Citizen's Review Board

Wichita Citizen Review Board Minutes August 30, 2018 4 p.m. Evergreen Public Library 2601 N Arkansas Wichita, KS 67204 Present: Jay Fowler, Tonja Sowder, Timothy Sims, Robert Thompson, Dennis Bender, Odell Harris Jr., Shaun Rojas, Stephanie Luna, Barry Grissom, Jaime Lopez, Paul Kitchen, Sharon Ailslieger, Janet Miller, Jennifer Magaña, Doug Nolte, Chief Ramsay. 1. Call to Order—Chairperson Fowler The meeting was called to order at approximately 4:04 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes August 2 Meeting Fowler moved to defer approving the August 2 meeting minutes because the draft was sent to the Board in error rather than the final version. Second by Sims. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Public Agenda - 15 minutes is set aside for this portion of the meetings. No one asked to be on the public agenda. 4. Chief’s Update – Chief Ramsay Ramsay updated the Board on current issues. He noted there has been an Increase in homicides and stated that since 2012, felony aggravated assaults have doubled. Staff has been meeting with community members to reduce this number. There is an increase in gang violence resorting to guns and violence to resolve. Many guns are getting stolen from vehicles and ending up in the hands of criminals. There is an increase in murder state-wide and Wichita has a similar trend. WPD has a high clearance rate / cases solved for homicides at 70-80% while the national average is 50—60%. Staff has been meeting with community members to reduce the increase in gang violence. They have partnered with the Boys & Girls Club and a gang specialist to keep kids from joining gangs by encouraging youth before they get in trouble. The ATF works closer with WPD now and has seized over 100 illegal guns. Ramsay provided an update with the Regal Theatre issue involving an African-American youth that was discussed at the last meeting. WPD met with community leaders and discussed next steps which evolved into a discussion of Regal Theatre’s dress code and posting of the dress code. Sims asked if the criminal trespassing charges had been dropped. Ramsay responded that it is still an open case, but they are trying to keep juveniles out of the system. Miller asked what the authority is of an off-duty officer. Wichita Citizen Review Board August 30, 2018 Page 1 of 4 Sowder asked why the off-duty officer would be in charge of the dress code. Ramsay responded that the officer is not in charge of enforcing the dress code. The security person had dealt with the young man earlier and they asked him to leave. He did not leave and then it turned into a trespassing issue. He suggested if a citizen feels he/she is being unfairly treated, the best time to address the treatment is afterward, not in the middle of the conflict. Ramsay stated that off-duty employment is on his radar. There are benefits to having off-duty officers, but it needs to be closely monitored. There are policies in place and they are reviewing best practices. They want to ensure risk management concerns are considered. 5. Revised Ordinance Update – Chief Ramsay Ramsay also noted they are working on the ordinance regarding alternates attending the executive sessions of the Citizen Review Board. Sims asked if statistics are being kept on the demographics. Ramsay responded they would try to get that for the next meeting. Grissom asked if there was information for geographical areas. Ramsay responded they have a heat map of shootings. Drive-bys and shootings are pinpointed in certain hotspots. 6. Training Update, T3 Training Initiative - Sgt. Kimble Ramsay introduced Captain Jeff Weible, Sergeant Kimble, Captain Lem Moore and Deputy Chief Hatter. Kimble introduced the Tact Tactics Trust, T3 Initiative. He stated they recently had a train the trainer for the program to teach officers tact and interpersonal skills; tactics to keep officers and individuals safe; and trust by working with benevolence. They ask them key questions: Can you trust yourself when others aren’t watching? Can you trust your subordinates to do what they need to do? Do your subordinates trust you? Is there mutual trust between community and officers? They also have to retrain officers for ambushes while in a seated position. He noted they teach PDAT (perception, decision, action, trust) and GIR (goal, identity, relation) to learn what the suspect is concerned with and addressing it as part of de-escalating and diffusing the situation. They also teach 7 core principles: be balanced, be real, have self-control, be smooth, be empathetic, create a lasting positive effect, and never humiliate. Thompson asked how long the training is. Kimble responded that trainers had three days. Bender asked what training is provided for mental health first aid. Kimble responded that every officer receives an eight-hour course on mental health first aid. Sims asked what the number one cause is for officer deaths. Kimble responded complacency – they stop recognizing danger cues. Wichita Citizen Review Board August 30, 2018 