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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/04/2001 Adjourned Meeting 2,7 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 4, 2001 - 7:30 A.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS -129 NORTH 2 STREET Present: Council: Mayor Mary Place, presiding, Council Members Henry Beauchamp, Lynn Buchanan, Larry Mattson, John Puccinelli, and Bernard Sims Staff: City Manager Zais, City Attorney Paolella , Police Chief Blesio, and City Clerk Roberts Absent: Council Member Clarence Barnett 1. REVIEW OF FOLLOW -UP ACTIONS TO INQUIRY PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS RE: YAKIMA POLICE DEPARTMENT • Opening Remarks Made by the Mayor and Police Chief Mayor Place's opening remarks expressed support of the Police Department and praising its employees for how well they perform their jobs. Police Chief Blesio introduced Captain Jeff Schneider, Captain Roy Willson, Lt. Mike Vowell, Lt. Mike Merryman, Officer Eric Walls, Officer Jaime Gonzalez, Officer Linda Watts, Officer David Cortez and Officer Jessie Rangel. He commented that last October Council commissioned an independent inquiry of the Department based upon the allegation of racial profiling and how we communicate with officers in the Department. On February 12, 2001, the Panel gave Council a report that said the allegations were not true, but there was a perception of racial profiling. There were 14 recommendations made by that Panel. • Council Reviewed Several of the Recommendations Made by the Panel Recommendation: The City Council and the Department should investigate and develop a process for collecting racial /ethnic and other data on all traffic stops utilizing the standard ScanTron vehicle stop data form. The data collected from these forms should be used as a management tool to assess, among other items, whether or not racial profiling is occurring. This will also require that appropriate statistical benchmarks be developed. Chief Blesio responded that they are waiting for direction from the State Legislature and the Police Chief's Association as to the best method of gathering information. Recommendation: Chief Blesio and his supervisors /should develop new strategies for communicating proactively with the Department's minority officers to ensure a better understanding of their perceptions regarding fair treatment and to more effectively address any perceptions of unfair treatment. 2 7'6 SEPTEMBER 4, 2001 — ADJOURNED MEETING Chief Blesio advised Council that the officers receive 40 hours of in- service training each year and this past year he met with the members of the Department and provided them with a copy of this report. He also met with the Yakima Police Patrolman's Association (YPPA) to discuss the findings of the Panel. Officer Eric Walls, President of YPPA, spoke about his efforts to improve communication with the officers and offering them an opportunity to bring any unfair treatment to his attention. Recommendation: The Department should continue to offer cultural awareness /diversity training every year as part of its annual in- service training program and should ensure that the training has value and is designed to be relevant and reflective of our community's ethnicity. In addition, this training should be mandatory for all supervisory personnel. Chief Blesio reported that in eight out of the last ten years, cultural and diversity training has been offered, including this past year. The evaluation from the Department members about this year's training indicated that it was possibly the best they received in many years. Council was informed that cultural awareness and diversity training is also included in the Police Academy's curriculum. Recommendation: The Department should undertake a critical self- assessment to determine if discipline, assignment and promotional opportunities, and enforcement of policies and procedures are fair and equitable. Chief Blesio stated that throughout the Department we have minority officers assigned to special squads. There is a process for officers to be selected to these squads based upon qualification and overall performance. He also pointed out that they are experiencing difficulty recruiting officers. In the past we would receive over 200 applications, now we are getting 40 -60, even with recruitment efforts throughout the state by our staff. Recommendation: The promotion process should be revised to ensure that the oral boards regularly include minority officers. Chief Blesio stated that in the past, they had community members from the minority community involved in our oral boards. The inquiry panel was concerned about the sergeant's exam. We had conducted a Sergeant's examination.prior to the findings and that register is still in effect until 2002. We will recruit minorities for the board when the next test is conducted. Recommendation: The City Council should develop and adopt a clear, strong resolution affirming the right of all citizens to be treated equally and fairly and without regard to their race, ethnicity, gender, or economic status; defining and prohibiting racial profiling; and requiring the YPD to adopt a policy on racial profiling and related procedures to ensure the prevention of racial profiling. Mayor Place commented that the Council adopted a policy regarding racial profiling. Chief Blesio stated that every member of