agenda meeting location - phoenix, arizona council meeting files/2-25... · city council policy...

City Council Policy Session

Agenda Meeting Location:City Council Chambers

200 W. Jefferson St.Phoenix, Arizona 85003

phoenix.gov2:30 PMTuesday, February 25, 2020

CALL TO ORDER

COUNCIL INFORMATION AND FOLLOW-UP REQUESTS

This item is scheduled to give City Council members an opportunity to publicly request information or follow up on issues of interest to the community. If the information is available, staff will immediately provide it to the City Council member. No decisions will be made or action taken.

CONSENT ACTION

This item is scheduled to allow the City Council to act on the Mayor's recommendations on the Consent Agenda. There is no Consent Agenda for this meeting.

CALL FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION

A vote may be held to call an Executive Session.

REPORTS AND BUDGET UPDATES BY THE CITY MANAGER

This item is scheduled to allow the City Manager to provide brief informational reports on topics of interest to the City Council. The City Council may discuss these reports but no action will be taken.

DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION (ITEM 1)

1 Police Department Civilian Review Discussion Page 3

This report provides information regarding the examination of civilian oversight of the Phoenix Police Department, including a summary of prior meetings and two models designed to assist the City Council with their deliberations on this topic.

THIS ITEM IS FOR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.

February 25, 2020City Council Policy Session Agenda

Responsible Department

This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr. and the City Manager's Office.

ADJOURN

For further information or for reasonable accommodations, please call the Management Intern, City Manager's Office, at 602-262-4449 or Relay 7-1-1 as early as possible to coordinate needed arrangements.

Si necesita traducción en español, por favor llame a la oficina del gerente de la Ciudad de Phoenix, 602-262-4449 tres días antes de la fecha de la junta.

City Council Policy Session

City Council Report

Agenda Date: 2/25/2020, Item No. 1

Police Department Civilian Review Discussion

This report provides information regarding the examination of civilian oversight of the Phoenix Police Department, including a summary of prior meetings and two models designed to assist the City Council with their deliberations on this topic.

THIS ITEM IS FOR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.

SummaryTo date there have been four City Council meetings to discuss civilian oversight of the Police Department: July 2, 2019, Sept. 17, 2019, Oct. 15, 2019 and Nov. 19, 2019. The discussion focused on the three most common models or categories of oversight -Review, Audit/Monitor, and Investigations. In July and September, the City Council reviewed the three models, structured as if they were to be implemented in Phoenix. The discussion included various staffing levels and budget ranges for each option. The Oct. 15, 2019, meeting focused on hybrid models where duties associated with a particular model were blended with elements of a second model, and finally at the Nov. 19, 2019 meeting City Council reviewed information on potential hybrid options, shown in Attachment A to the November report.

Attached to this report are the previous reports on civilian review (Attachment C) along with two models for City Council consideration (Attachments A and B).

Responsible DepartmentThis item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr. and the City Manager's Office.

Attachment AModel A

• Will meet police oversight goals (from NationalAssociation for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement)

• Improving public trust• Ensuring accessible complaint processes• Promoting thorough, fair investigations• Increasing transparency• Deterring police misconduct/reducing the

number of investigations• Myth-busting: Civilian oversight will not:

• Take away the Chief’s decision-making abilities• Add bureaucracy or disrupt police operations• Be against police• Require a charter change/city election• Replace existing structure

• Cost in perspective:• City total budget: $4.6 billion (General,

Enterprise and Special Revenue funds)• Police total budget: $721 million• Police settlements for FY08-18: $26 million• Proposed civilian oversight budget: $1.7-1.84

million• Staff: 1 Director, 3 Policy Analysts, 2 Community

Outreach Coordinators, 2 auditors, 2.5administrators, 1 staff attorney

• Structural independence:Civilian Police Ombudsman• Accepts all complaints and commendations• Mediates complaints• Director/Chief Ombudsman hired by City Manager• Monitors and audits PPD investigations of critical incidents (use

of force, OIS, domestic violence) and outcomes• Annual public report of audit findings and recommendations

and additional reports as needed• Proactively makes recommendations concerning policy,

practices, investigations and training (including publishing bestpractices to encourage adoption across PD)

• Attends Community Relations Board meetings (public andexecutive session)

• PD to assign Commander as liaison• Youth and community outreach program

Community Relations Board• Proactively makes written recommendations concerning policy

and practices following Ombudsman briefings on closedinvestigations or other matters requested by the Board

• Meets monthly and as needed• Quarterly community outreach meetings• Bylaws drafted by City Manager/City Attorney’s Office• Training (NACOLE and Phoenix PD-specific)

Attachment B Model B

Submitted by Councilmember Garcia

This is a hybrid model of civilian oversight that blends the best elements of the top three most common categories of oversight -

Review, Audit/Monitor and Investigative. This hybrid model will create two new city bodies - a Community Review Board and the

Office of Accountability and Transparency - that are independent from the police department, driven by community, transparent in

their work to the public, and investigative in their functions.

SCOPE OF A HYBRID CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT MODEL

Complaints Investigations Policy Monitor Reports to Community

Community Outreach

Office of Accountability and Transparency(OAT): a new city agency composed of city staff

*Intakescommunitycomplaints

*actively monitors andparticipates in PSBinvestigations andprovides independentreports with disciplinaryrecommendations directlyto police chief

*Reviews andrecommends policychanges to Chief withinput from the CRB

*Requests reports tobe issued by policeand regularly issuestheir own reports withinput of CRB

*Implementscommunity outreachprograms and supportservices to impactedcommunity members

Community Review Board (CRB): An appointed board of community members

*Intakescommunitycomplaints

*reviews a portion ofcompleted investigationsand resulting disciplinarydecisions*Recommendsinvestigations in responseto community concerns

*Reviews andrecommends policychanges through acommunity process

*Givesrecommendations toOAT on reportpriorities based off ofcommunity feedbackand concerns

*Holds communityforums and takescommunity feedbackat CRB meetings

Attachment CCity Council Policy Session

City of Phoenix City Council Report

Agenda Date: 7/2/2019, Item No. 2

Police Department Civilian Review Board

This report provides an overview of civilian review oversight board strategies in major city police departments. This report (with some updates) was presented at the Public Safety and Veterans Subcommittee meeting on March 13, 2019.

THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.

Summary Civilian Review efforts trace back to the 1920s. Back then the focus was on simply "reviewing" actions of municipal police agencies. The early efforts were not considered to be effective and in time they faded out. They were revived during the 1970s in the post civil rights era. There are now more than 100 variations around the country. Citizen oversight, civilian review, and citizen review boards have often been used as synonymous terms. In this report, the term civilian review will be used. Regardless of what it has been called, the intent has been to address one or more of the following:

• Increase transparency.

• Build trust.

• Increase police accountability.

• Deter police misconduct.• Provide an accessible complaint process.

• Provide an avenue for investigations that have independence from sworninvestigators.

Just like the early efforts of the 1920s, many of the entities formed during the 1970s have not been sustained. Thinking and practice has evolved over the years. Even now the idea of police oversight by civilians has no universal application. Jurisdictions that have it have essentially tailored an approach that they believe fits their particular situation. Of the 50 largest police departments about half have some form of structured independent civilian review. In Phoenix, civilian review occurs in participation alongside sworn members in use-of-force and discipline review boards formed by the Police Chief. There is also a civilian Civil Service Board which has the final say on appeals of discipline by sworn and civilian employees in the city, including

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