Page 2 of 4 Ramsay added they need to create vigilance, but not hyper-vigilance. They want officers to be alert and aware, but not hyper concerned that everyone is out to get them. They want officers to be safe, but don’t want them to be jumpy. They don’t want an “us against them” mentality. Doug Ballard asked if manpower is discussed in training. Kimble responded they train officers to call for additional officers if needed and find some do not do this. Nolte added they train with decision making timers in a scenario. He stated the policing ability is limited if they don’t have community trust. Sowder asked why they think citizens aren’t helping with some cases recently. Ramsay responded there is some apathy in the community. He wants people to know they should call – if you see something, say something. 7. Staff Report Discussion—A review of requested information will be provided to the Board for review—Captain Nolte Nolte stated staff worked on a report as requested by the board. He presented it to the board with data used as of July 2018 and noted they could keep it updated and have it be a running report if the board found it to be useful. Sims asked about the timing of some of the complaints. Ramsay responded the goal is to have complaints resolved in 30 days if possible. When there is a criminal investigation, the internal investigation is started after the criminal investigation is complete which will drive the length of the investigation. Nolte added that video is used when possible and often the complaint is resolved. Letters are sent to complainant so they know the complaint has been received. Fowler asked if they could give an overview of the nature of the improper conduct so the board can understand what they are referring to on the report. Nolte thought they should be able to pull out that information. Fowler asked if a narrative could be added, rather than a sub-classification for the improper conduct involved. Nolte responded they could possibly create a second report with the narrative. Miller stated they could look for trends in procedural violations or improper conduct and the outcome. She asked if the complaints that turned into investigations could be taken to the next step to show termed, sustained, or stipulated discipline. She also asked for a summary of the categories where there was action and where there was none. She asked for Coaching / mentoring to be added to definitions. She asked for the difference between stipulated and sustained discipline. Ramsay stated the verbiage may be changed to “counseling” instead of coaching/ guiding/ mentoring. If it is discipline, then the union representative must be involved. Rojas asked how the officers are reviewed – by one person or a team. Wichita Citizen Review Board August 30, 2018 Page 3 of 4 Nolte responded that for the vast majority it is whoever handles the call will notify the supervisor, captain, chief and Professional Standards. Many of the complaints have been investigated initially by the supervisor/lieutenant. If someone calls the sub-station, the bureau level handles it if it is a minor complaint. Sims asked when the officer is notified that a complaint has been lodged against him/her. Ramsay responded there is a process per the labor union contract. They are notified and review the complaint. 8. Policy Review and Proposed Policy Regarding Juvenile Arrest, as well as update on Camera and Drone Policy – Captain Nolte Nolte stated the proposed drone policy was opened up on website for comment. It has been significantly changed because privacy concerns needed to be addressed more thoroughly and they are close to presenting a modified policy. The camera policy was also opened up on the website and they received mostly positive feedback. They are implementing changes. Nolte then reviewed the Juvenile policy and stated they are looking for ways to keep juveniles out of the system. He reviewed the policy and asked the board to make recommendations. He stated it is a published policy in effect now. Thompson questioned Section 8, #2 regarding Interrogating. Nolte noted parents are not notified if kids are age 14 and under and read Miranda rights. Ramsay asked the board to send questions to discuss at the next meeting. Bender asked if there is a difference between questioning and interrogating. Ramsay responded if they are suspected of a crime, they are read the Miranda rights. 9. New Business Fowler asked the board if there was new business. There was none. Bender asked if there was progress on the ordinance. Fowler responded that the department is working on a revision of the ordinance. Fowler noted that Harris and Kitchen were excused from this meeting because of other commitments. Fowler asked if October 4 was ok with the board. It was agreed that the next meeting will be October 4 possibly at Atwater Neighborhood Resource Center. 10. Adjourn Sims made a motion to adjourn with a second from Sowder. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m. Wichita Citizen Review Board August 30, 2018 Page 4 of 4