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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11316-26 Amending Division 2 of Article 1 Chapter 2 of the South Bend Municipal Code Concerning the Community Police Review Board and the Community Police Review Office ORDINANCE No . 11316-26 Passed by the Contmon Council of the City of South Bend, Indiana October 12, 20 26 Attest: City Clerk Bianca L. Tirado Attest: President of Common Council • Presented by me to the Mayor of the City of South Bend, Indiana October 13, 20 26 (LAO') jefritt . City Clerk 1 Bianca L. Tirado Approved and signed by me DC r '" 1 3l 20 26 Mayor SDUTH 17tes E-. ' \ . 'v a • ~ -4 ,i BILL NO. 64-26 ORDINANCE NO. 11316-26 AN ORDINANCE OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, AMENDING DIVISION 2 OF ARTICLE 1, CHAPTER 2 OF THE SOUTH BEND MUNICIPAL CODE CONCERNING THE COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD AND THE COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW OFFICE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND INTENT The purpose of this ordinance is to improve the Community Police Review Board's ability to assemble a quorum, conduct business, and carry out its civilian-oversight responsibilities in a timely, effective, and accountable manner. The Common Council finds that the Board's work is best supported by practical participation standards that preserve meaningful training and informed decision-making without creating unnecessary barriers to service. To permit newly appointed Members to participate in Board decisions sooner, this ordinance establishes a streamlined initial orientation that must be completed before a Member may access protected or investigatory information or vote on the disposition of a complaint. That focused orientation is paired with a structured core curriculum during the Member's first year and continuing education in later years, so that Members can begin serving promptly while continuing to develop the knowledge and skills needed for careful and fair review. The ordinance also directs the Board to establish quorum and voting-majority requirements in its bylaws that are no less stringent than the requirements of Indiana law, rather than retaining local requirements that may be more restrictive than state law. This approach is intended to improve the Board's ability to conduct business while maintaining lawful, transparent, and consistent decision-making standards. Finally, because at-large members of the Common Council represent the entire City, this ordinance authorizes an at-large councilmember to nominate a Board Member who resides in any councilmanic district. Together, these amendments are intended to broaden the available pool of qualified nominees, support fuller Board participation, improve the ability to achieve quorum, and strengthen the Board's capacity to perform its duties for the residents of the City of South Bend. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, AS FOLLOWS: SECTION I. Section 2-12.1.12 of the South Bend Municipal Code is hereby amended by adding new definitions, to read as follows: Sec. 2-12.1.12. Definitions. Investigatory record means a record compiled in the course of the investigation of a crime or of alleged misconduct, including audio and video recordings, photographs, reports, statements, data, and derivative work product. Protected information means information that is confidential,privileged, restricted, or nondisclosable under federal or state law, court order, or a lawful agreement. SECTION II. Section 2-12.1.13 of the South Bend Municipal Code is hereby amended by amending subsection (a)(4) to read as follows: Sec. 2-12.1.13. Community Police Review Board established; selection process; terms. (a)The Review Board is established and shall be composed of nine(9) Members appointed by Resolution adopted by the Common Council. (1) (2) (3) (4) If a Member is unable to complete a term for any reason, a new Member shall be appointed as set forth in this Section. A new Member nominated by a member of Common Council representing a Councilmanic district shall reside in the same district as the departing Member. A new Member nominated by an at-large member of the Common Council may reside in any Councilmanic district. Such new Member shall then be eligible to be reappointed for no more than one(1) additional full consecutive term, if the Member has served eighteen(18)months or more of the original term_ SECTION III. Section 2-12.1.14 of the South Bend Municipal Code, including its section heading, is hereby amended to read as follows:' Sec. 2-12.1.14. Review Board officers, quorum, attendance, training, and electronic participation. (a) The Members shall annually select from among the Members such officers as set forth in the Bylaws of the Review Board. (b) The Members shall establish requirements for quorum and voting majorities in the Bylaws of the Review Board,which may not be less stringent than the requirements of Indiana law. (c) All Review Board Members must attend a minimum of fifty-one(51) percent of the Review Board meetings per year. Attendance by lawful electronic participation under subsection(h) counts as attendance for purposes of this subsection. The Common Council may replace any Member who fails to meet this attendance requirement within sixty (60) days of the Director providing written notice to the Member of failure to meet this attendance standard. Before replacing a Member under this subsection, the Common Council shall consider documented illness, disability, caregiving obligations, military service, employment emergencies, bereavement, transportation barriers, and other good cause, as well as the Member's use of appropriate notice prior to absence. (d) Initial orientation. Before accessing Protected Information or Investigatory Records, or voting on the disposition of a Complaint, each Member shall complete an initial orientation of not more than six (6) hours covering: this Division and the Review Board's rules; the Indiana Open Door Law and the Access to Public Records Act; confidentiality and data security; conflicts of interest and ethics; complaint classifications and the preponderance of the evidence standard; trauma-informed and bias-aware decision- making; and