Citizen's Police Advisory Council

Charleston Citizen Police Advisory Council November 1, 2018 A meeting of the Charleston Citizen Police Advisory Council was held this date beginning at 5:30 p.m., at the City of Charleston Police Department, 180 Lockwood Blvd, Training Room Notice of this meeting was sent to all local news media. PRESENT Thuane B. Fielding, Chair, Ryan Davis, Joe Lysaght, Savannah Wray, Chris Bryant, Mary Alice Mack, J. Robert Haley, Doris Grant, Barry Wright Also Present: Reverend Kylon Middleton, Chief Reynolds, Chief Jerome Taylor, Chief Naomi Broughton, Captain Chito Walker, Lieutenant Shylah Murray, Bethany Whitaker, Council Secretary Welcome/Call to Order Ms. Fielding thanked everyone for everything they had done before she was able to attend and for the minutes being provided. She appreciated the opportunity to serve with everyone. Reverend Middleton thanked everyone for being there and stated that they would do a Roll Call because each individual was appointed. He stated that Joe Lysaght had been appointed to the National Security Council for The American Legion. Approval of Minutes On the motion of Mr. Haley, seconded by Mr. Wright, the Council unanimously approved the minutes of the September 18th meeting. Public Comment Period No public comment. Old Business Ms. Fielding asked if everyone had taken the Policing 101 class. Ms. Fielding, Ms. Mack, and Mr. Golden still needed to take the class. Reverend Middleton stated that their contact would be Jessica Watkins to coordinate signing up for the class and Officer Ride-Alongs. Ms. Fielding said that the intent was to do the Ride-Alongs after Policing 101 and asked if those who had already taken the class had signed up for Ride-Alongs. Some individuals stated that they had already done it. Ms. Fielding said they should try, by the next meeting, to do the Ride-Alongs, as well as Policing 101 if they hadn’t already. New Business Ms. Fielding stated that Ms. Whitaker had been doing the minutes and asked if she would continue. Reverend Middleton stated that this was an official Council for the City and the City’s Police 1 Department, therefore Council appointed them a clerk and Ms. Whitaker was the clerk. Ms. Whitaker would always be present to record the minutes and make them available ahead of time. Ms. Fielding said that in the guidelines, it said that they would meet quarterly or more frequently as needed at the request of the Chairperson, the Chief of Police, the Mayor, or City Council to address community issues or concerns. She asked if everyone was still comfortable with quarterly meetings. Reverend Middleton stated that it seemed as though it may be important to have more frequent meetings, so that the Police Department could bring the Council up to speed on things that were going on in the Department. It would be helpful to know what dates they wanted to meet, so that people could plan ahead. Ms. Fielding said that in the beginning they could meet every other month and then after a particular period, they could reassess to determine if they wanted to go back to quarterly. Chief Reynolds stated every two months would be a good start. They could meet more frequently if an event came up. Mr. Haley said that he would be happy to meet every two months, or every month. He didn’t find the meeting to be a burden. Ms. Mack said that since they were supposed to be dealing with public concerns, meeting every two months would be good. Mr. Bryant said that he worried that if they started with every quarter that there wouldn’t be a rhythm. He thought they would start with every other month, and he wouldn’t be opposed to every month to get things started. The rest of the Council agreed to meeting every two months. Ms. Fielding said they would meet on January 3rd. They would also meet on March 7th. At the January meeting, they could reassess to see what day in May they could meet. Commissioner Updates in Districts and Concerns Ms. Grant stated that she had met with an officer on September 27th to get an update on the shootings on Greenhill Road. The officer had spoken with her about some of the barriers that caused the Police Department to not be effective in addressing those areas regarding the jurisdiction in that area. The issue was who had responsibility for that area. The news was reporting that the City wasn’t reporting, but it was actually the Town of James Island that had jurisdiction. Chief Reynolds stated that this was a challenging situation and he had never faced something like this before. He was proud of the team over there and what they did. They needed to manage expectations because a lot of the problems were happening in the pockets of the County or in the Town of James Island. Yet, it impacted everyone. There were three different entities that had responsibility in that area. The Town had budgeted and funded an off-duty officer from Charleston County, so the Town had Sheriffs that came in when they could, the off-duty entity, and then there was the City, who had no authority in the main areas where the problems were. They were going to be setting up an internal meeting in the next week before the external meeting to talk about if there were ways to overcome the jurisdictional issues. If the City had the authority, they would take ownership and do more, but they couldn’t. Ms. Grant said that she didn’t think that the community understood the restrictions regarding jurisdictions. The majority of people believed it was in the City. Chief Reynolds said that there was a deep history, but at the end of the day people just wanted to be safe. He didn’t think there was an easy fix, but it was a high priority. 