CC Minutes - 11/13/06 Work Session

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B. WORK SESSION: Police Auditor Report City Manager Taylor introduced the new Police Auditor Cristina Beamud. Ms. Beamud reviewed her activities since her arrival on October 16, 2006. She described her meetings with individuals and groups within City government and many organizations in the community in order to obtain an idea of community concerns and how the office of the Police Auditor could help. She said those with whom she spoke made substantive and positive remarks and emphasized the need for transparency and fairness. She said she had conducted briefings with EPD personnel and would continue the briefings until the entire department had been covered. She intended to do ride-alongs with officers and hold conversations with the Eugene Police Employee Association (EPEA). She was anxious to establish an office, have an ordinance enacted, hire staff, and develop protocols in order to begin her work. Ms. Beamud said she had met with the mayor and council officers to develop an accountable working relationship. She planned to report to the council periodically in writing and if there were major issues she would reach out to the mayor. She had worked closely with the Police Commission to develop the ordinance framework. She hoped to hire staff in a career development position as it would be helpful to have someone who was familiar with the City’s administrative operations. She was looking at potential office locations and hoped to move into a permanent space shortly after the first of the year. Ms. Beamud explained that one of the challenges in creating an ordinance was balancing deference to the Police Chief, City Manager, and Police Commission with the need for the auditor to be truly independent. She highlighted several issues that were addressed during her meeting with the Police Commission, including: ? Definitions section: substituted definitions of “facilitated conversations” and “mediation” for the more generic term “alternative dispute resolution” ? 11(c): language modified to allow administrative investigation during a criminal investigation unless it is determined by the police chief in consultation with the district attorney that the ad- ministrative investigation would jeopardize the criminal investigation. Requires that decision to be rendered in writing. Ms. Beamud said the revisions to Section 11(c) would provide greater transparency and avoid keeping an officer on paid leave for an extended period of time. She said it would also ensure that questions were answered for the community as quickly as possible. Mr. Papé asked if the ordinance provisions would apply to any level of criminality. City Attorney Jerome Lidz replied that the ordinance as written would apply to any criminal conduct, including misdemeanors. Ms. Beamud said she would continue to refine the ordinance language and Section 11(d) would be revised to be consistent with Section 11(c). She pointed out that language in Section 6 had been revised to be consistent with the charter language by allowing up to seven members of the Civilian Review Board (CRB) but not requiring that many. She said the CRB could be a five- or seven-member body and the quorum requirements had been changed accordingly. She said that language recommended by the City Attorney had been selected for Section 11(d) in order to avoid a bargaining problem with the police union. She said the change addressed how information would be presented to the Police Chief in the event there was disagree- ment between a supervisor and the auditor on adjudication of a matter. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 13, 2006 Page 3 Work Session