Document of Interest Provided By Councilmember Hamann on Civilian Review Boards

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the finding—in four cases he changed it from unfounded to unprovable. In each case, there were no independent witnesses to verify the account of the incident. When the chief disagrees with a CRB finding, the coordinator can take the disagreement to the mayor or the city council, but he has never done so. Other responsibilities CRB also suggests policy changes, remedial training, and changes in IA investigation procedures to the department, and the Center for Dispute Settlement mediates selected citizen complaints. Policy and other recommendations CRB can make recommendations to the chief regarding revisions to police policies and procedures relevant to a given case. Although CRB does not recommend discipline, panelists may recommend case-related remedial training. A mother and daughter filed a complaint because they felt they were being treated as suspects when they called the police to disperse some gang mem- bers who would not leave their porch. The mother and daughter objected so strongly to the officers’ attitude that the officers ended up arresting the two women. A CRB panel exonerated the officers but recommended they be retrained in interviewing and conflict resolution skills. The chief ordered the retraining. Todd Samolis, the CRB coordinator, meets with his IA counterpart every 3 months to go over each case to learn whether any policy, training, and investigation procedure changes that panels may have recommended were imple- mented. The chief sends CRB new or revised general orders that result from a panel recommendation. Conciliation In 1984, a city council member suggested the Center for Dispute Settlement provide a conciliation option in an effort to help build positive relations between officers and citizens. Cases involving allegations of excessive use of force are not eligible for conciliation. Depending on where the complainant files the case, either Todd Samolis or an IA investigator may ask the person if he or she would find conciliation an acceptable alternative to an IA investigation and CRB review if the officer also agreed to the procedure. Most complainants offered the option to conciliate accept. When an officer’s supervisor presents an officer with the option, about half comply. For conciliating citizen complaints against the police, Samolis chooses one of the center’s mediators who have participated in a 1-day extra training session on police conciliation. Conciliations are confidential. The parties sign no written agreement. Instead, the mediator indi- cates in the case file whether in the complainant’s judg- ment the matter was resolved or unresolved. If the matter is resolved, Samolis sends a letter indicating closure to IA. Internal affairs does not investigate the complaint, and the case is closed. Samolis notifies IA if the matter is not resolved and the complainant wishes to have the complaint investigated. In 1997, three out of the four conciliations were successful. Of five conciliations conducted from January through September 1998, two were resolved, one was unresolved, for one the com- plainant did not appear, and for one the officer did not appear. Staffing and budget CRB’s activities are administered by Todd Samolis, the full-time coordinator; by the half-time support of the Center for Dispute Settlement director of special pro- grams; and by the quarter-time support of the center’s director of training services. Candidates for panelist posi- tions must first attend the Center for Dispute Settlement’s 25-hour principles of mediation course that provides State mediation certification. The course includes exten- sive training in how to be impartial. Candidates then serve an apprenticeship that involves observing regular mediators in two or three sessions, co-mediating two or three sessions with an experienced mediator, and con- ducting an observed pass/fail solo mediation session. Finally, candidates attend a 2-week, 48-hour condensed version of a police academy run by the police department that includes using sidearms with a “Shoot/Don’t Shoot” simulator, handcuffing, and explanations of department policies and procedures. CRB administrators nominate experienced panelists who have demonstrated exemplary ability as permanent chairpersons. The mayor approves their selection. CRB arranges for one of the chairpersons to run each panel C ITIZEN R EVIEW OF P OLICE: APPROACHES AND I MPLEMENTATION 49