2 Ms. Fielding asked if there was a map that showed the different jurisdictions. Chief Reynolds said there was and when they had the public meeting, they would be laying that out. Mr. Wright stated that he could tell them, from being a Precinct Manager during the elections, that people didn’t understand it. There were streets that had the City, County, and the PSD. They had to ask people what color their trash can was because they didn’t know what they were jurisdictionally. Chief Reynolds stated that criminals didn’t know boundaries or jurisdictions. They didn’t care, so for them to have a comprehensive, problem-solving approach, it needed to cover the whole area, and it needed to be collaborative. Mr. Wright stated that the situation on Greenhill Road had bled into the neighborhood that he lived in. They had bottleneck the drug dealing and crime and it had just moved into another area. His neighborhood had three different jurisdictions in it. Reverend Middleton stated that there would be a meeting on November 14th that was a listening session about the gun violence issues on James Island. Mayor Tecklenburg was interested in finding a way to educate the public and address the concerns. Mr. Haley asked someone to explain ‘jurisdiction’ in this situation. He asked if the City could respond to something like a shooting in that area. Captain Walker said that they would respond if it was something like that, but Charleston County would also respond. The City could ‘hold’ emergency situations. Chief Reynolds said that the distinction was that type of situation was an exception. The City could help in an emergency, but essentially had no authority in those areas. Mr. Haley asked if anything other than politics would prevent the City from having its officer’s patrol on James Island, regardless of whose jurisdiction it was. Chief Reynolds said that it was complex. The reality was that it was about politics, not necessarily just with politicians. There were people in the City that didn’t want anything to do with the County, and people in the County who didn’t want the City in their areas. The City had no legal authority, so other than in emergency situations such as shootings, or hostage situations, they couldn’t do anything. They had the resources to patrol and he would love to do that, but they couldn’t because they had no authority. People who moved into the community didn’t know about this. The issue was rooted in history. There were legal issues, and differing opinions. Captain Walker stated that they would respond to some calls, but a deputy would have to be on the scene. Deputy Chief Broughton stated that they would hold a scene and protect it. Ms. Fielding stated she would like for this item to be on the next agenda and they needed something in their hands to help them understand the jurisdictional issues and who had authority. Mr. Haley said he cared about whether their Council had the opportunity to do something via a formal ‘suggestion’ or via an op-ed in the paper. Reverend Middleton stated that they were empowered to discuss or decide various means to inform the citizens. Ms. Fielding said that they were also empowered to go back to the person who appointed them to the Council and tell them ‘here’s an issue, and I think you need to pay attention’. Just because it was happening in James Island right now, didn’t mean it would stay there. It should be about safety for the people, not whose ‘turf’ it was. Chief Reynolds stated that this was not a new issue, but it was new to him. Mr. Wright had brought this to his attention. He had sat down and had extensive conversations with the team leader in that area. This had been raised to higher visibility than it otherwise would have been, but for the Committee. They had new things in place that were happening with the two separate meetings. Councilmember Jackson would be at the external and internal meeting and she was very engaged with the issue. They needed to take it one step at a time and needed to advocate in a way that they could get a beneficial outcome. 