March - April 2022
MARCH - APRIL 2022 PAB MEETING SUMMARIES OBSERVED BY DEBORAH RICE GORDONMARCH 23th Staff Report
Executive Director Reynolds gave the following report:
• The sublease for the offices at 245 East Main Street (Seneca Building) should be signed on March 24 or soon thereafter, with a move to follow.
• At Mayor Evans’ invitation, three PAB members participated in a focus group with the consulting firm leading the search for a new Rochester Police Department (RPD) Chief. The consultant suggested that the mayor form a search committee after the conclusion of listening sessions and that PAB be on the committee. The City Charter does not allow anyone to be paid more than the mayor, so Rochester may not able to offer a competitive salary to candidates.
• The staffing model has been refined in three major ways. About half of entry-level/line positions are nonmanagerial, allowing less experienced people to be hired and work their way up. The structure has been simplified by reducing job titles, and some barriers to entry have been removed while maintaining high standards (e.g., relevant work experience in lieu of a college degree).
• City Council’s liaison to PAB, Kim Smith, has requested a working session for PAB to provide the Council with an update.
• Communication between City Government and PAB is being considered by City Council President Melendez. • The City Law Department provided final comments on the proposed complaint and investigation process. PAB agrees with a number of comments; however, there are also a few areas of significant disagreement. Among those is PAB’s ability to investigate officer-involved shootings and deaths. When such an incident occurs, members of the Law Department and the RPD Internal Affairs Unit respond to the scene and are briefed to begin their investigations. PAB would like to have an investigator included as well. Initially, the City Law Department said that there would be legal barriers to this but PAB lawyers disagree. PAB needs this access to conduct a robust investigation as is commonly done by PABs across the country. Board discussion on this point centered on the larger issue of the role the City Law Department should be playing considering their fundamental conflict of interest in acting for the police department. Should the Law Department be making decisions on PAB functioning at all? Therefore, a Board discussion is needed with Corporate Counsel.
• An interim informational intake process is being launched by the end of March to provide the public with means to communicate concerns to PAB prior to the formal opening. The PAB can follow up on this information in May when it is fully functioning. Contact can be made by phone (557-428-7524) or email (PAB@CityofRochester.gov). Confirmation emails will be sent out to those contacting PAB.
• The proposed rules of order and revised committee structure were discussed since the Board’s work will increase significantly when investigations begin. The board will add reviewing cases to its workload. Following investigations, the staff will create reports, including findings and recommendations. Reports will be reviewed by a panel of three Board members who will meet with staff and vote to approve, refer back to staff, or decline to approve the findings. This represents a significant amount of work in addition to managing staff. In light of this, staff has proposed rules of order for Board meetings as well as Board structure and operations.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
• Jobs Committee – Chair Wilson will submit a report to the Board tomorrow on behalf of Rev. Harvey.
• Finance Committee – The requested budget materials were received in mid-March.
BUSINESS
• The investigative rules need to be adopted before Board training can proceed in April. A proposal to adopt the rules was passed on the condition that the Board could consider future changes.
• A motion to direct the Executive Director to receive input on new committee and meeting structures from stakeholders (e.g., PAB Alliance) and staff, to create a proposal for submission to the rules committee for review, was discussed. The motion passed.
• A motion to submit recommended legislation to City Council regarding the hiring of PAB staff having ties to law enforcement was discussed. This was tabled until background information could be received from the proposal’s authors.
• A motion to direct the Executive Director to meet with City Corporation Counsel (City Law Department) to discuss on-scene access to officer-involved shootings was discussed. The word “shootings” was changed to “incidents” to better encompass more actions. The revised motion was passed.
• A motion to hire consultants for training was discussed. Rabbi Setel moved that the Board clarify what further training is wanted and decide on a timeline for submission of proposals for Board consideration. The motion was approved. Dr. Harrison moved that James Norman be invited to speak to the Board about the programs available through St. John Fisher College and the University of Rochester. The motion passed.
Board members Dr. Celia McIntosh and Ida Perez have resigned from the PAB. Therefore, there is another opening for a Board member.
APRIL 7, 2022 STAFF REPORT
Executive Director Reynolds reported on the following:
• Finalized staffing model – The goal is to increase diversity and create the last 20+ jobs at PAB. Toward that end, PAB proposed eliminating degree requirements and civil service exams for all investigator/policy/ case management jobs. The City Civil Service Commission has approved of this plan; the State will need to approve the proposal to eliminate testing. This would enable PAB to recruit in a much broader way.
• Requests from Police Accountability Board Alliance – The Alliance was informed of PAB discussions concerning a change to the charter allowing people with family ties to the police force to work for PAB. They will be submitting comments to the Board. The Alliance is interviewing candidates for PAB and have asked the Board to submit a job description and estimates of time commitments.
• Research conducted at the Board’s request - Estimates of the work expected over the next few months, as well as the work load after cases are heard, were requested. In the short term, the rules for investigations and the disciplinary matrix need to be reviewed and finalized. Rules and structure for the Board’s work and governance need to be established. In addition, training to hear cases will be needed. Approximately 20-50 hours of work will be necessary to complete this near-term work. The training hours have yet to be determined by the Education Committee.
Staff looked at 20 PABs across the country and the Rochester Civilian Review Board’s (CRB) history to estimate longer-term workload when investigations begin. A common finding was a discrepancy between the estimated time commitment and the actual time spent to address the work. The actual number of cases PAB will receive is uncertain but initially a high volume may be expected. If one Board member reviews one case per week, a three-member panel could average about 150 cases per year. But if a case is complex, time demands will increase. Therefore, Board members may spend between 10-40 hours per week on this and other work.
The Board discussed several concerns about these work estimates. Matrix development requires consultation with the Police Chief and PAB Alliance per the charter after the Board creates the framework. Ideally, PAB should have materials from the Police Department to help understand what the records review process will look like. There was a general concern about the sustainability of spending 40 hours per week on PAB work for volunteers who have full-time jobs. Members have already reduced other commitments to meet their PAB demands. CRB members were paid $22.50/hour but they felt that should have been doubled. Members of the City Board of Assessment are paid $25/hour. The Executive Director will take these suggestions under advisement along with concerns about time expectation vs. what is sustainable for volunteer members. Staff can provide information on payment and organizational structures for these other groups.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
• The Rules Committee considered the rules of order for meetings. The Chair shall facilitate the meeting as per the charter. A motion to approve the rules document without changes passed.
OLD BUSINESS
• A conflict-of-interest rule has been created and the authors can attend the next meeting. Further discussion was tabled.
NEW BUSINESS
• Early circulation of example case materials to be used in training was requested.
• A proposal was made to send a letter to the Mayor, City Council and PAB Alliance regarding the interviewing of prospective job candidates who are currently on the City Council and in the PAB Alliance. A motion to send letters to City Council and the Mayor passed.
• PAB sent a letter to the Mayor requesting that PAB be part of new police chief search and asked the PAB Alliance to support this effort.
The meeting was adjourned and an Executive Session was held to discuss a personnel matter.