HomeMy WebLinkAboutFH Inclusion and Policing Task Force Agenda Packet_3-07-17CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Falcon Heights Task Force
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
AGENDA
March 7, 2017
7:15 P.M. to 9:30 P.M.
I.Call to Order
II.Review Agenda
III.Review of February 21, 2017 Meeting Minutes
IV.Short Debrief of March 2 Community Conversation Session
·Conversation #2 Themes: Developing Options for how the City Can Live
Out the Community’s Values in its Activities, Policies, Policing and Other
Practices
V.Discussion (continued) of Desired Policing Approaches & Best Practices
VI.BREAK (5 Minutes)
VII.Discussion of Blink and Implications for Community-Based Work on Bias
VIII. Preparation for March 14th Task Force Meeting
IX.Announcements and Updates
X.Adjourn
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CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
MINUTES
February 21, 2017 at 7:15 P.M.
1.CALL TO ORDER: 7:16 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
ANDREWS JOHNSON-POWERS X
BALLENTINE X LEEHY-CO CHAIR X
COLOND X THOMPSON X
DEMERATH X WADE X
JOHNSON X
STAFF PRESENT:
MAYOR LINDSTROM
CO-CHAIR/COUNCIL MEMBER GUSTAFSON X
CO-FACILITATOR QUICK
CO-FACILITATOR MORRIS X
ADMINISTRATOR THONGVANH X
Homework before next meeting on Tues. March 7, please review the book, Blink.
Community Conversation meeting on Thurs. March 2 at Falcon Heights Church, 6:30-8:30pm.
I.Call to order
7:16pm
II. Review Agenda
No changes were proposed.
III. Review Meeting Minutes
There were a couple of corrections to the section on Discussion of Community Values for Policing. In
paragraph seven, the first sentence should be a question followed by the sentence, Government has
limitations. The second to last sentence should be, Relationship is critical to making change. All were in
favor of the corrections.
IV.Debrief of Community Conversation on Values on Feb. 16 Approximately 110 people attended
including task force members. Those who participated enjoyed the opportunity and gave positive
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feedback about the meeting. People who had not spoken at other listening sessions were there. The
average age skewed toward the older end of the spectrum. The task force learned that personal
invitations are needed to reach those beyond Falcon Heights. A number of groups were invited and
some did attend. Some hope to attend other meetings. The format was helpful for honest sharing. One
group had a good mixture from outside of FH and within. Some recognized more need for community
involvement. There were questions about the city council and the appearance of inaction. Some people
are invested and want to know where to start. There was frustration with elected officials. Eight months
is too long to address a tragedy.
There were stories of business people and residents manifesting racism. One suggestion was to have
police officers in each group. One was fearful to talk at other sessions but felt this was a safe place to
talk. Facilitators did a fantastic job.
One question was, why wasn't there an apology from the city. This was a difficult event and hard to
manage as an elected official. The job is especially tough when the whole nation is looking at you. Police
work is challenging with being part social worker, part therapist and cop.
Some had seen racial bias in police stops. There are also opportunities for people to learn how to spot
incidents and how to report them.
Notes were taken in each group. Common themes and keywords along with the context will be compiled
for further analysis.
People seemed guarded at first and comfort level went up as the evening went on. One black male
talked about living here three decades. He always feels suspect and this is fatiguing. This was a learning
opportunity others and an example of courage to talk about race.
Recommendations will come at a later date. How do we show progress? People will talk about the
experience whether good or bad. People seemed willing to keep the process moving forward.
V.Translating Values into Policing Operations.
Members assembled in groups of three looking at the community values statements and how they
relate to police operations.
List to work with from the whiteboard:
Life safety
Patrol functions. Passive. Observation. Traffic enforcement.
Active. Call and response.
Administrative- hiring, training, performance review. Communication. Reporting. Internal investigations.
Data collection. Data release.
Community engagement - citizen training. DARE, School resource officer. Crime prevention.
Investigation. External.
Court Duty. Testifying.
The topic of trust building came up. This falls under community engagement but currently there is no
purposeful effort to build trust. Crime prevention, national night out and citizen training are police
initiated. Some neighborhoods don't have many children who have typically been more interested in the
police cars. Regarding the Falcon Heights Community Engagement Commission, police attend and are
looking for ways to engage community.
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If a civilian review board makes sense it would go under administration.