3 They needed to be strategic about it. This issue was beyond just patrolling. Just driving down the street was not enough for him. They needed to target repeat offenders, drug-dealing, and gun issues. They needed to engage in problem-solving efforts with the investigative, patrol, and outreach areas. Mayor Tecklenburg was listening, as well. Charleston Police Department- Information and Updates Chief Reynolds stated that when he had come into the City he had been greeted very warmly by the community and by the Police Department, in particular, by Deputy Chief Jerome Taylor. Deputy Taylor had done everything in the Police Department. He had run the Police Department when Chief Mullen had transitioned out. He and Deputy Chief Naomi Broughton had tremendous experience. They had built every area of their agency and led it at every level. He was thankful to walk into a Police Department with high level of experience. Deputy Chief Taylor stated that he had oversight responsibility for all of the investigation, community outreach, and community development. He also had responsibility of professional training and development of the Police Department. There was no division in their agency. They were a very close- knit community. Deputy Chief Broughton stated that they all worked very well together. They didn’t have issues with where someone worked or where they were assigned. Everyone knew it was about getting the task done. The jurisdictional issue was not new. They were willing to do the work it would take to accomplish getting it fixed. It was complex, but he gave Chief Reynolds the credit for getting all of the individuals to the table. It would take everyone’s participation. Captain Walker stated that he was over Internal Affairs. He also worked on Professional Development, Accreditation, Recruiting, and Retention. He introduced Lt. Shylah Murray. Lt. Murray stated that she had 18 years of experience within the Department. She was just promoted to Lieutenant and was involved in community outreach. Mr. Lysaght stated that the situation on James Island had started with politicians and greed for land. It was a land-grabbing situation. Chief Reynolds stated that was a long time before the current situation and the current people did not contribute to it. They just inherited it. Mr. Lysaght asked if this situation put anyone in jeopardy because they were in the ‘wrong’ location. Chief Reynolds stated that he had asked the same question. The set-up was less than ideal. The men and women who worked in that area were able to get it done and he wasn’t concerned about the immediate day-to-day safety. They did a fantastic job with what they had. He was empathetic to the community however, that would say otherwise. Mr. Lysaght said that this situation was also on Johns Island. He believed that the solution would have to go beyond and they would need to go to the Legislators. They needed to get involved and stop the ‘land-grabbing’ and redistricting because someone was going to get hurt. Chief Reynolds said that the communities deserved the best, and they weren’t getting that right now. Some of this went back hundreds of years. They were working to get to a better place and working to get to a place with more continuity and consistency. 4   Internal Affairs Audit Captain Walker stated that his Department, Internal Affairs, handled all investigations or complaints coming in for the Police Department and/or employees. They looked into administrative investigations and allegations of employee misconduct which included things like corruption, brutality, misuse of force, breach of civil rights, and criminal misconduct. The second thing they looked into was all internal investigations involving discharging of a firearm. The third thing they looked into was all department related vehicle accidents involving death or serious injuries. The fourth consisted of everything else that Chief Reynolds deemed necessary for his department to look into. When Chief Reynolds had started, they had some transfers, so he had been moved into the position of completing the audit that dealt with a complete audit of their processes. That consisted of a robust policy review of whether they were doing everything they needed to and if it was efficient. They had gotten together with three different entities; SLED, Mt. Pleasant, and their Sergeant of Accreditation. They were tasked with looking at and grouping all cases from July 2017- July 2018. They had reviewed 73 cases to see if everything was done correctly, if there was anything that needed to be addressed, and if there were any policy concerns. During that process, which took about 2 months, they had come up with 12 recommendations to improve the professional standards. The first was to add personnel to the Internal Affairs personnel. The office was set up with a Lieutenant and a Sergeant and they handled all of the internal investigations. The second recommendation dealt with the types of complaints. There were two types of complaints: internal and external. They were capturing all of the internal complaints, but weren’t capturing external complaints as well. They had three different types of calls: inquiries, investigations, and information calls. That was problematic, because some calls were not always directed to