Citizen's Review Board

Wichita Citizen Review Board Minutes August 22, 2019 4 p.m. Advanced Learning Library 711 West 2nd St N. Wichita, KS 67203 Present: Jay Fowler, Dennis Bender, Janet Miller, Timothy Sims, Shaun Rojas, Sharon Ailslieger, Stephanie Luna, Robert Thompson, Odell Harris, Captain Pinkston, Chief Gordon Ramsay, Jennifer Magaña, Keely Bean. 1. Call to Order—Chairperson Fowler The meeting was called to order at approximately 4:06 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes Sims made a motion to approve the July 25 minutes. Second by Harris. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Public Agenda - 15 minutes is set aside for this portion of the meetings No one signed up for Public Agenda. 4. Staff Report Update – Captain Pinkston Fowler announced that Sowder had resigned from the Board due to relocating. Pinkston noted there were 43 new complaints added to the report. Sims asked if staff could include a date on the report that the complaint was initiated. 5. Citizen Conclusion Letter Request – Captain Pinkston Pinkston noted that they would add the Citizen Review Board reference on the tri-fold pamphlet distributed to citizens upon filing a complaint. Sims asked if this would only be included in the tri-fold pamphlet and not the citizen letter. Pinkston responded yes. Miller asked if the pamphlet would be included with the letter sent to citizens. Pinkston responded yes. Fowler asked if a citizen wants to present concerns about a matter to the Board, would they have to do so in a public forum or could it be received in an executive session. Magaña responded that the process is for the complainant to appear outside of the executive session, but it could be further discussed in executive session. Fowler stated he will add the subject to the agenda for next month. He asked what would happen if a citizen came to the board prior to it being reviewed or investigated. Magaña noted the request could be made, but the investigation would have to happen first. Wichita Citizen Review Board August 22, 2019 Page 1 of 5 Fowler noted that there needs to be a protocol if a citizen comes to a meeting wanting to discuss a complaint. 6. Old Business Pinkston requested to move to Old Business prior to going into Executive Session due to the Chief needing to leave for another engagement. The Board agreed. Chief stated he had submitted a draft policy for the Board’s review regarding information disclosure in an officer involved shooting. He asked the Board to review and provide feedback to see if it meets the concerns that have been brought up in the past. He noted that he is concerned with the police officers’ safety as well. Pinkston noted any officer involved shooting would be considered use of deadly force and this policy would apply. Miller asked if the union had reviewed it. Chief responded he has discussed it with the union and they have no issues with it. Miller asked if there is an internal review process to get employee input. Chief stated that is the union’s role. Miller asked if the staff has seen it. Chief noted that this is still in draft form and most feedback has been positive as an example of collaboration. There was national interest on our policy. Many places are looking at what we have done. Rojas asked what the difference is from what was done in the past. Chief responded that more information is being released than previously. Rojas suggested that it might be good to let the public know what the difference is. Harris asked if officers would still have their weapon and shield if they are placed on administrative leave. Pinkston responded that typically if they go on unpaid administrative leave, they lose their badge/id and weapon; however it depends on the seriousness of the offense. Bender asked what happens if an officer is involved in a shooting. Pinkston responded they are placed on administrative leave for a minimum of 3-5 days. Some will have to attend a simulation course to handgun qualify. They will see a counselor to ensure they are ok. Administrative leave may or may not be disciplinary with or without pay. Suspension is disciplinary. Ailslieger asked how they find out what the officers really think about new policies. Pinkston stated that chief encourages open communication from officers. He is pretty sure that most officers are not going to like the draft policy, but they will understand why it needs to be done. Wichita Citizen Review Board August 22, 2019 Page 2 of 5 7. Kansas Bureau of Investigation 2018 Crime Data Fowler noted that he added it to the agenda because he saw an article in the paper regarding the crime data and thought it would be interesting to review the statistics in the meeting. Pinkston noted that Wichita is a driving force of the increase in State statistics. Deputy Chief Salcido has noted that Kansas is a destination for parolees due to state services located in Wichita; therefore Wichita has a higher concentration of parolees. Many of the additional crimes here in Wichita may be increased due to the number of paroled persons here. Chief noted that there are more sex offenders placed