Citizen's Review Board

Wichita Citizen Review Board Minutes Nov. 7, 2019 4 p.m. City Hall Board Room 455 N. Main Wichita, KS 67202 Present: Jay Fowler, Dennis Bender, Sharon Ailslieger, Stephanie Luna, Paul Kitchen, Odell Harris, Roger Thompson, Jaime Lopez, Chief Ramsay, Captain Duff, Captain Pinkston, Jennifer Magaña, Keely Bean. 1. Call to Order— Chairperson Fowler The meeting was called to order at approximately 4:04 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes Bender made a motion to approve the September 26 minutes. Second by Fowler. 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 Chief Ramsay stated that homicides are down 20% from last year. Violent crime overall is down with commercial robberies specifically down over 20%. Tips through Crime Stoppers have gone up. Property crimes are down approximately 17%. Numbers are trending downward. Drive-bys are slightly up 4-5% over last year. There was a 31% increase in forgeries. They are partnering with the feds especially pertaining to gun violence. They have released an educational piece for the public to increase awareness of the dangers of storing guns in vehicles. The attorney general was here recently to review the reduction in crime. Chief noted there was a shooting last night and that a 14 year old boy was shot and killed in McAdams Park. He is optimistic that there will be an arrest. He noted they are working with ministers and pastors due to the tragedy of the loss of a young person. He stated that some changes in juvenile laws have made the efforts to reduce crime a little more difficult. Many times the juveniles do not have the support system at home and are released to a bad situation and bad circumstances. This, in part, is affecting juvenile crime. Fowler asked how long a child in a juvenile situation can be held before they are released. Chief responded that it is often at the judge’s discretion based on the circumstances. If juveniles are taken to the Children’s Home, they will often run. Chief reviewed the Lights On! program which supports giving a voucher to fix broken car lights or turn signals rather than issuing a ticket. He noted the program will be implemented soon here. There are many people who do not have the means to fix these tickets and this will help. Ailslieger noted that she attended the presentation and found it to be a good program. Wichita Citizen Review Board Nov. 7, 2019 Page 1 of 3 Chief discussed the community meeting taking place on Saturday, November 23 at 11 a.m. at WSU Metroplex. This meeting was created in response to the Ft. Worth shooting and how it affected police and community relations. He met with pastors from the northeast community to discuss how to continue to improve the relationship. Representatives from municipal court, parole, probation, and police will be present. There will be introductions and then they will break out into smaller discussion groups to talk about what is going on and to meet directly with attendees. The goal is to see if there are other areas upon which to improve. There was a meeting recently regarding license revocation where citizens have jobs, but their drivers’ license is suspended and they have no way to get to work. The department is looking for ways to be able to fix that so it is not jeopardizing employment. This November meeting will be a chance to answer citizens’ questions and have conversations about their concerns. There will be a limited number of seats and lunch will be provided. A notice will be sent to the public about this meeting. Duff asked if the Board would like to have a table at this meeting. The Board agreed they would like one and Duff noted he will contact them. Ailslieger asked if the crime report could include numbers as well as percentages. Chief noted they could add the numbers and send the report to the Board. Pinkston reviewed the staff report and noted there were 19 open and on-going complaints with 22 new complaints received. Of those 22 new complaints, 14 were external and eight (8) were internal. Bender asked if the complaints that were older than six months were delayed due to pending criminal charges or civil charges. Pinkston responded yes. Pinkston noted there were 186 external and 119 internal year-to-date complaints. Fowler requested to review complaint 19PSB-2929 in the future. Pinkston noted the number. 5. Update Public Brochure – Captain Pinkston Pinkston noted that the CRB verbiage and link had been added to the brochure given to the public and it was being distributed. He brought samples for the Board to review. Fowler stated that it looked good. 6. Executive Session– Captain Pinkston Pinkston noted the Board will review investigation 19PSB-1193. Fowler moved that the Board go into Executive Session to return no sooner than 30 minutes to discuss a personnel matter. Second by Harris. The motion passed unanimously at approximately 4:32 p.m. Wichita Citizen Review Board Nov. 7, 2019 Page 2 of 3 The Board reconvened at 5:27 p.m. and Fowler noted that no action was taken in Executive Session. 7. New Business – Chairperson Fowler Fowler asked the Board about the next meeting date. He suggested Dec. 12 and the Board agreed to that date for the next meeting. 8. Adjourn Kitchen made a motion to adjourn. Second by Fowler. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m. Wichita Citizen Review Board Nov. 7, 2019 Page 3 of 3