Document of Interest Provided By Councilmember Hamann on Civilian Review Boards

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C ITIZEN R EVIEW OF P OLICE: APPROACHES AND I MPLEMENTATION 85 Police Review Commission was established in 1974. Board members in Omaha receive no compensation. Selection of board members Jurisdictions need to recruit and screen board members carefully. Oversight legislation in Orange County, as in many other jurisdictions, requires that “The composition of the CRB [Citizen Review Board] shall endeavor to reflect the ethnic, racial and econom- ic diversity of Orange County.” • The five civilian members of the St. Paul Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission include one woman, one African-American, one Hispanic, and one gay person. They include the director of a community- based organization, the vice president of a lighting fix- ture company, a court psychologist, the director of enforcement for the State Commerce Department, and an IBM project director. • The seven Minneapolis board members consist of three African-Americans, one Native American, and three Caucasians. Three members are women. Members’ occupations are the former assistant State ombudsman for corrections, a minister, a professor who teaches police ethics, a retired social worker and probation officer, a school teacher who is also a nonsworn Parks Department police agent, a former city housing author- ity employee, and a county public defender’s office employee. As Minneapolis’ board composition suggests, many juris- dictions look for volunteers with some type of back- ground in the criminal justice system. Portland’s citizen advisers include a retired State patrol officer, a retired police chief, a judge, and a defense attorney. Allowing current or former law enforcement officers to serve is controversial (see “Should Police Officers and Sheriff’s Deputies Serve on Boards?”). Few jurisdictions choose active police officers to serve; some local ordinances prohibit their selection. The Berkeley ordinance pro- hibits all city employees from serving. Boards typically do not include local activists, such as members of local chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union or the Lawyers Guild. Lisa Botsko’s written description of Portland’s citizen advisers’ responsibilities and duties includes the ability to: • Work with persons of opposing viewpoints. • Provide constructive criticism. • Communicate effectively, verbally and in writing. Allowing current or former law enforcement officers to serve on volunteer oversight boards is controversial. ROCHESTER’S BOARD MEMBERS ALL ARE TRAINED MEDIATORS Rochester trains all Civilian Review Board members in mediation. According to Todd Samolis,the CRB coordinator: Mediation training exercises focus on helping participants to become aware of their biases—since everyone has them and they cannot be eliminated—so that as board members they can keep these prejudices in check when they review IA cases. Mediation training increases their ability to think impartially. According to one board member,“The [mediation training] program was probably the most educationally enlight- ening experience I’ve ever had.” Samolis also believes that “mediation training increases listening skills dramatically. In addition, it helps panelists to absorb the information in the case files in terms of who said what, when, and where—to keep things straight— and to spot inconsistencies.”