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Police Civilian Appeal Board
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Should promote Communication and Reconciliation
Three
years ago there was an outcry from many members of our community saying
that there was too little civilian review of Police Department activity in
our neighborhoods. The public outcry was accompanied by the submission of
many thousands of resident petition signatures.
In response to the demand for civilian review of police practices and
policies, and individual officer behavior, the City Commission established
the Police Civilian Appeal Board. This appeal board has had the same
results as a similar board established and then disbanded several years
before. Neither civilian appeal panel has reviewed many appeals and
neither has found nor corrected many problems with the police department or
individual officer's behavior.
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Reporting on a meeting of the
present Civilian Police Appeal Board. The January 21, 1999 issue of The Grand Rapids Press, quoted Gloria Chandler, a Crime Prevention
Worker as saying:
" I've been on
this board for a couple of months now, and I hate it. There's a lot
of things going on that people just don't know about". The Press article goes on to say: |
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…"With no power to
question witnesses and no right to see all police Internal Affairs Division
cases, some Civilian Appeals Board members ask "Why are we here?"
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..."Maribeth Jelks a
labor relations specialist said the police officers' contract prevents the
City from bringing them (police officers) before citizen tribunals" |
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… Noting that the (present Police Civilian Appeals) board was
created on a narrow 4-3 vote on the City Commission, (board chairman
James) Burr said it's not clear whether the current commission will support
giving more power to the board or remain content with the role it currently
plays." |
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…"Burr asked the
board members for suggested changes he could include in his annual report
to the City Commission. None was suggested by board members." |
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During
the first years that I served on the City Commission, the Commission was
convinced by police and city staff that the Police Civilian Appeal Board
and its work was an unnecessary waste of time. I think that
when we disbanded the first appeal board we made a mistake. We should
have looked much more closely at the issue. The present City Commission
must look close enough to rectify the cause of the boards ineffectiveness
and help shape a process that is less adversarial and more reconciling.
I feel that several changes should be considered to the way city residents
are allowed to compliment officers, report complaints, or to appeal how
they are treated by the Police Department or individual officers that will
promote communication and reconciliation:
1. Each police officer could be required to give a service evaluation
postcard to every person with whom he/she makes an official contact. These
cards should be addressed to and reviewed in an office in City Hall, rather
than to the Police Department.
2. Every person wishing to appeal or complain about their experience with
the Police Department should be referred to a person in the office of
either the City Manager or the City Attorney. Presently people are
referred to the Police Internal Affairs Office. This may explain why
few complaints get to the Civilian Appeal Board.
3. There should be at least one City Commissioner serving on the Police
Civilian Appeal Board. When I served on the City Commission, residents
appealing decisions of the City Attorneys office about property damage
claims were referred to an appeal board that had two City Commissioners
serving on it. This appeal board heard from city employees, including
police officers, from the persons making the appeal, and from supporting
witnesses.
4. Like the property damage appeal board, the Police Civilian Appeal board
should be able to hear testimony from the persons making the appeal and
from supporting witnesses. City employees and police officers should also
have the opportunity to be heard. This would allow the board to do
legitimate fact-finding, evaluation, and reconciliation. The goal should
not be to prosecute, but to help change attitudes and behaviors of
both residents and police officers, and to review policies of the Police
department. Cases that merit prosecution already have a District
Court remedy.
5. Presently no one outside the Police Department or the City Attorney's
office reviews the internal Affairs records of residents claiming police
misconduct. The Civilian Appeal Board or the City Commission should
review all Internal Affairs reports.
6. The Police Civilian Appeal Board should report their successful
peacemaking efforts and identified unreconcilable problems to the City
Commission for continued effort.
On February 16, 1999 I suggested to the City Commission:
"If the Police Department would "hold harmless"
officers who came before the appeal board and admitted making mistakes, and
if the complainant agreed to wave their right to prosecute the officers or the
City for issues that were brought to the hearings maybe we could resolve
some ongoing problems. Maybe we could uncover some policies that need
changing and people that need better training.
The new government in South Africa has pioneered some attempts to
heal and correct deep personal and institutional problems in this
way. Maybe their experience could be instructive to us.
The public always has the court to appeal to if they don't want to use an
appeal board that has as its mandate communication and
reconciliation." Bill
Blickley An e-mail response opportunity is
below. |
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Please type Civilian Police Appeals Board on the subject line of the e-mail response form.
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