Document of Interest Provided By Councilmember Hamann on Civilian Review Boards

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a Minneapolis hotel. In 1997, the city council and the mayor saw the need to determine whether CRA was providing the appropriate oversight in the most cost- effective manner and if it had the structure and staff to do so. As a result, they appointed a redesign committee that held focus groups, took public testimony, looked at how other jurisdictions configured their citizen over- sight procedures, and then recommended changes in how CRA operated, most of which the city council and the mayor adopted. In 1997, 715 individuals contacted CRA with concerns about possible police misconduct. Of these, 114 were sat- isfied with an explanation of the police department’s poli- cies and procedures. Another 87 callers were satisfied when investigators called the subject officers’supervisors to resolve the complaint. In 332 cases, there was no basis for a complaint, the caller was referred elsewhere, or citizens failed to follow up their initial reports. Twenty-three cases were pending. The remaining 159 individuals signed formal complaints (see exhibit 2–7). Of these, the CRA executive director found no probable cause in 46 cases because of insuffi- cient evidence. The executive director exonerated officers in another 54 cases because the facts in the allegations were untrue or, while true, did not constitute misconduct. The executive director dismissed another 30 cases, for example, because the complainant failed to cooperate. Fourteen cases were successfully mediated, and five cases were pending as of the end of the year. Of the 10 cases in which the executive director found probable cause, 9 were sustained, 6 by stipulation (see next sec- tion) and 3 at hearings. One case was still pending at the end of the year. C ITIZEN R EVIEW OF P OLICE: APPROACHES AND I MPLEMENTATION 31 THUMBNAIL SKETCH:MINNEAPOLIS Model: citizens investigate (type 1) Jurisdiction: Minneapolis, Minnesota Population: 358,785 Government: strong mayor, city council Appointment of chief: mayor nominates, city council approves Sworn officers: 919 Oversight funding: $504,213 Oversight staff: seven full time Minneapolis’ Civilian Police Review Authority (CRA) operates in two stages: 1.Paid, professional investigators and an executive director investigate citizen complaints to determine whether there is probable cause to believe misconduct occurred. 2.Volunteer board members conduct hearings to determine whether to sustain the allegations in probable cause cases. In 1998, subject officers stipulated to a sustained finding in about half of the cases in which the CRA executive director found probable cause. CRA arranged for successful mediation in another 14 cases. As a result, only 10 hearings were held in 1998.