Civilian Police Review Board Meeting

MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING _____________________________________________________________________________________ URBANA CIVILIAN POLICE REVIEW BOARD DATE: Wednesday, June 24, 2020 TIME: 5:30 p.m. PLACE: Virtually via Zoom Urbana City Building 400 South Vine Street Urbana, Illinois 61801 _____________________________________________________________________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT: Ricardo Díaz, Scott Dossett, Mikhail Lyubansky (chair), Megan McGinty, Patrice Pelmore, Darrell Price MEMBERS NOT PRESENT: 1. CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DECLARATION OF QUORUM a. Chair Lyubansky called this meeting of the Urbana Civilian Police Review Board to order at 5:30 p.m. Roll was taken. A quorum was present. 2. APROVAL OF AGENDA a. Chair Lyubansky asked for a motion to approve the agenda with the addition of adding a discussion about board member orientation requirements. Scott Dossett moved and Darrell Price seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a roll call vote. 3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION a. Bijal Patel shared highlights of a public petition that includes a list of recommendations for changes to the CPRB. b. Emily Klose shared concerns with CPRB operations. c. Jane McClintock commented on her support of the petition previously mentioned. Ms. McClintock also expressed concerns with the police complaint process. d. Christopher Hansen shared his support of the petition mentioned in earlier comments. Mr. Hansen also expressed concerns with the complaint process. e. Tracy Chong expressed concerns with CPRB board member actions and gave suggestions for CPRB reform. f. Chair Lyubansky read a comment that was submitted by email. City Council member Eric Jakobsson provided suggestions for CPRB practices moving forward. 4. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Discussion about board member orientation requirements City Administrator Carol Mitten shared an outline from a 2007 Committee of the Whole discussion in regards to the CPRB Board member training and Orientation process. Ms. Mitten proposed using this outline as a starting point while further developing the program. Board members discussed this outline and future training efforts.  b. Approval of Scott Dossett’s report to Council Scott Dossett gave a summary of his report. Discussion ensued about board members reviewing it and when to make it public. 5. NEW BUSINESS a. Change frequency of CPRB meetings from quarterly to monthly Board members discussed the need for meeting more frequently and rescheduling canceled meetings. b. Discontinue requiring police complaints to be notarized Board members discussed the notary component on the current Citizen Police Complaint Form. Carol Mitten recommended adding an attestation and removing the Notary requirement. Ricardo Diaz suggested making it a fillable form that would allow for submission online. Megan McGinty requested the form be available in multiple languages. Ms. Mitten shared a draft of the new complaint form, which reflects several changes including the removal of the notary requirement. c. Add an administrative step to the police complaint process Chair Lyubansky introduced the topic of adding an administrative step to the complaint process. Carol Mitten suggested a process of classifying complaints and dividing administrative complaints from other categories of complaints. Discussion ensued. d. Revise police complaints form and the appeal form Board members discussed revisions under previous agenda item. e. Set up on-going CPRB sub-committee to review ALL police complaint investigations whether they are appealed or not. Board members discussed reviewing complaints. Scott expressed his desire that all Board members review every complaint filed. In the past, Board members could review complaint files at the City building. Board members now have access to an online portal to view these files. Scott and Ricardo will review the portal and perform an audit. Chair Lyubansky suggested a small subcommittee review all complaints and bring anything of concern to the other Board members. f. Discuss amendments to the CPRB ordinance Ricardo Diaz asked that the Board review and consider the proposed changes listed in the petition from the community. Chair Lyubansky suggested hosting a study session with community members to discuss changes to the ordinance. Carol requested the opportunity as staff to suggest a plan for the Board as it relates to changing the ordinance with the understanding that the proposed study sessions could be incorporated into it. 6. ANNOUNCEMENTS a. Carol Mitten announced that there is a vacancy on the CPRB. The Mayor’s office is currently accepting applications for this position. The City is also currently recruiting for a Community Engagement Coordinator, which is a full time position. b. Scott Dossett noted the National Association for the Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement will go to a full virtual annual meeting this year. There will be 32 sessions. More information can be found at Info@naco.org. c. Scott Dossett said there is a webinar series starting July 5 titled Democratize this We Make the World We Want. Registration can be completed at DemocratizeThis.net. 8. ADJOURNMENT a. With no further business to come before the Board, Mikhail Lyubansky called for a motion to adjourn. Darrell Price made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Scott Dossett seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a roll call vote, Mikhail Lyubansky declared the meeting adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Tamra Jane Corbin Recording Secretary 2