What are police operation priorities?
Patrol
Life and safety
Response to calls
Passive patrol
Reconvene at 9:09pm
There were three groups of three. The exercise was challenging. Some process is needed for providing
feedback after an encounter with the police. Community review is needed. Training the police on
community values would be helpful. Having a known face patrolling FH might add credibility. Include
race or ethnicity data in police interactions. When hiring police, look for people with cross cultural
experience. Ongoing training is also needed. Citizen tips for callers and how to handle situations.
What areas do task force members want to focus on with specificity? A review board? More data? After
this look at things you can do within these areas. Think deeply about what will give the greatest return.
There will be a competing police contract when we get to that point. This will be needed given the
amount of money involved. Think about whatever you might recommend when we reach this point.
Updates and announcements
St. Anthony police did experience a significant leadership change in June of 2016 when the chief and
captain retired. After the shooting, Interims Chief Mangseth and Captain Spiess were officially placed in
their new roles rather than waiting until the fall as originally planned.
9:38pm adjourned
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
Process Plan: Over-arching Goals and Sequencing of Activities
Ongoing community
healing & relationship
building
Discern & affirm
community values
around inclusion,
diversity, and equity
Discern community
values around policing
Operable plans for
implicit bias training,
community relationship
building, ongoing
diversity or inclusion
work & leadership
Recommendations /
best practice guidlines
on policing procedures
and policies, data
collection, training /
capacity building
[Decision by City
Council, not Task Force,
regarding arrangements
for policing contract]
Specific plans and
resources (strucures,
leadership, activities)
for ongoing inclusion
and diversity work
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
PROPOSED Work Plan
For discussion at January 3 task force meeting. This schedule is subject to change. Please
consult Task Force website for meeting agendas.
1.December 13:
Orientation and
launch
√Overview of charge
√Orientation to open meeting laws, data practices, and
√Introductions. Discussion of Task Force members’ aspirations,
concerns, and pictures of success for the Task Force.
√Orientation to overall process plan
√Discussion of desired process / participation plan elements
2.January 3:
Articulating
community
values for
inclusion, equity,
safety, and
healing
Adoption of process / participation agreement
Start articulation of community values around inclusion, equity, safety,
and healing. → Create draft statement for additional discussion and
elaboration through community meetings.
Discussion of process for gathering community input (what, when, how)
3.January 10:
Policing contest
Policing foundational context: elements of the current policing contract
(service provision guidelines, timelines, etc.)
Start discussion of general principles for policing, grounded in
community values
Setting agenda for additional discussion and work (not yet at
recommendation / decision point)
Date TBD 2 community meetings, open to all interested members of the
public. The first community discussion will respond to and elaborate
the Task Force draft statement on community values. The second will
begin articulating how community members would like to see the
community values be implemented, in policing and other areas of
governance and community life. Both meetings will be facilitated by
volunteers trained by the design team. All Task Force members are
very strongly encouraged to participate.
Date TBD
4.January 31:
Statement on
community
values for
inclusion, equity,
Processing of input from community into TF statement of community
values on equity, diversity, and inclusion (general, not exclusive to
policing)
Adoption of a provisional statement on community values, to help guide
upcoming work
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
PROPOSED Work Plan
For discussion at January 3 task force meeting. This schedule is subject to change. Please
consult Task Force website for meeting agendas.
safety, and
healing
5.February 7:
Becoming
familiar with
different
approaches to
policing
Informational presentations and discussion of how the community
values might be operationalized in different approaches to policing,
with a few illustrative examples
Discussion of pros & cons of different policing models
Check-in week No regular Task Force meeting. Key time for Task Force members to
check in w/their community connections.
6.February 21:
Current policing
in FH: what is
working well,
what is not?
Review of data about and contracting arrangement for the current
policing arrangement and performance in Falcon Heights
Discussion: What is working well and should be sustained? What are key
problems to fix? What improvements could be made?
Check-in week No regular Task Force meeting. Key time for Task Force members to
check in w/their community connections.
7.March 7:
Exploring models
of policing
approaches and
best practices
Best practices for anti-racist, equity-oriented community policing
Pros, cons, lessons learned from recent innovations in community
policing
Discussion
8.March 14:
Exploring
measures &
accountability
instruments for
desired policing
Performance standard statements and measures for desired policing
outcomes
9.March 21:
Policing
performance
standards
Discussion of desired components of policing performance standards for
FH. Include discussion of what to sustain as well as what to change in
current model.
