Citizen Police Advisory Committee

CITIZEN POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES November 18, 2014 7:00 p.m. The Citizen Police Advisory Committee met in regular session on Tuesday, November 18, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. in the Executive Conference Room at City Hall, 800 Municipal Drive, Farmington, New Mexico, 87401. Members Present: Deb Dumont, Chairman; Chuck Culpepper, Lisa Martin; Patricia Simpson; Steve Grey Members Absent: Rose Maez City Personnel Present: Steve Hebbe, Police Chief Pat Flores, Internal Affairs Sergeant Jason Eley, Assistant City Attorney Kim Parrish, Administrative Assistant Guests Present: “Families United for Justice” Hispanic Group I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Deb Dumont at 7:00 p.m., and there being a quorum of members present, the following proceedings were duly had and taken. II. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS Chuck Culpepper moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of September 16, 2014 as presented. Patricia Simpson seconded the motion. Motion carried. III. CHIEF’S REPORT Chief Hebbe gave an overview of the incident that had happened with the Evidence Technician and the investigation that took place. They did an audit and are working to make the evidence room more secure, such as adding cameras. They are also changing many procedures and policies. They also had the CALEA mock assessment recently to help prepare for the actual assessment in the spring. He mentioned that Deputy Chief Vince Mitchell will be retiring at the end of the year, so he’ll be looking at the overall structure of the department to see if anything needs to be changed. He also stated that they have been doing a good job at recruiting, and are very close to being full-staffed. IV. INTERNAL AFFAIRS REPORT Sgt. Pat Flores gave an overview of the September and October Internal Affairs reports. He said that they are slowing transitioning to the electronic system, which should help speed up the turnover rate for how quickly the cases get processed. He said there were 8 new citizen complaints for the month of October. There were also 3 new internal investigations. He stated that case numbers are just above the yearly average for this time of year. Patricia Simpson mentioned all of the news surrounding the Albuquerque Police Department and wondered if Farmington was seeing that and trying to duplicate it here in Farmington. Sgt. Flores stated that they have a training officer who has been monitoring reports, and implementing steps in our training to make sure that doesn’t happen here in Farmington. V. NEW BUSINESS a. MEMBERS – None. b. CITIZEN INPUT – Representatives from the Hispanic group “Families United for Justice” attended the meeting. Lusita Dominguez and Arely Caro addressed the committee. They discussed the presence of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in the community, and how they feel that ICE and Farmington PD are threatening their trust in the police. In their minds, police equals immigration. They have seen their families separated, and there is the perception that if they get stopped by police, they will be deported. They understand that ICE is just doing their job, but their laws are very complex and they don’t want their families to be separated. They mentioned one of their members, Ricardo, who had submitted a complaint to PD, and was later arrested by ICE. Christina and Ricardo Olivas addressed the committee. She stated that they tried to submit a complaint to the PD and they were told that they had to email the complaint. When Ricardo was arrested, she had financial problems and she had to live as a single mother. She couldn’t afford an immigration attorney. Now she’s afraid when Ricardo drives somewhere that he could be arrested. Ricardo described the traffic stop in which our police officer called immigration and had him arrested. He felt that he was discriminated against because of his national origin. He stated that the officer never told him that he was calling immigration. He grew up in this community and has been here almost his whole life, so he feels that this is his home. But in general, they don’t feel safe calling the police even if a crime has been committed against them, for fear of being deported. Emma Acosta addressed the committee. She has been living in Farmington for 17 years, and is Ricardo’s mother. She believes there were many mistakes that Farmington PD made in her son’s arrest. Her other 12-year-old son was with Ricardo when he was detained. The police never asked anything about the 12-year- old, and only cared about Ricardo and the truck not being registered. She said that they never asked for ID of the people who came to pick up her younger son, so she didn’t know who picked him up. They never followed up with her regarding her 12-year-old son. This experience has created fear, especially for the children in her family. Her other 16-year-old son is afraid to drive for fear of being pulled over. Javier Dominguez addressed the committee. He stated that the Hispanic community is feeling very intimidated. He used to work at the detention center and feels that when a few officers are not professional, it affects the whole department. In cases of domestic violence, they are afraid to call the police. They tried to renew their confidence in the PD, and they know that the police officers are just doing their job. They want to work together with the police, but since we have established a local ICE agent, in their opinion it doesn’t seem possible. Deb Dumont asked Chief Hebbe to describe the procedures for when somebody gets pulled over. He said that they always ask for identification (normally a driver’s license), but not social security numbers. When they cannot provide and I.D., the officer will look in the computer system. Then, if there is a warrant for them in the computer, they will contact ICE. Elsa Lopez, represents “Somos Un Pueblo Unido”, and who had been interpreting for the group, also addressed the committee. She said that they thought this was the only avenue left to create open lines of communication, and they just want to make  sure that local resources are being used in the proper way, not threatening public safety. Chuck Culpepper made a motion, seconded by Patricia Simpson, to allow Ricardo to submit his complaint to CPAC within the time allotted for an appeal from today’s date (15 days). Motion carried. VI. CLOSED MEETING Steve Grey made a motion to go into closed session, seconded by Chuck Culpepper, to discuss IA Case#2014-0038. All voted in favor; motion carried. Following the closed meeting, during which meeting the matters discussed were limited only to those specified in the motion for closure, a motion was made by Chuck Culpepper to open the meeting for further business. Patricia Simpson seconded the motion, and upon voice vote the motion carried unanimously. Patricia Simpson made a motion to agree with the IA findings. Lisa Martin seconded. Motion carried. VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Committee, and, upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned. ____________________________ ______________________________ Deb Dumont, Chairman Kimberly Parrish, Secretary