Borough Council to Hold Final Public Input Meeting on Community Oversight Board for Police Department

As State College moves closer to the formation of a Community Oversight Board for the borough police department, residents will have a final opportunity to provide input on the proposal.

Borough council will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the municipal building and on Zoom. Similar to the first special public input meeting in June, Assistant Borough Manager Tom King will give an overview of the draft ordinance that would establish the board, then the floor will be open for public comment in-person and online, assistant to the borough manager Douglas Shontz said.

Council is expected to vote on the ordinance at a meeting in August, though Shontz said that is still dependent on whether council decides to make any substantial changes to it. As written, it would go into effect on Oct. 1.

The COB has been under discussion and development for the past year. An ad hoc study committee appointed by council presented recommendations in December for the board’s authority and membership make-up, suggesting a monitoring and auditing-focused model, with some investigative elements.

“The oversight is really to focus on the police department’s policies and practices to make sure it’s supporting human and civil rights, looking at systemic racism and bias, prevent misconduct and really hope to try to build trust between our law enforcement and our community, particularly our community of color,” King said during the special meeting in June.

What the Board Could Do

Under the draft ordinance, the board would be able to “receive, process and investigate complaints about the department from members of the community through a civilian complaint process,” which would be established within six months of the board’s creation and its first quarterly meeting.

The board could “facilitate resolution of these complaints,” and assist individuals seeking to file formal complaints.

That process, however, would not replace the department’s Internal Affairs Section procedures for investigating allegations of officer misconduct, something that is governed by Pennsylvania law for police collective bargaining agreements.

As part of the auditing function, a staff member assigned to the board would observe internal affairs investigations by sitting in on interviews, asking questions “and observing the overall direction of the department’s disciplinary process and procedures.”

The monitoring function provides for three COB members and the department to conduct quarterly reviews of “redacted summaries of all incidents involving use of force and any complaints or allegations of officer misconduct received by the department or through the board’s established civilian complaint process, in order to ensure fairness and consistency, and actions consistent with the department’s disciplinary protocol.”

Aggregate information from the reviews will be submitted to borough council and made public.

The COB could commission an independent investigation of closed cases involving use of force resulting in injury or death “when questions persist even after the auditing and monitoring functions have been completed.” Such an investigation could only begin after any litigation has concluded and “will be conducted primarily for the purpose of making policy recommendations.”

In its data analysis role, the COB would have access to relevant information on all allegations of officer misconduct, including policies, complaints submitted to SCPD, proposed policy changes and “other information used to track performance measures and assess outcomes related to police practices and community perceptions.”

The board would make recommendations to council, borough administration and the police department regarding law enforcement policies, practices and procedures. It also would recommend strategies to provide education and training in the community and develop a communications plan, including an annual report, that promotes transparency by providing information about police activities to the public.

What It Can’t Do

The COB would be established by council and independent of borough administration. Its reports, recommendations and findings would not be binding on the borough.

It cannot override existing responsibilities and authority of council, the police chief or the borough manager.

As with internal affairs investigations, the COB may be limited by several state and local laws.

Who Would Be on It

While the selection of specific members is a matter for after the board is established, the draft ordinance outlines requirements and some specific experiences council is seeking to have among the COB’s membership.

Nine members would be appointed to three-year terms, with a maximum of nine continuous years on the board. They must live in the SCPD service area of State College and College and Harris townships and cannot be employed by or elected officials of those municipalities.

They also must “demonstrate open-mindedness and impartiality,” and sign a confidentiality statement.

“Members selected should reflect the broadest possible diversity with particular attention to categories of people who have suffered past institutional discrimination in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, LGBTQ identity, history of incarceration, immigration or citizenship status, religious minorities, and persons from any other marginalized or underrepresented groups,” the draft ordinance states.

