City Council Meeting Date: February 16, 2021
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Mark Elliott, Police Chief
Subject:
TITLE
Police Policy Task Force Report.
BODY
Action Requested:
No action requested at this time.
Summary Report:
This report and the council presentation is to provide an update to the city council on the work that was completed by the Police Policy Task Force. The Northfield Police Department Manual contains policies and procedures designed to guide the work the department members do. The policies that were reviewed by the Task Force are include in the materials supplies for this agenda item for information. The policy manual, once completed, will be posted online. This agenda item is to provide the City Council with a summary of the work completed by the Task Force and not meant to be a council discussion of the policy content.
In April 2020, the Northfield Police Department began a process to revise and update the policy manual the department uses to guide the operations of the department and the actions of its members. The department contracted with Lexipol to provide the framework for the policy manual through policies that follow federal and state laws, as well as court decisions, and best practices guidelines affecting law enforcement service delivery. The policies delivered by Lexipol ensure compliance with the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training Board. Shortly after this process began, we all witnessed the death of George Floyd, the civil unrest that followed, the murder charges that were filed, and the calls for police reforms.
Police policies are meant to guide the department employees in the work that they do. They are crafted to align with federal and state statutes and case laws, as well as industry best practices guidelines. Department policies are reviewed by all department members and comments are then sent to a policy working group, then on to the command staff for final review and approval by the Police Chief. This process is substantially similar to most police department’s policy review process.
The department is currently reviewing and editing the standard policies provided by Lexipol to fit our department and our community. The Minnesota model policy manual contains approximately 170 policies. As part of this review process the police department has requested assistance from the public in providing feedback on select policies that have been highlighted during recent calls for police reform.
Mayor Pownell, in consultation with the Police Chief and City Administrator, proposed a resolution establishing a task force of members of the public to provide feedback to the department on the policies through a series of meetings this fall and winter. The City Council unanimously passed this resolution that is attached as a reference. The City Council also added a college student to the task force and that resolution is attached as well.
Members of the task force were chosen as a community member and representative of a diverse cross section of organizations representing our city. The work they do and the people that make up their organizations including staff, clients, peers, and stakeholders represent our community thus positioning them well to share the voices of many throughout this process.
Police Chief Mark Elliott has expressed his desire to follow guidance offered in the 2015 President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing report in creating trust and legitimacy for the Northfield Police Department through transparency and accountability. He feels this process is meaningful in providing community voice and understanding into the work the police department performs.
The task force consisted of a diverse group of 13 community members and met six times from October to January to review policies, ask questions, and provide feedback which was used to formulate the final policies. The policies reviewed consisted of approximately 30 police policies that have a nexus to the police reform discussions that have recently occurred such as use of force, immigration, bias-based policing, standards of conduct, hate or prejudice crime reporting and investigation, etc
Given the current pandemic, the task force followed current Executive Orders on gatherings and met through an online format. The task force meetings were facilitated by Police Chief Mark Elliott. The task force reviewed the police policies, asked questions, and provided feedback for changes they felt were warranted. The feedback was reviewed and changes were made to several of the policies. Some examples of changes to the policies included considerations during arrests and searches for transgender persons, and person first language in the persons experiencing homelessness policy.
Many of the discussions included discussing the difficulty in defining actions and interpretations of words like reasonableness and necessary. There was acknowledgement of the difficulty the officers face in reacting to the wide and varied situations they respond to, along with a desire to ensure that the officers do respond in a reasonable way. The importance of appropriate and ongoing training and supervision were often discussed as critical in ensuring proper response by the officers.
Throughout the task force meetings there were significant in depth questions about police training, police calls, types of response to calls, and accountability. In fact, there was notably more considerable time was spent explaining police training, procedures and response capabilities than there was on the actual policy language.
The quest for knowledge, facts, and data about Northfield police department response, and the work the officers do was a theme throughout the task force meetings as well as many other community meetings the police chief has attended recently. While policies were the focus of this task force, very useful feedback and support for additional information and access to police statistical and operational information, as well as community response partnerships was identified as an area to focus on for future resource allocation.
Specifically regularly posted statistics on Northfield police calls and response, and training in areas such as mental health calls were identified as information that the public would deem helpful in gaining an understanding of the police work done in Northfield, and the preparation the officers receive to perform their duties.
This concept was also addressed in the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing report in Action item 1.3.1 which states:
To embrace a culture of transparency, law enforcement agencies should make all department policies available for public review and regularly post on the department’s website information about stops, summonses, arrests, reported crime, and other law enforcement data aggregated by demographics.
The task force also discussed a broader request for knowledge about police operations in the areas of training, discipline, programs, and policies. Discussions about how information, data statistics, and comparisons to peer agencies and best practices approaches should be readily accessible on the city website. The task force liked the way some other agencies provide this information online and would like to see Northfield follow suit. The task force also acknowledged that the consistent gathering, tracking, formatting through technology or software programs, and updating of this information requires a considerable amount of staff time. Many of the examples from other departments that were discussed had dedicated staff allocated to undertaking this effort. The task force felt there is extreme value in sharing information and felt additional staff should be added to accomplish this if needed.
Throughout the meetings there was generally positive support for the professionalism the Northfield officers display in the majority of their call response. While generally supportive there are also areas in which the department can make progress and a strategy of constantly striving for improvement was emphasized as a way to stave off complacency and poor performance.
Along with generally positive impressions of the work the officers do, the importance of the department’s collaborative approach in the community was stressed as vital to establishing and continuing the positive impression many have. Working with the community on public safety is a key element in the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing report and in calls for police reform. Instilling a guardian mindset throughout the department and approaching public safety through a community partnership approach are keys to maintaining public support for the department.
Included in the community partnership approach is the partnerships the police department has with other service providers in Rice and Dakota counties. These include other law enforcement agencies, EMS providers, medical providers, treatment providers, schools and colleges, and non-governmental organizations that provide services to underserved segments of the population. The department is involved in many programs that address public safety, personal wellbeing, and community wellness. These partnerships should continue, and expand when opportunities arise to address broader community safety goals.
Partnership discussions continued into the area of hiring and increased efforts should be made in increasing the diversity of the workforce. Task force members suggested partnerships with the local colleges, school district, and businesses as well as the city human resources department to combine efforts in order to maximize effect in achieving representative employee diversity reflective of the community. Exploring new opportunities and partnerships in this area should be a priority.
Officer wellness was addressed as well and the task force supported the notion that the police chief has that “well officers take care of the community well”. To that end, the department should ensure they have policies in place to support officer wellness and ensure officers are supported in doing the job well and remain healthy, physically and emotionally. The department should also have an early warning system and intervention strategy for officers not performing well. These themes are echoed in the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing report, and evidenced in many research reports.
In summary, the task force concluded that the policies adopted by the Northfield Police Department are in alignment with the community expectations. There was strong support for continuing the department’s community partnerships. The importance of delivering more information on the types of training officers receive, call data, and crime statistics was stressed as a means for meeting requests for transparency, and for community members to be able to gain an understanding of the work of the department. The department should make more information available online including the complete policy manual.
Alternative Options:
N/A
Financial Impacts:
N/A
Tentative Timelines:
Presentation of Police Policy Task Force Report during the February 16 regular city council meeting.