Item 2F:Approval of Police Commission Fy14-15 Work Plan

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Commission will continue to submit to the City Council an annual report, drawn from the biannual report created every two years. Reduction in the Commission Committees In the recent past there have been two committees that have effectively served as standing committees, because their work has continued over numerous fiscal years. To increase the efficiency and focus of the Commission, and to work within available staff resources, the Commission will be eliminating these two committees. The changes in structure and the underlying work is described below. 1) Outreach and Resources Committee: The work of this committee is largely project based, developing the outreach strategies related to specific issues that arise within the commission. When no project is imminent, the committee has sought to improve the outreach practices of the Commission. Past work has included neighborhood outreach for the Monroe Street Station, oversight of a community and department survey to assess trust and understanding of the Police Commission and Department, development of an outreach toolkit, and development and completion of a State of Public Safety Forum. If outreach efforts are needed for a specific work item, an ad hoc, task- and time-specific committee may be sought. 2) Policy Screening and Review: This committee has worked with EPD staff in the review and public comment process for a major review and update of the EPD internal policy manual. While the department’s review is not complete, it was determined that this is a major piece of work of the full commission. The Commission will be modifying its meeting schedule, similar to City Council meetings, to provide time during their monthly meeting to serve as a work session, to review and comment on the policies. This change is proposed to increase the input and engagement from the full Commission on this important work, and to provide the public and staff in attendance at the full Commission meetings better access to the full breadth and depth of the discussion on the policies being reviewed. Shift in Focus The Commission is seeking to shift the focus of the Police Commission. The intent is to focus more on the issues related to the Police Department that are of the greatest community concern. At its retreat in May 2013, a list of issues was raised that are of great community concern. To allow for the most meaningful issues to be addressed by the Commission, the Commission intends to quarterly review its upcoming work and select items from its list of community issues to address in the upcoming quarter. The work specific tasks related to any issue may differ, but in all cases the work will be designed to meet the Commission’s goals, as listed above. The work on a specific issue may involve community forums, panels, a review of relevant policies or practices, or presentations from subject-area experts. In all cases, a specific desired outcome will be identified at the outset to assure the Commission remains focused on the goals of the specific work item. Shift in Structure In order to accommodate the work previously done by the Policy Committee, the Commission will hold a work session at the beginning of each meeting, to review and provide comments on the internal EPD policies. The balance of the meeting will be dedicated to the community issues identified in this plan, and scheduled quarterly, to assure the Commission is addressing the most relevant community issue as possible. FY 2014 – FY 2015 Police Commission Work Plan