Council has a “special interest” in appointing people with certain specific experiences, according to the draft ordinance. Those include:

– involvement in community organizations related to serving people in need

– understanding of the role played by systemic racism in society

– knowledge of law enforcement but not employed in a law enforcement position in the last three years

– background connected to behavioral health or intellectual disabilities

– understanding of the experiences of children in local schools related to policing

– a Penn State student.

Members would attend meetings held on a quarterly basis, at minimum, and would be required to participate in orientation, initial training and continuing education trainings. Failure to complete those trainings, repeatedly missing meetings, violating confidentiality, failure to recuse from a conflict of interest or remain impartial, or moving out of the SCPD service area would result in removal from the board.

A coordinator assigned to the COB would serve an administrative role and would meet with the board chair at least once a month.

Through the coordinator, the board could request from council authorization to contract for independent legal counsel, a data analyst and subject matter experts.

The borough is responsible for providing facilities and staff and services support.

State College’s 2021 budget allocates $165,000 from unrestricted reserves for the COB, including a full-time coordinator.

What the Public Said

At the meeting in June, members of the public who spoke mostly expressed support for the work that had been done to develop the COB, but raised several issues and questions.

Charles Dumas, a retired theater professor, longtime civil rights activist and borough resident, said the COB appears to be “an instrumentality” of council and was concerned about what would happen if a complaint encompassed not only the police department but also council.

“There’s a conflict of interest there that I think needs to be addressed… because the council appoints all the members of the board, has a nay and yay powers over decisions of the board,” Dumas said. “So therefore it’s not really an [authority, board or commission]; it’s an instrumentality of the council.”

He added that there is a lack of specified community input in the training process and that organizations like the State College NAACP and the Forum on Black Affairs should have involvement.

A borough document providing responses to questions asked during the meeting stated that the COB and its coordinator will be responsible for developing the curriculum, but noted that they would benefit from the involvement of those groups.

Janet Irons, who was a member of the study committee, said she had “a number of concerns,” but focused on board selection. The ordinance, she said, discusses filling vacancies through the council’s typical practices for authorities, boards and commissions but does not address how, exactly, members will be selected in the first place.

“I think that the intention is that we don’t do business as usual anymore. We’ve been fortunate to have many qualified educated people, because we’re a university community, to serve on these authorities, boards and commissions, but this oversight board is not like that,” Irons said. “This oversight board says we’re not a club anymore of privileged people. We’re opening up the community to a broad spectrum and that means the methods of communication and appointment need to change.”

In a the response document, the borough stated that council will direct borough administration to put out a call for interested volunteers and conduct outreach with groups and organizations. After a review for eligibility, the applicants will be provided to council, which may request additional information to determine qualifications before deciding on the nine members to appoint.

Melanie Morrison, secretary of the 3/20 Coalition advocacy group formed after the fatal police shooting of Osaze Osagie in 2019, said the board should have permanent funding, not from reserves. It also needs to start out as strong as possible, with as much “teeth,” as it can have.

“That’s not to say items or facets of the board won’t go to arbitration or be amended. But arbitration is not a dirty word,” she said. “Trying to create a board that is completely safe from arbitration would completely knock the wind out of it. We must start strong.”

Ezra Nanes, the presumptive next mayor of State College, said he feels “hopeful and positive” about the COB overall, but said the extent of its abilities need to be defined — such as what measures are available if something observed during the auditing process “doesn’t sit right.” He also agreed that questions about independence from council should be addressed.

“The main goal of the COB is to reframe the relationship between the community and our police, giving real power to the community represented by the COB over the police and to ensure accountability and impartiality in internal investigations within the police department,” Nanes said.

“I think that with the strong support of the State College Police Department, this board will be a vehicle for the creation of goodwill and trust and benefit both the department and community. I think that there’s a lot of good that will be created and I want the police to really fully get behind this and get behind the Community Oversight Board having some real power.”

As at the June meeting, members of the public will have four minutes each to speak during Wednesday’s meeting. Comments also can be submitted to [email protected].