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Home My WebLink About37-Mayor's Office ~ r. CITY OF SAN BERNAftDINO - REQUEST FQ. COUNCIL ACTION From: Mayor Evlyn Wil cox Dept: Mayor's Office Subject: Report - Recommendations From Blue Ribbon Committee on POlice/ Community Relations -J1?f Date: January 5, 1989 Synopsis of Previous Council action: Recommended motion: Receive and file. NOTE: Item agendized for time certain, 5:00 p.m. J~...L /J~ I Signature Contact person: Evlyn Wilcox Phone: 384-5051 Supporting data attached: (Report) Ward: FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount: Source: (Acct. No.) (Acct. DescriPtion) Finance: Council Notes: Anpnrl:t Itflim No .22 , -, -- ~"" REPORT OF THE MAYOR'S BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE ON POLICE AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS SAN BERNARDINO December, 1988 In an effort to assess the status of the relationship between the police and the community in the City of San Bernardino, Mayor Wilcox established a Blue-Ribbon Committee. The purpose of the Committee was to solicit and obtain input from the community, evaluate that information, and make recom- mendations for improvement. The appointed Committee appeared to be representative of the community-at-large. (See Attachment A.) The Committee met numerous times in September-December, 1988. Hearings in the community were held on three separate evenings, each time in seven different sections of the City. Additional on-demand hearings were also conducted. Shortly after the creation of this Committee, a well-attended meeting was held at Sturges Auditorium in response to citizen concern about an armed pOlice-civilian interaction.* In contrast, attendance at the community hearings was light. Most hearings had 2-5 people, while a few had as many as 12- 15. ATTACHMENT A - MEMBERSHIP OF COMMITTEE Footnote: *This Committee was ~ set up to deal with specific issues raised at the Sturges meeting. The Committee, however, had a full transcript of the meeting, the contents of which affected our discussions and recommendations. SUMMARY OF BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE AREA MEETINGS HELD SEP- TEMBER 29TH. OCTOBER 6TH. AND OCTOBER 13TH. 1988. In general the citizens of San Bernardino appear satisfied with the behavior of the Police Department with the following general exception: 1. Concern was voiced by a number of minority citizens that they do not receive equal treatment, are subjected to harassment and periodic excessive force and are treated with little or no respect when dealing with officers. ~ -. '-" -..,; The majority or most frequent comments had to do with the following: 1. 2. D Ij 4. 1/~ 5. 6. Need for more patrol officers deployed at appropri- ate time of day or week for maximum effectiveness. Faster response times. Leave officers in area so that. they get to know the people and the area. Police and the over-all operation needs to be more public relations oriented, i.e. dispatch, field contact, etc. The process on complaint procedures and fOllow-up on complaints needs to be reviewed for maximum effectiveness. Respond to all citizen complaints. suggestions for improvement included: 1. Keep street lights repaired and continue neighbor- hood clean-ups. 2. Continue/increase Police Department involvement in school education programs. 3. Promote more neighborhood and business watch pro- grams. 4. Recruit more minority police officers. 5. Keep Community Oriented Police Offices open longer or at least on weekends. 6. Provide more youth programs. 7. Give the Police Commission more authority to investigate system abuses. . #""'.... .."" ~ - COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Sufficient information has been received by this com- /mittee to suggest that circumstances occur where police <~~drs are not sufficiently sensitive when interacting with the public. Inadequate sensitivity is known to occur during: One-on-one interaction on patrol. . Dispatch personnel interaction on the phone. ~ ~ Desk personnel interaction with citizens going ~~ to Police Headquarters. ~ To mitigate the lack of adequate sensitivity, the following items should be added to the existing depart- ment's pOlicies and procedures. ~~ lU ,~. a. b. c. a. A minimum level for interpersonal skills should be established for evaluating every police officer regardless of rank. Interpersonal skills performance should be an integral part of the review process of every . police officer regardless of rank. Any police officer who is determined not to have met the minimum performance standards for interpersonal skills will be required to complete hours