Document of Interest Provided By Councilmember Hamann on Civilian Review Boards

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•Volunteers versus paid staff.Volunteer participants are lay community members who represent the concerns of the public. Professionals conduct the day-to-day work of citizen oversight, carrying out the public’s wishes. On one hand, an oversight proce- dure involving only paid staff usually will not be as representative of the community as will a system that uses volunteers. On the other hand, the amount of time required to provide adequate oversight can normally be provided only by one or more paid staff who have been hired specifically to dedicate themselves to oversight activities. As a result, many oversight procedures use volun- teers and paid staff. •Public hearings versus private hearings.Public hearings may make the community feel it has more control over police misconduct because officers’ alleged misconduct is made known. Private hearings are simpler logistically and protect complainants and officers from public exposure. •Investigative authority versus review authority.Investigating complaints can help ensure they are done thoroughly and fairly, but hiring investigators can be expensive. Reviewing cases is less expensive but requires department cooperation in sharing records. Some oversight systems have both responsibilities. •Taking on additional responsibilities—policy recommendations, mediation, or early warning systems: — Developing policy recommendations may involve a conflict of interest because investigating and reviewing cases requires impartiality, but developing policy recommendations may involve political advocacy. However, providing policy recommenda- tions may expand the oversight body’s influence. — Mediation, usually held in private and kept confidential, may have less “teeth” than a public hearing. However, mediation may encourage citizens to file complaints; save the time and expense of a hearing; and educate officers about the impact of their words, behaviors, and attitudes on the public. — Early warning systems can help identify potentially troublesome officers and may deter officer misconduct, but they may alienate officers if unsustained cases are included. • Accepting complaints directly versus accepting them only by referral from the police or sheriff’s department.Citizens who may be reluctant to file complaints with the department may file with the oversight body, but outreach must be conducted to make citizens aware of this option. flexibility, and open-mindedness of the principal actors in each group—in particular, the oversight director, the chief of police or sheriff, union leaders, the mayor, city council members, and the city manager. Potential benefits to complainants Citizen oversight can have three benefits for com- plainants. Oversight can: 1. Help complainants feel “validated” in the minority of instances in which oversight bodies agree with their allegations. I was afraid the investigation would be rush- rush, but it was very thorough. Before the hear- ing, the investigator was very comforting toward my son, who was only 16 years old, going over the process in detail with him. When I received a letter after the hearing that my son’s allegations had been sustained, I was surprised. I didn’t have faith in the powers that be to be objective. I was elated that my son had been heard and that the officer had to sit through the entire hearing. My son was happy, too; he didn’t think he’d win either. —mother of a juvenile complainant The phenomenon of complainants [who] feel val- idated because the oversight body agrees with their allegations is only part of the story. As the procedural justice literature suggests, the process is as important as the outcome. People feel vali- dated when they feel they have an opportunity to be heard. Civilian oversight is likely to enhance that feeling by virtue of appearing to be inde- pendent of the police department. —Samuel Walker, Professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha 2. Give complainants the satisfaction of expressing their concern in person to the officer when oversight includes a mediation option. C ITIZEN R EVIEW OF P OLICE: APPROACHES AND I MPLEMENTATION 7 EXHIBIT 1–1. SAMPLE TRADEOFFS JURISDICTIONS NEED TO CONSIDER IN CHOOSING AN OVERSIGHT PROCEDURE