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
PROPOSED Work Plan
For discussion at January 3 task force meeting. This schedule is subject to change. Please
consult Task Force website for meeting agendas.
Date TBD 2 Community meetings, open to all interested members of the
public. The first meeting will gather input to inform the Task Force’s
forthcoming recommendations on policing. The second will provide
input to the Task Force’s forthcoming recommendations on policies or
programming to promote inclusion, equity, safety, and healing in
other areas of community work and governance. Meetings will be
facilitated by volunteers trained by the design team. All Task Force
members are very strongly encouraged to participate.
Date TBD
10.April 11:
Processing
community input
on policing
standards
Processing of input from community meetings into draft TF statement of
community values in policing
11.April 18:
Finalizing
recommendation
to council on
policing
performance
standards
Finalizing recommendations to council on the community’s desired
policing approaches, policies, standards, or resources.
Report finalization
week
The charge to the Task Force requires a report and recommendations
regarding policing from the Task Force in time for the first City Council
meeting of May (May 3).
12.May 2:
Accomplishing
community
culture of
inclusion, equity
Creation of recommendations on programming and policies to sustain,
in an ongoing way, work on the inclusion, equity, safety, and healing
goals for governance and other areas of community life. This is to be
Informed by prior community meeting.
Final preparation for presentation of Task Force recommendations at
May 3 city council meeting.
May 3 City Council
meeting City Council will receive and deliberate about the Task Force’s
recommendations about policing standards and policies. It is the
Council’s decision as to how to translate that into choices regarding
the policing contract.
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
PROPOSED Work Plan
For discussion at January 3 task force meeting. This schedule is subject to change. Please
consult Task Force website for meeting agendas.
13.May 9: Response
to council,
closure
Take up any final requests from the City Council to the Task Force
Finalize recommendations for ongoing inclusion and equity activities
Close
Date TBD City Council will receive and deliberate about the Task Force’s
final recommendations regarding ongoing support for community and
governance work on inclusion, equity, safety, and healing.
Date TBD Community meeting, open to all interested members of the
public, to recognize successes and renew commitment to the ongoing
work. Meeting will be facilitated by volunteers trained by the design
team. All Task Force members are very strongly encouraged to
participate.
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Small Group Discussions – Summary Notes from Task Force Meeting February 21, 2017
1.Data Collection
a.Collect race data associated with all stops
b.Follow up on citation outcomes
c.Track citation patterns of officers pre- and post
d.GPS location of vehicles and time spent there.
2.Enforcing Laws (State and Local)
a.Stop enforcing equipment violations and small amounts of drugs.
b.As a community - What violations do we enforced?
3.Community Relations or Engagement
a.Community Policing should not cost extra---ex. When they are filling up on gas, they
should make an effort to talk to people around them
b.Newsletter – create a section in a weekly or monthly newsletter called “Police Tips”
c.Monthly meetings with real topics being directed –community must attend
d.Youth engagement
4.Training
a.De-escalation training and best practices
b.Implicit bias training
c.Language training and cultural sensitivity around immigrant communities
d.Training on how to deal with mental health issues
e.Non-lethal weapons training
f.On-going diversity training
g.To instill the desired value statement
5.New Police Service Contract
a.Do we need 24/7 Police Department?
b.No incentive for drug violations – seizures revenue to St. Anthony
6.Accountability
a.Invest in high quality data management and monitoring. Present summary statistics and
long-term trends on quarterly basis to Falcon Heights residents and Citizen Review
Board.
b.Elected Citizens Review Board with powers to modify/terminate contract based on poor
performance.
c.Transparent complaint/reporting procedure
d.Instill community-policing philosophy. Maximizes community interaction and familiarity
–foot, bike police beats
e.For every 911 call, talk to (5) other people as part of response (benign education)
f.Increase distance between office and citizens during call responses. Reduce distance in
community engagement.
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g.Follow up on suspicious calls with caller
h.Citizen Board would be helpful
i.Every interaction IS community interaction
j.The officer needs to serve the caller and the person in the behavior
7.Hiring
a.Recruit locally
b.Recruit from diverse backgrounds with cross culture experience
c.Are we hiring people with community engagement experience?
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