DRAFT

Memorandum                    

City of Lawrence

TO:	City Commission
FROM:	Tony Mitchell, Chair, Community Police Review Board
Date: CC:	January ___, 2019 Community Police Review Board Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager
RE:	Proposed changes to Community Police Review Board Ordinance

At our meeting on December 5, 2018, the Community Police Review Board discussed the ordinance creating the board.

Of specific discussion was two sections of the ordinance, Section 1-2504 D and Section 1-2506 A. 

Section 1-2504 D involves how evidence is weighed during a review by the board, based on an appeal.  The Board discussed that there appears to be an internal conflict with the wording of this section.  We do not believe that the evidence can be reviewed without reweighing it.  We also have concerns about the intended meaning of the language “will not make witness credibility determinations.”.  Based on this discussion, we unanimously passed a motion to recommend that the third sentence in Ordinance 9324, Section 1-2504 D be amended to read “In its review of the Police Department’s factual findings, the Board will review the evidence”, striking the remainder of that sentence.  

Section 1-2506 A outlines the qualifications of the members of the board.  The board generally believed that it was not sufficient for someone to own a business and not be a resident of Lawrence to be on the Community Police Review Board.  Therefore, the board unanimously approved a motion to recommend deleting the language about owning a business in the City of Lawrence from the membership qualification in Section 1-2506 a2.