Police Community Engagement Board

minutes Meeting Title 3-23-2021 6:30 pm Zoom Meeting called by Type of meeting PCEB Facilitator Cindy Neu Note taker Erin Klippi Timekeeper Erin Klippi Attendees Rev. Eric Hayes Katy Miller Jean Scholtes Dr. Scott Groesch Angela Brooks Kevin Sombart Mayor Gerry Welch Chief Dale Curtis Sgt. Jillian McCoy Det. Fred Bell Captain Stephen Spear Captain Greg Perks Agenda Item 3 Review and Approval of February 2021 Minutes Discussion Conclusions Motion by Kevin Sombart Second by Angela Brooks Al - YES Action Items Person Deadline Responsible Send to Website Erin Klippi Next Meeting minutes Agenda Item 4 Hiring Practices of the WGPD – Power Point from Chief Curtis and Recruitment Video Discussion Chief Curtis reviewed the efforts the WGPD makes to diversify in hiring practice. A Power Point of the steps taken in hiring was reviewed along with WGPD recruitment video. Discussion was had including but not limited to Planning an Intern Program Current use of Psychological assessments to hire suitable candidates Current focus on Community Outreach with existing Officers Officer Mental Health training and Behavioral Health Response and Trauma Informed Training Yearly training hours for 2020 132 hours Implicit Bias Training 108 hours De-escalation training Conclusions Action Items Person Deadline Responsible None Agenda Item 5 Discussion of this brief article and how it relates to our work: The Policing Project: Beyond the Conversation (NYU School of Law) Discussion Discussion was had with Det. McCoy regarding Officers connecting to the community, SRO connections including the “Boys 2 Men” Program at Hixon Middle School with SRO Cameron McCullough and how the SRO program at the High School helps build communication with the young community. minutes Det. Fred Bell gave the Board accounts of how the WGPD is currently engaging with the community despite the many restrictions of the Covid19 Pandemic. Conclusions Action Items Person Deadline Responsible None Agenda Item 6 Discussion of the use of these questions for meaningful community engagement with police officers: 5 Questions to Ensure Meaningful Engagement Discussion Cindy Neu read aloud the referenced 5 questions. 1. WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE ENGAGEMENT? 2. WITH WHOM DO YOU WANT TO ENGAGE? 3. WHAT IS BEING DONE TO EDUCATE THE AUDIENCE SO THAT IT CAN ENGAGE IN A MEANINGFUL WAY? 4. WHAT STEPS WILL BE TAKEN TO ENSURE THAT THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO ENGAGE ACTUALLY ARE HEARD? 5. WHAT WILL BE DONE TO RESPOND TO INPUT, IN ORDER TO SHOW RESPECT FOR THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED? The board briefly discussed the questions and agreed that they could help outline what engagement looks like. Conclusions Action Items Person Deadline Responsible None Agenda Item 7 Discussion of the following statements Non-enforcement community engagement activities make a huge contribution to building and maintaining lasting relationships and community trust. The fact that an officer goes out of his or her way to participate in something that is important to a certain segment of the community shows that the officer really minutes cares about the members of that community, not just about enforcing laws. To accomplish this kind of community engagement, police departments and sheriffs’ offices need to start empowering young officers to think outside of the box—to really look at a neighborhood and try to identify and address the needs of that community. Too often, leadership forces young officers into statistics-driven policing, relying on the number of arrests the officer makes, tickets he or she writes, and radio calls the officer handles as a gauge of how well that officer is doing the job. Though these reportable, identifiable statistics do indicate productivity, statistics and numbers reveal only part of the picture. What about community satisfaction and trust? Ready,Set, Engage:Ideas and Options for Community Engagement and Partnership Building Discussion Discussion continuation from items 5, 6, and introduced 7 as Board members gave personal accounts of what they felt Officers could be doing to engage the community and what efforts are seen nationwide. Conclusions Action Items Person Deadline Responsible None Agenda Item 8 Report from Cindy’s Conversation with Dr. Sarah Riss Re: Alliance for Interracial Dignity Discussion Cindy reported that Dr. Riss and the AID would like to partner with the Board to rewrite the expiring charter to Include the AID in the Board. Kevin Sombart urged the necessity of getting the survey out to the AID. Conclusions Action Items Person Deadline Responsible None at this time Agenda Item 9 Report from Katy and Angela regarding the retreat plans Discussion Angela and Katy discussed the need to set goals for the retreat and come up with a specific action plan. Date and time discussions were inconclusive. Conclusions minutes Action Items Person Deadline Responsible Cindy will send out a “doodle” to the board to Cindy Neu Next see what Meeting Dates and times work Agenda Item 10 Report from Kevin about his experience with the February DEI Conference through Webster University. Discussion Kevin Sombart gave personal account of a DEI Conference he attended through WU noting that while he did not personally agree with all of the presentation that it was interesting and educational and recommended it to the Board. Conclusions Action Items Person Deadline Responsible None Agenda Item 11 Discussion of how to proceed with the survey. How will we move forward with it for other community meetings? Discussion Skipped ahead to Item 12 Item 11 will be added to the April PCEB meeting Conclusions minutes Action Items Person Deadline Responsible Add to next agenda Cindy Neu Next Meeting Agenda Item 12 Webster University Meeting with Scott (Report out) -- Scott Discussion Scott reported that a Webster University “Students & Police Community Engagement Board” was scheduled for April 13th 2021 time TBD. Jennifer Starkey from WU would be setting up the Zoom meeting and Webster Groves Officers were encouraged to participate. Information regarding the meeting will be sent at a later date. Conclusions Meeting will be set Action Items Person Deadline Responsible Meeting Set Up Jennifer Starkey 4/13 TBD Agenda Item 13 Remarks of Visitors Discussion None Conclusions Action Items Person Deadline Responsible None Agenda Item 14 Confirmation of Next Scheduled Meeting Discussion April 27th, 2021 6:30 PM via Zoom Conclusions minutes Action Items Person Deadline Responsible Set Agenda Cindy Neu Next Meeting Agenda Item 15 Adjourn Discussion 7:50 p.m. Conclusions Action Items Person Deadline Responsible