process," he said. "Whether this will do that is the question."
Finney said that while the proposal "appears reasonable to me," ultimately
whether such a committee is created is up to the city council. The proposal
would also have to be presented to the police officers' union, the Fraternal
Order of Police, and could become a subject of collective bargaining.
"We don't see substantial problems with our complaint process," Finney said. "If
there's a way to make it more creditable, I'm open to that process. I think we
do a pretty good job of investigating.
"If this is something the community wants, it would be up to the city council,"
he said.
The subcommittee last month released its report on the issue, which the full
police community relations committee is now expected to consider through
November. The 10-member subcommittee, whose members included City Manager Steve
Carter and Deputy Police Chief Troy Daniels, studied the issue for over a year.
Champaign Mayor Jerry Schweighart, a retired Champaign police officer, said
Friday he had not read the report. He declined to comment, except to say "I'm
generally against a citizens review board."