Item B: Meeting w/Police Comm. - Laserfiche WebLink

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Police Complaint System and Civilian Oversight Recommendations o Creating a system that is not overly confusing to the public or procedurally complicated to maintain; and o Developing a system that has credibility to employees and the public. The commission discussed this issue at its June 23rd meeting and considered five options for determining which employees the oversight system had jurisdiction over. It narrowed the options to the following two categories for City Council consideration. Categories of Employees Covered Considerations 1) All EPD employees Simplicity and consistency in procedures within the department; however, it would create inconsistency among AFSCME represented employees and non-sworn, non- represented employees City-wide; requires negotiation with two bargaining units. 2) Auditor's role would include complaint Maintains consistent, simple process for intake intake for all EPD employees, access to all and allows the auditor to be aware of and EPD records and ability to monitor all identify issues regarding investigation of all investigations; review board's authority is employees; targets oversight resources on sworn employees. Board would be kept complaints that normally have highest liability apprised of all complaints through auditor's and community interest. quarterly reports. Govemance Issues Another key decision point for the Council's consideration is whether it will seek voter approval for a charter amendment to implement the model as proposed by the commission, and if so, the timing for the election. The commission considered the following points when deciding whether the oversight bodies should report directly to the City Council: o Costs and timing constraints to enable a November 2005 ballot initiative o Uncertainty of the election results may delay model implementation o Structural independence for the auditor may be necessary to make decisions that may not be otherwise supported by city management o Review board will become a governing body per the public records law and subject to open meetings requirements; other legal and contractual issues o Model may have more credibility with the public, but is not likely to gain the support of the police union o More potential for politicizing the complaint process if oversight entities report to elected officials o Tangential issues associated with modifying the current city manager/council form of government The commission agreed that the credibility of the oversight system required that it have structural independence and voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council hire the auditor and appoint the citizen review board. 26