Human Rights Commission Meeting Minutes Regular Meeting June 17, 2021 Virtual/Electronic Meeting 6:30 pm Public link to meeting rebroadcasts on Boxcast: https://boxcast.tv/channel/vabajtzezuyv3iclkx1a Public link to HRC documents on Box: https://app.box.com/s/xty3wnn2s1tj8h7trkknvd79bipyxezy 1. WELCOME a. CALL TO ORDER i. Chair, Mary Bauer, called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm b. ROLL CALL i. Mary Bauer ii. Kathryn Laughon iii. Jeanette Abi-Nader iv. Ernest Chambers v. Jessica Harris vi. Wolfgang Keppley vii. Sue Lewis viii. Tobiah Mundt ix. Andrew Orban x. Alex Oxford xi. Lyndele Von Schill c. MISSION (recited by all): Act as a strong advocate to justice and equal opportunity by providing citywide leadership and guidance in the area of civil rights. 2. MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC a. PUBLIC COMMENT i. None. b. COMMISSION RESPONSE TO MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC i. None. 3. MINUTES a. Review of minutes from May 20, 2021 i. Vote 1. In favor: 10 2. Can live with: 0 3. Opposed: 0 4. Abstained: 1 ii. 4. BUSINESS MATTERS a. Dialogue with Mayor Walker and Chief Brackney i. Chair acknowledges that Commission had sent letter to City Council regarding concerns about police issues, particularly nationwide violence and the city budget ii. Chair asks about availability of a police budget breakdown for the department’s functions and programs as requested in the letter sent to City Council 1. Chief responds that department is service-related rather than program-related in that day-to-day actions of officers depend on 911 calls a. There is civilian access to records and budget online where one can find most of an officer’s time is spent on patrol 2. Chair asks if there is a way to report on time spent on different functions 3. Chief responds that the best way to access records of calls, incidents, etc. are through the 911 CAD system a. Department does not currently have the resources to label time through percentages and numbers, but it is open to HRC working together to get this data iii. Commissioner follows up asking Chief what data analyst does in department and what role the new system in the department plays 1. Chief responds that there is an intelligence analyst, but no data analyst; also, there is no new system, and the old system was not part of ECC Records Management System iv. Commissioner asks how CPD makes choices about staffing 1. Chief responds that officers are staffed based on number of crimes and calls a. Finding time-based data may also be difficult because exempt employees may quantify time differently v. Commissioner asks for more information about the availability of information published online 1. Incident reports and charging data is published daily on CPD websites a. Other data like shots fired are also published weekly (EEC produces all of this data) 2. Commissioner asks about consideration of a more performance-based budget like the City 3. Chief responds that City has not mentioned this budget a. The City uses a zero-based budget and CPD and the City have to match goals 4. Mayor adds that HR Director when they arrive can look at staff member performance and annual ratings, as well as formulate new strategic plan goals, but this process has not yet started vi. Chair asks about information officers are required to report in regard to time being spent (like time sheets) 1. Chief responds that time sheets themselves are only for arriving and leaving 2. Officers keep track of incidents they are involved in, but not every activity throughout a work day 3. Chair says that other occupations do log specific hours 4. Mayor asks if discussion is leading to how CPD decides when to decrease budget a. Chair adds that it is also about what functions are necessary for officers with weapons versus functions that could be performed by other occupations b. Mayor says Vice Mayor Magill, Councilor Snook, Chief Brackney, and others in a group are looking at mental health response to ensure the appropriate organizations and people are responding in order to shift interaction away from the police in the community c. Chief adds that Region Ten, ECC, those with lived experience, Bridge Ministry, and various others are a part of this Marcus Alert team to address balancing adherence with current laws with decoupling policing from those going through mental health crises i. Legislation has more mandates around the 911 system ii. When there is an ECO or TDO response, there is a law enforcement response required where police must take individuals into custody and transport them, so the task force is limited until legislation rolls back police involvement iii. It is necessary in the community to have both resources and capacity vii. Commissioner asks what the HRC can do in the meantime to enact community change and provide support, outreach, and education 1. Mayor says that another working group (“Imagining a Just Cville”) including herself, Chief Brackney, Joe Platania, Liz Murtagh, Kaki Dimock, and various community members with lived experience, is taking the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) study to see where influential individuals can change in those systems a. There will be a community meeting in likely August, presentation for feedback, and presentations to Council for funding requests b. Group has