Civilian Police Review Board reports eight cases reviewed, urges ordinance updates and outreach

Denine Palmir, chair of the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB), briefed the council committee on the board
s work through June. "To date, there's been eight cases that have been reviewed... there are eight cases reviewed, 10 violations," Palmir said, listing policy and procedure violations identified in the reviews.

Palmir described outreach steps the volunteer board has taken, including a new logo, marketing materials, an email address (chair [at] schenetctitycprb [dot] gmail [dot] com as presented) and portable displays for community events. She said the CPRB has struggled with appointments and quorum: the ordinance requires nine members and a quorum of five, but some stakeholder seats (NAACP nominee, Sycamore Collaborative) remain unfilled; one NAACP nominee was rejected because the nominee did not reside in the city.

The board also raised concerns about unclear subpoena authority in the ordinance and the tension between double-blind review language and the practical need for investigatory staff. Palmir said the board has no paid investigator despite language in the code and asked the council to consider clarifying roles, residency rules and whether stipend compensation is appropriate. Council members asked that complaint forms be broadened, translated into Spanish and made available in more community locations.