the Department received a copy of the new racial profiling policy that prohibits bias -based ticketing. He reported that all law enforcement agencies in the valley have adopted, or are 2 277 SEPTEMBER 4, 2001 — ADJOURNED MEETING developing, a similar policy. Captain Schneider described the process he followed to obtain an oral board with minority representation for the recent lieutenant examination. He learned that the difficulty in finding minority command staff members for oral boards is statewide and that Yakima is ahead of many other communities with our policies dealing with racial issues. Recommendation: The Department should undertake a critical review of its existing procedures, practices, directives, and training to ensure that they prevent racial profiling from occurring insofar as possible, including the perception thereof. This should include a review of its quota -based performance standards (written or unwritten) to ensure that compliance with those standards is not contributing to the perception that officers engage in racial profiling. Chief Blesio stated that staff is reviewing the Department policies and procedures and its directive manual, keeping in mind the panel's directives, and will reduce the two manuals to one book. Discussion followed regarding the discretion an officer has when making a traffic stop. Captain Schneider commented that the officers are asked to write one ticket per day. Judging by the monthly reports, it does not appear that the number, of tickets increase at the end of the month to meet quotas. Captain Schneider also discussed the cost and the pros and cons of having video cameras in the police vehicles. Recommendation: The Department should implement appropriate training to better prepare its officers to avoid the perception that they are engaging in racial profiling in their law enforcement actions. This training should include giving officers cross - cultural communications and conflict resolution skills. Chief Blesio stated the Department hired Dr. Daniel Thomann to provide training on the issue of racial profiling. He commented that many of the calls they respond to are based on citizen requests. Recommendation: The Department's citizen complaint investigation and review process should be reexamined and, as necessary, revised to ensure that it is thorough, fair, and responsive. This should include adding a requirement that the complainant is notified in writing of the disposition of his /her complaint and, if the following recommendation is adopted, has the right to appeal the disposition thereof. Captain Schneider reported that five citizen complaints about officers' conduct were received last year; the majority of the complaints are minor, i.e. alleging that the officer was rude. Recommendation: The City Council should develop and implement an independent citizen oversight process similar to the Portland model to hear appeals by citizens of the disposition by YPD of their complaints and to oversee the administration of the complaint process. Mayor Place stated that a Council sub - committee consisting of Council Members Beauchamp, Mattson and herself was formed to review the Portland model and gather other information that would be helpful in developing an oversight process. She recommended that we develop our own process to fit our 3 278 SEPTEMBER 4, 2001 — ADJOURNED MEETING community's needs and suggested a study session might be useful to discuss this issue. Council Member Mattson stated that we need to respond quickly to citizen complaints and set up guidelines, but, we have to have trained citizens on the panel who know about the difficulty of the police work. He agreed with Officer Walls and the Mayor that a representative from YPPA should be involved in this process. Recommendation: The Department should develop strategies for enhancing its community outreach to minority neighborhoods and, if necessary, seek to identify federal, state and other resources, including volunteer resources, to ensure an effective and comprehensive outreach program. We also believe that the City Council and City Manager need to partner with the Department in its outreach program. The importance of an enhanced community outreach cannot be overstated. Officer Jaime Gonzalez commented that the Department has had an outreach program since 1992. He spoke about a few of the many, many outreach programs and events that have occurred so far in 2001. Detective David Cortez spoke about his experience working with Excel High School principal (OIC), Ann Allen, to involve the police Department in school activities. • Conclusion of Discussion Mayor Place stated that Council will have some budgetary issues to consider. In addition to the budget issues, we need input from Council about a citizen's panel and asked if Council would want to have a study session on that issue. It was the consensus of the Council to ask staff to schedule a study session. 2. ADJOURNMENT BUCHANAN MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT THE HOUR OF 9:10 A.M. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote; Barnett absent. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: r 0//37D I M: ER DATE / ' /I,: / AD / Z -- o l OUNCI . r ' MBER / DATE ATTEST: CITY CLERK MARY PLACE, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Karen Roberts. An audio tape of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office 4 •