Civilian Police Review & Advisory Board

MEETING MINUTES CIVILIAN POLICE REVIEW AND ADVISORY BOARD October 12, 2023, 12:00 p.m. Public Safety Building, Main Level Conference Room 300 Spruce Street, Morgantown, WV 26505 Minutes by Catherine Fonseca Members present include: Richard Burks, Catherine Fonseca, Dady Dadyburjor (Virtual), Robert Cohen (Virtual), Rachel Fetty (Virtual), Megan Gandy, Bryan Church Guests present include: Eric Powell (MPD Chief), Kelly Rice (MPD Social Worker) 1) CALL TO ORDER: Call to order at 12:04pm 2) INTRODUCTION: Kelly Rice, Morgantown Police Department Social Worker Kelly outlines her background: WVU graduate with a MSW, long-time West Virginian resident, has previously worked at a domestic violence shelter, drug treatment center, correctional facility, and was hired into the Morgantown Police Department (MPD) mid-June of this year. She noted there are few precedents for internal social workers among other police departments in the state. Her daily work revolves around working with unhoused members of the community, engaging residents of homeless encampments, connecting individuals to supports sites and resources, navigating encampment relocations, and participating in mental health-related police calls for service The MPD is still navigating Kelly’s role and processes around requesting her presence on calls. The force started with an unwritten policy that Kelly would accompany every mental-health call. However, following an incident where weapons were brandished, there is an increasing priority on safety. In response to that incident, the MPD has moved to a model where Kelly is called onto the scene secondary to officers assessing the situation and using officer discretion for calling Kelly to the scene. Kelly and Chief Powell both report progress is being made within the department of utilizing Kelly, despite general departmental hesitancy around operational changes such as this one. Kelly reports her own gradual adaptation to the position – like how she is trying to get accustomed to using her radio to report her remote activities during on-foot walkabouts to dispatch to ensure greater personal safety. Kelly discusses how her activities are really centered around relationship-building and trust- building, particularly among ‘regulars’ she encounters. Board member asks if Kelly has gauged where transient populations are generally coming from. Kelly comments her observation is that a number are from out-of-state. She informally has gathered that the perceived higher quality of drugs and social support services are a draw to the area.  Board member asks if Kelly is observing mental health issues separate from substance abuse issues. Kelly notes the difficulty in determining a diagnosis when individuals are actively using drugs or living in traumatic environments. Another priority for Kelly is to increase her documentation and detail of documentation to improve the acceptance rate of mental health hygiene applications. She hopes more detailed documentation will help demonstrate a pattern, which should help the success of those applications. Board member inquires how money is being obtained by individuals to pay for their drug use. Chief Powell reports that there is a concerted operation of stealing and a network where stolen goods are then sold or traded for drugs or cash. He reports that this is a matter that their department is actively investigating. Board members express their appreciation for Kelly’s visit to the Board meeting. Members applaud the creation of the role within MPD and iterate the importance of Kelly’s work for the community. 3) APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES: September General Meeting, September & October By-Laws Meeting. Megan motions to approve; Bryan seconds, all members vote in favor 4) NEW BUSINESS A. Committee Reports i. By-Laws Committee The only item of contention is surrounding orientation of new board members found in Article VIII.D. The Board agrees that the remainder of the bylaws are satisfactory. Debate ensues regarding mandating a new member orientation. One member expresses that the concept of the board is difficult to grasp and makes the suggestion to include language that mandates all new board members should be provided a brief orientation to the board purpose, recent board activities and priorities, as well as the purview of the board. Such a board orientation will be facilitated by the board chair or vice- chair. Board members agree on such a provision and its addition to the bylaws. On the matter of mandating an orientation supplied by the MPD, one board member expresses the importance of reducing onboarding expectations of new board members, outside regular meetings. This same board member cites a concern for placing too high a barrier for service entry – particularly relevant if the board wishes to be inclusive of individuals with significant life obligations (e.g. working or caretaking responsibilities). Some members of the board express an interest in holding an annual MPD orientation for all board members during a portion of a regular board meeting, for general efficiency and to reduce time obligations for new board members. Some board members prefer an annual orientation (scheduled per the Board’s discretion) as opposed to holding separate one-on-one orientations for any new board member  within a specified timeframe from date of appointment, as currently outlined in the draft bylaws Article VIII.D. They feel that an annual, one-time MPD orientation for all board members would be a sufficient supplement to the information provided to new board members via the welcome packet outlined in Article VIII.B and the mandatory ride-along outlined in Article VIII.C of the present bylaws. Other board members disagree with only having a single, annual orientation, due to inconsistency and unpredictability of board appointments and the need to provide new board members with a personal MPD orientation as quickly as possible. While the Board would like to eventually move towards an annual orientation schedule, such a model does not reflect the reality of the irregular nature of City Council appointments, particularly in our case where we have a few board vacancies that we wish to fill as quickly as possible. Board members in favor of separate, appointment-responsive orientations cite that without an MPD orientation following shortly after their appointment, new board members would not be sufficiently informed to engage in board business. In supporting an individual, time-sensitive MPD orientation (as currently outlined in the bylaws draft Article VIII.D), they cite the complexity of the board as well as the insufficiency of the welcome packet outlined in Article VIII.B to adequately contextualize MPD policies, procedures, and the community-engaged policing model. Chief Powell indicates a willingness to provide a one-on-one orientation or an annual all-board orientation, deferring to the Board’s ultimate decision on the matter. One-on-one orientations would require sufficient advance notice to ensure he or other supervisory officers are available to provide the orientation to individual board members. Chief Powell indicates that he expects such an orientation would take less than an hour, likely around half an hour. Discussion and vote on Article VIII.D is tabled for a special by-laws meeting to be held virtually on October 24, 2023 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ADJOURNMENT: Catherine motions to adjourn the meeting. Bryan seconds. Meeting adjourned at 1:36pm Upcoming meetings: Special Bylaws Meeting on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 (virtual) from 12:00 - 1:30pm General Board Meeting on Thursday, November 9, 2023 (hybrid) from 12:00-1:30pm