already begun doing work 2. Chief says that Oct 2018 was the first time investigative detention was posted on website about officer interactions, especially officer-initiated encounters a. They are looking into officer discretion-- what influences officers to introduce or not introduce an individual into the criminal legal system b. A non-local intern is working on a social justice project looking at 2019/2020 records about circumstances during which officers did or did not choose to arrest an individual through the final outcomes to see the full impact of being introduced into the criminal legal system 3. Commissioner clarifies previous question about how the HRC can conduct outreach 4. Chief refers to HRC’s current handouts about what to do when encountering the police as well as the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives’ (NOBLE) community training a. Collaboration and regular dialogue between HRC and CPD is necessary to explore programs and outreach 5. Mayor adds that there are conflicting requests for Charlottesville policing, so creating new policies is challenging a. She wants to make sure that police are responding to the right situations, and in those situations, they are handling them as best as possible 6. Chief empathizes with Commissioner’s situation and reminds HRC that collaboration and communication is necessary to enact change viii. Commissioner wants to know if there is discussion about decreasing armed response calls 1. Chief says there are no efforts to unarm officers, though there are efforts to increase community service officers 2. Work groups are discussing a co-responder model and working together with other resources to change the types of calls CPD responds to ix. Commissioner leaves chat message asking how often officers use weapons 1. Chief responds that every use of force in detail is posted on the website, including use of hands a. The number of instances is very low x. Commissioner asks if the Chief believes there is adequate staffing in the budget 1. Chief responds that budget allows for 119 sworn officers; right now, there are around 106, so they are short-staffed 2. Now, some positions (such as intelligence analyst) are civilianized to rethink how CPD engages the community a. This allowed for a decrease in the budget and an increase in pay for civilian workers b. Understaffing costs more to hire officers at a time and a half and bring in officers on overtime 3. Mayor adds that staff salary increases are for positions that have been long underpaid 4. Commissioner asks Chief to confirm CPD as short-staffed a. Chief confirms this and adds that decreasing CPD’s budget also gets rid of civilian workers xi. Commissioner asks if UVA is involved in the mental health task force 1. Chief responds that UVA has been in and out 2. Region Ten has the primary role and has been part of discussion for a long time 3. Commissioner follows up suggesting UVA would be a good resource to help with capacity, such as providing money a. Chief responds that UVA would then have to decide to add more beds 4. Commissioner follows up to ask about UVA’s mental health expertise resources, as well as more information about officer discretion data a. Mayor responds that she has had conversations with Chief of Diversity and Community Engagement at UVA, who has said he is committed to figuring out what resources UVA is willing to allocate 5. Commissioner asks about “Imagining a Just Cville” a. Chief says this work group meets every other week, while the Marcus Alert work group meets during the weeks in between xii. Commissioner asks about status of meeting regarding HRC’s policy review 1. Chief responds that request must have occurred before she got there, as she is not familiar with anyone reaching out a. Charlene Green had a few interactions with Chief Brackney, but none about what Commissioner was referring to 2. Todd Niemeier of OHR recalls that Charlene and the HRC was interested in reviewing the Bias-Based Policing Policy, Use of Force, and general Police Constitutional Policy with end goal of having conversation with Police Chief, City Manager, and City Attorney at the time a. However, all four parties could not make it work and the meeting got lost in turnover b. Todd confirms that review was not a request from CPD 3. Chief invites Commission to look over the policies outlined on the CPD website, and Todd will look into next steps to meet with CPD about policy suggestions 4. Mayor suggests that HRC should look into working with incoming PCRB, as this person will also play a role in policy review xiii. Commissioner asks what, if any, criteria would prevent CPD from working with another department (ex. joint training) 1. Chief explains that initial training comes from a joint Central Shenandoah Valley Academy a. Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) then mandates what training officers throughout the state receive b. Then, CPD has created a 7-week curriculum where they may be gaps in community engagement, etc. c. After, officers go through 3 months of field training i. During these trainings, officers also receive supplementary crisis intervention training, negotiations training, etc. ii. The state only mandates 40hrs of training every two years; CPD mandates training 40hrs every year and ensures all officers are trained in the same curriculum 2. Commissioner refers to bike patrol training with RPD a. Chief explains that International Police Mountain Bike Association (IPMBA) training is through certified national trainers, not the department xiv. Commissioner asks for Chief Brackney’s thoughts on community groups like the Buck Squad and Peace in the Streets and how they complement or challenge crisis situation police work 1. Mayor says that Buck Squad and Peace in the Streets have been grassroots approaches to community healing 2. They are on budget for funding and Council is trying to give them a more comfortable space 3. Peace in the Streets has especially been stepping up to support the community by looking at a youth mentorship approach 4. Councilors have been in communication with these groups, as the city is interested in having other avenues to make the community a better place xv. Commissioner references previous ad-hoc committee finding that most policies are geared toward internal understanding, and they should be more suited for public understanding 1. Asks who should be reviewing policies between the HRC and PCRB 2. Recommends to the Mayor that next time someone is added to PCRB, they are from the HRC 3. Chief responds that online availability of policies online gives community members and organizations the opportunity to read and review xvi. Chair asks if CPD has looked at options for having traffic enforcement (parking) being handled by another entity besides CPD 1. Chief responds this is already done by non-sworn civilians (CSOs) a. If there are moving violations, this is governed by legislature and handled by police depending on if it is a criminal offense xvii. Commissioner asks for navigation on website 1. CPD website is available via the city’s website (charlottesville.org/police) a. Data is available via “Crime Statistics” then “Department Data” xviii. Chair thanks Mayor Walker and Chief Brackney for their time and says HRC will be back in touch for follow-up and potential future collaboration b. Chair update i. Housing committee did not meet due to insufficient attendance, though there is interest in reconvening the committee, as the human rights perspective is valuable c. OHR Staff report i. Staff notes that report is attached ii. Staff suggests that Commission proposes standing days for ad hoc committee meetings during this meeting 1. Todd will propose to Communications the 1st and 2nd Thursdays 6:30- 8:30 for committee meetings 2. Committees will do their own minutes 3. Each committee will discuss among itself another time if that works better 4. Committee meetings must occur in person when possible; this will not likely be until after Labor Day iii. Ashley Reynolds Marshall, Deputy City Manager for REDI, has invited Todd to be on the PCRB interview panel 5. WORK SESSION a. Committee Reports i. Accessibility (Committee Chair – Wolfgang) 1. Committee Chair reports that committee had a successful meeting during which it put together a plan for outreach 2. ADA coordinator quit this week, making it 5 ADA coordinators in 3 years a. Committee Chair asks if is this a concern ii. Community Engagement (Committee Chair – Jessica) 1. Committee Chair reports that committee had a successful meeting during which it had some action items: a. Worked on drafting resolution b. Worked on documents using plain English, as well as brochures iii. Housing 1. Tobiah has indicated she cannot continue serving as Chair 2. Committee did not meet 3. Will reconvene this coming month and elect a new chair 4. Kathryn is willing to Chair iv. Legal Representation 1. Jessica reports committee did not meet 6. MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC a. PUBLIC COMMENT i. None. b. COMMISSION RESPONSE TO MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC i. None. 7. COMMISSIONER UPDATES a. Sue i. VAHR update 1. Virginia Association for Human Rights (VAHR) held annual meeting (first Saturday in June) a. Meeting approved new bylaws 2. Sue will convert these to the correct format and send them out to Commissioners 3. New year for VAHR begins July 1; VAHR needs a representative from each HRC for its Board of Directors a. Sue is on the Executive Committee as Parliamentarian b. Who will be point person for VAHR? i. Put on agenda for next meeting b. Jessica i. HRC Chair suggests to schedule time next meeting for following up about today’s meeting with Mayor Walker and Chief Brackney—maybe a committee? ii. Jessica suggests social media presence or interaction with the public may help with communication difficulty c. Subtitle update i. Todd says Lachen Parks has been experiencing technical difficulties, which is why there have not been subtitles during this meeting 8. NEXT STEPS a. Meeting with CPD regarding policy review i. Todd will look into next steps to meet with CPD about policy suggestions b. Committee meeting dates 1. Todd will propose to Communications the 1st and 2nd Thursdays 6:30- 8:30 for committee meetings 2. Each committee will discuss among itself another time if that works better c.Housing Committee i. Will reconvene this month and elect a new chair d. VAHR i. Sue will convert new bylaws to the correct format and send them out to Commissioners e. Next month’s agenda i. Identify a point person for VAHR ii. Follow up about this meeting’s conversation with Mayor Walker and Chief Brackney 9. ADJOURN a. Meeting adjourned at 8:31pm