in Wichita than Johnson County. They are working with the State on that. There have been people released who do not have any assistance or services available to them for addiction treatment or mental health. They just had a conference call with a federal agency on reforms in releases and how it is affecting crime. Bender asked if the parole district office here is more equipped to assist the parolees than Johnson County. Chief responded there are more work release programs here. The Broadway corridor issues stem from the KDOC placement of parolees. The proliferation of guns is also an issue due to guns being stolen from cars and getting into the wrong hands. There is also an uptick in gang violence that is a cause for concern. Sims asked what area of the city is being affected. Chief responded that the shootings are more south and southeast Wichita. Gun violence is rarely done by stranger. Staff track location closely and focus on micro-location versus a neighborhood. Since 2012, shootings have risen significantly as well as domestic violence. The department is trying to be as proactive as possible. Many homicides are connected to criminal networks – mostly drugs and mostly methamphetamine. Many mental health issues are tied to heavy methamphetamine use. It takes an average of six months to get placed in treatment. Property crimes are driven by meth use as well. Miller asked if property crime includes vehicle larcenies. Chief responded yes. Pinkston added that they have teams dedicated to property crimes. Many are trained to carry fingerprint kits and will get prints if there are good prints available. The teams have targeted efforts to know where those people committing property crimes start and end their days and for two weeks in a row the number of property crimes is going down. Thompson asked if they had seen an increase in crime on the Seneca corridor since the Broadway corridor emphasis has been so successful. Chief responded there has been some increase. They have started holding the hotel/motel managers more accountable on who stays at their establishments. Wichita Citizen Review Board August 22, 2019 Page 3 of 5 Sims asked how the recent mass shootings have affected strategies as far as prevention here in the city. Chief responded that things have changed since the 1999 Columbine shooting. Now when a threat is received, they look into it. Nationally there have been red flags. They encourage the community with “if you see something, say something” and they are frequently following up on people who make threatening comments. Sims asked what ordinary citizens can do to keep assault weapons out of circulation. Chief responded that gun sales have different standards. Licensed stores have background checks done, but private sales do not. There needs to be one standard for any sale of guns. And he added that it is not just people shooting others, but there are also increases in suicide with guns. Luna asked if there is a way to intervene with the new mental health unit if there is a threat posted. Chief responded that when someone makes a threat, they may be looking for help or seriously wishing to do harm. The department treats them the same to prevent the threat. 8. Executive Session – Captain Pinkston Pinkston noted that the Board would review complaint 19PSB-0802 rude conduct and 19PSB- 1287 misconduct complaint. Fowler made a motion that the Board go into executive session at 5 p.m. to return no sooner than 45 minutes to discuss a personnel matter. The motion passed unanimously. The Board returned from executive session at 5:57 p.m. and Fowler noted that no action was taken in Executive Session. 9. New Business – Chairperson Fowler Luna asked the Board about a Facebook page for the Board where they could release basic stuff. Fowler asked about possibly linking to the WPD Facebook page. He also noted that the website still is not updated with the Board members’ information and the minutes are not updated. Pinkston explained that the minutes were uploaded to the old website and they are still working on transferring to the new site. Fowler asked if the City had a policy for Facebook. Pinkston said they would have to get a formal commitment from the City and get guidelines. Fowler asked if the city would want to manage it. Pinkston stated he was not sure staff would have time to manage it. Sims asked if the City Manager needed to be contacted for a replacement for Sowder. Wichita Citizen Review Board August 22, 2019 Page 4 of 5 Fowler noted it would be up to the City Manager. Pinkston agreed. Pinkston asked the Board if they would like to be added to the Public Information Officers’ (PIO) distribution list for Police press releases. Board members who were present agreed they would like to be added to the list. Pinkston will send an email asking all Board members if they would like to be added to the list and will advise for the minutes and the PIO for Police. 10. Adjourn Fowler made a motion to adjourn. Second by Ailslieger. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 6:04 p.m. Wichita Citizen Review Board August 22, 2019 Page 5 of 5