of schooling to upgrade his/her skills. . b. c. Any police officer, regardless of rank, receiv- ing public complaints during a . month period would be removed from public interaction until he/she has completed hours of schooling to upgrade his/her skills. o Any officer, regardless of ran~, who is required to attend schooling to upgrade his/her interpersonal skills more than twice will be subject to an administrative review to determine if the officer is temperamentally adapted for police work. 2. Provide regular ongoing training of police officers, regardless of rank, especially in human relations and interpersonal skill h dling of stress, and consider er 0 c rotation of du es nd area assign- ments. . - 3. (9 /1):. ~~ i 7. 8. 9. 10. ~G ~~ 12. ~ \~I 'Ih\. . f~:; r'..... '-' '""''', '-' More clearly define the mission and responsibilities of the Police Commission to more closely monitor complaints about the Police Department, and monitor the overall performance of the police Department, both internally and externally. This will require the Common Council to review the Commission's authority and role. Ensure that the follow-up on citizen complaints con- cerning the Police Department are handled more expedi- tiously with the appropriate feedback to the complaining citizens, and provide a monthly report on all complaints concerning the police Department and the resultant actions to the Mayor and Police Commission. Integrate community oriented policing, Neighborhood Watch and the Police Commission into a cooperative, cohesive, overall plan. Continue, strengthen, and expand the community Oriented Policing Program. As soon as possible increase the number and open hours of such station. Maintain, publicize and strengthen the Neighborhood Watch Program, business watch program and other similar organizations. Funding of additional field officers must be given a high priority in the budget process. Make every attempt to assign police assistants to routine duties. When police assistance is requested, an estimated response time be given to the caller. Funding for additional K-9 Programs. strategic plan to provide for a proper ratio for po- lice/community staffing levels and area response/ priority. J , . ." , ,..-.. ""'" CITY OF , __.tI San Bernardino O"ICI 0' THI M.YOII EVLYN WILCOX · " YO" BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE (Police/Community Relations) + Luis Abreqo Neiqhborhood Watch General San Bdno. Area 2481 N. Harrison San Bernardino, CA 92404 Phone: 886-4556-Home 797-5117-Work Sharon Brown Area A Neiqhborhood Watch 1576 CQlorado San Bernardino, CA 92411 Phone: 889-2239 Chris Crawford Crawford Investments 1770 N. Arrowhead Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92405 Phone: 882-3393 Graciano Gomez Hispanic News 1265 E. Shamrock San Bernardino, CA 92410 Phone: 884-1649 Robert Hampton Delmann Hqts. Neiqh.Watch 2557 Pennsylvania San Bernardino, CA 92405 Phone: 887-5231 Reverend Tom Harvick Central Christian Church 1696 North "G" Street San Bernardino, CA 92405 Phone: 883-6512 or 884-8636 Mary Johnson NAACP, San Bdno. Branch 1321 W. 21st Street San Bernardino, CA 92411 Phone: 887-9937 Carole Main Elan Maqazine 591 E. Valley Blvd. Colton, CA 92324 Phone: 825-5053 Esther Mata Hispanic community 930 W. Eclqehill San Bernardino, CA 92404 Phone: 886-7423 Hector J. O'Campo Neiqhborhood Watch 663 Maqnolia Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92405 Phone: 885-7698 Faye Rodqers Senior Affairs Commission 3396 Mt. View Avenue San Bernardino, CA 92405 Phone: 882-8894 Reverend Horace Ross Police Clerqy 7116 Amberwood Lane Hiqhland 92346 Phone: 864-2997 or 864-2773 PRiDE i ~7ESS 300 NORTH '0' STREET, SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA i241a.0001 71./1....111 " , . , . ~ ....... Dr. John Hatton Director, Councelinq Ctr. Calif. state Univ., San B. 265 W. 55th Street San Bernardino, CA 92407 Phone: 887-7437-Work 883-03l4-Home Rita Hernandez President, Neiqhbor.Watch 695 W. 7th Street San Bernardino, CA 92411 Phone: 884-2914 Carlos Huesca Self 3492 Circle Road San Bernardino, CA 92405 Phone: 889-0597 Joe Jacquet 20th Street Homeowners 1773 W. 20th Street San Bernardino, CA 92411 Phone: 887-4173 ."'"", ",J Elaine Schram Self 2443 N. Roxbury San Bernardino, CA 92404 Phone: 882-3236 JimSivelle Self 5350 Park Lane San Bernardino, CA 92404 Phone: 883-7481 Art Townsend, Publisher Precinct Reporter 1677 W. Baseline San Bernardino, CA 92411 Phone: 889-0597 James Urata Water Commission 4201 Newport Court San Bernardino, CA 92404 Phone: 886-1164 Reverend Nathaniel White Temple Baptist Church 1583 W. Union San Bernardino, CA 92411 Phone: 888-2038-Work 885-5273-Home