the due process rights of Complainants, Officers, and Department employees. (e) Core curriculum and continuing education. Within the first twelve(12) months of a Member's term, the Member shall complete a core curriculum of not fewer than sixteen (16)hours. The curriculum may be completed through in-person sessions, live virtual sessions, approved online modules, recorded instruction with assessment, training offered by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement or a comparable organization with approval of the Director, or other instruction approved by the Director and the Review Board. After the first year, each Member shall complete not fewer than eight(8) hours of continuing education annually, with reasonable carryover and extensions. Training shall be offered at varied times, in accessible formats, and at no cost to the Member. (f) Curriculum subjects. The core and continuing curriculum should include police policy and operations, use of force, constitutional policing, investigative fundamentals, the review of evidence and of law enforcement recordings, administrative findings and classifications, cultural competency, and interactions with youth and with persons with disabilities. In addition, all Members are recommended to: (1) Accompany an on-duty Officer of the Department, for a minimum of four(4) hours per occasion, in order to observe police procedures first-hand;. (2) Participate in training and assessment pursuant to the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) or similar program reported to the Common Council ; (3) Have strong community relations experience; (4) Participate in the South Bend Police Department Citizens' Police Academy; (5) Participate in mediation training; (6) Participate in training in best practices in investigations, including a review of video footage of incidents of police misconduct; (7) Participate in conflict resolution training; and (8) Participate in restorative justice training. A ride-along, the Citizens' Police Academy, mediation training, or comparable experiential training is encouraged but is not an absolute prerequisite to service. The Director may approve equivalent training, or may grant a waiver, when disability, safety, employment, caregiving obligations, scheduling, or other good cause makes a particular format unreasonable for a Member. (g) Noncompliance. Failure to meet a training deadline under subsection (e) does not automatically remove a Member and does not invalidate any prior action of the Review Board. The Director shall issue written notice and a reasonable corrective schedule, and may report persistent noncompliance to the Common Council. (h) Electronic participation. The Review Board shall adopt and maintain a written electronic meetings policy consistent with IC 5-14-1.5-3.5, as amended, and with any generally applicable electronic meeting policy used by comparable City boards and commissions. The policy shall not impose a standard more restrictive than the standard generally applied to comparable City boards and commissions unless a specific legal, confidentiality, or technological necessity is stated in writing. A Member participating electronically shall be considered present and may vote to the extent permitted by Indiana law and by the adopted policy. The technology used must permit simultaneous communication among participating Members and, except during a lawful executive session, simultaneous observation by the public. Minutes shall identify the Members physically present, electronically present, and absent. The City shall provide reasonable technology and accessibility support, and a temporary technology failure shall be addressed in accordance with the adopted policy and shall not invalidate an action if the quorum and participation requirements of law remain satisfied. SECTION IV. SAVINGS AND CONTINUATION (a) This ordinance amends and supplements Division 2 of Article 1, Chapter 2 of the South Bend Municipal Code. It does not repeal that Division. Except as expressly amended by this ordinance, every provision of Division 2 remains in full force and effect, including Section 2-12.1.21 (Severability), which is not amended and which applies to Division 2 as amended by this ordinance. (b) All appointments to the Review Board in effect on the effective date of this ordinance continue for the balance of the terms for which they were made. All Complaints pending, investigations in progress, rules and procedures adopted by the Director, and rules, bylaws, and resolutions adopted by the Review Board remain in effect until completed, amended, or replaced, except to the extent they conflict with this ordinance. (c) Nothing in this ordinance repeals, narrows, or renders discretionary the duties established by Ordinance No. 11226-25, adopted September 22, 2025 and effective January 1, 2026, requiring the Review Board and the Director to review all law enforcement recordings relevant to any complaint investigated by the Community Police Review Office. Those duties are expressly continued and are reinforced by Sections 2-12.1.15(d) and 2- 12.1.23(b) as added by this ordinance. (d)Nothing in this ordinance transfers, limits, or enlarges any power that Indiana law or this Code assigns to the Mayor, the Chief, the Board of Public Safety, the Common Council, or any merit or safety board, including the appointment and removal authority set out in Section 2-12.1.17(b) and IC 36-4-11-2. SECTION V. SEVERABILITY If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and the Common Council declares that it would have adopted this ordinance and each portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION VI. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Common Council, approval by the Mayor, and publication as required by law. . 1 2-------- Canneth J. Lee, Council President South Bend Common Council Attest: ilM/WAI . Bianca L. Tira o, Ci Clerk Office of the City Clerk Presented by me, the undersigned Clerk of the City of South Bend, to the Mayor of the City of South Bend, Indiana on the 13th day of_October , 2026, at 12 o'clock p.m.lBi ca L. Tira o,�y Clerk Office of the City erk Approved and signed by me on the I V day of Pc �1 (/' , 2026, at J o'clock �m. Jame ueller, Mayor City South Bend, Indiana