the right area. Another recommendation was to add cameras to certain areas of the department, most importantly to the interview rooms. Their Field Guide before had consisted of 43 different pages, so they tried to condense it to make it more usable and put it in one Policy Manual. Most of the issues were administrative to make sure that everything was consistent and they were capturing every issue. All 12 recommendations would be adopted immediately. The Chief Speaks-Information and Updates  Racial Bias Audit Chief Reynolds stated that the Racial Bias Audit was proceeding very well. They would be meeting the next week internally with their team and then with the vendor. A vendor had been identified. They had interviewed three vendors and one of them was being ‘courted’. They were working on getting a contract completed. There would be money in the budget in FY19, which started in January. The goal was to have a company under contract and would begin in January. They had a great panel of people from the City and different groups and entities during the interviews. Ultimately, it had gone into an Executive Session. He had recused from the official votes because he had knowledge of all of the 5 companies. Chief Broughton had been there. There was good representation from many entities. There would be more to come.  Trip to Israel and General Updates Chief Reynolds stated that he had just gotten back from a trip to Israel that had been sponsored by a think tank in D.C. that sent Police Chiefs from around the country. The trip had been ten days. Israel had a lot of experience in dealing with terrorism, hate, and attacks on the Jewish community. They had been attacked with bombings, suicide vehicles, stabbing, and people run over with vehicles. There was a theory that a lot of things that happened in Israel would eventually make their way to the United States. So, it was of great value to have been able to go there and learn first-hand. The shooting at Mother Emanuel had happened just over three years ago, and the past Sunday there had been an incident in Pittsburgh. The Jewish community was afraid and there were children who hadn’t gone to synagogue and were wondering why people hated them. As a Police Department, it was relevant because they were the protectors. They could be present in and around the synagogues. The Charleston Police Department had a long history of relationship with the Jewish community and with the leaders in the synagogues. So, when the incident had happened in Pittsburgh, the Police Department had been in communication with them immediately. They had gotten information out to the Jewish community. They had been physically present at the synagogues and were continuing to talk to them. The Jewish community was very thankful for the Police Department’s presence. There was no space between the Police Department and them. They stood together against hate, against bullies, and against people being treated unfairly. It was an opportunity to have a call to action and to have some solidarity. He may be doing an op-ed in the paper. Many communities in Charleston had had to experience hate and the idea of hate was not a new one. It was rooted in thousands of years of history and was complex. It was real, dangerous, and manifested in ways like it had in Pittsburgh, so they had to be careful and have good relationships with those around them, with the FBI, and with the faith communities, so that when things happened people knew who to report to. Ms. Fielding stated that she wanted to personally thank the Police Department for allowing their officers to be at the church services. She was sure that many of them were seeing the Police Officers be at their worship and church services. There were officers at many of the churches and it spoke volumes to the care that they had. It gave an added comfort. Chief Reynolds stated that it was important for them to listen and learn. Captain Walker stated that the officers were part of the community. They took pride and were honored to be able to be at the churches. Ms. Mack stated that she spoke to the officers at Mother Emanuel and were telling them to be careful. She tried to thank the officers every time she saw them for being there for them. Chief Reynolds asked if they could hear from their student, Savannah Wray. Mr. Wright asked for the student perspective on school violence and school safety. Ms. Wray stated that she felt very lucky. She was impressed with her peers. The last year, they had done the 17 minutes of silence. They had an active political atmosphere. Gun violence in her school wasn’t eminent because they hadn’t been threatened in that way. All of the students she knew valued their safety and felt empathy for those whose safety had been jeopardized. Ms. Fielding said that it might be advantageous to talk about adding a student from the downtown schools. Having no further business, the Citizen’s Police Advisory Council adjourned at 6:58 p.m. Bethany Whitaker 6 Council Secretary 7