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Civilian Police Review Board reports eight cases, proposes ordinance changes and steps up outreach
Summary
The Schenectady Civilian Police Review Board told the council committee it reviewed eight cases from January–June (10 violations identified), is expanding public outreach and is proposing multiple ordinance updates — including language on quorum, ex‑officio membership and subpoena authority — that it plans to forward for further review.
Schenectady — Deneen Paul Mateer, chair of the Schenectady Civilian Police Review Board, briefed the council on Aug. 18 that the board reviewed eight cases from January through June and identified 10 violations across those matters.
"Today, there's been 8 cases that have been reviewed. This is only through June," Deneen Paul Mateer told the committee. The chair reported the breakdown as 4 policy violations, 3 procedure violations, 1 use-of-force finding and 2 discourtesy findings; she said Office of Professional Standards reviews led to two sustained policy violations that proceeded through departmental discipline.
Why it matters: The CPRB advisory board reviews complaints and makes recommendations on police conduct and policy. The board’s report highlighted operational gaps — complaint-form distribution, quorum rules and the absence of subpoena power in practice — that affect how community complaints are handled and publicly perceived.
Board priorities and outreach: Mateer described steps to increase public awareness: a logo approved by the city corporation counsel, table runners, pens and magnets for outreach events, a board email address (chair.schenectadycprb@gmail.com as stated in the board update) and a PowerPoint for community presentations. She said the board is working to have complaint forms available in more locations and translated into Spanish. The board also reported sending proposed revisions to the complaint form to the chief of police for review on June 9.
Ordinance issues and proposed changes: The CPRB chair identified specific code sections the board wants revised, including quorum language (the code currently sets the board at nine members with a quorum of five), the roles of ex‑officio, nonvoting members (public safety commissioner and a city council appointee) and the board’s stated subpoena authority (which the chair said is contradictory with other ordinance language about ‘‘double‑blind’’ review and investigative staffing). The chair also noted an unfulfilled provision calling for an annual independent audit and a funded investigator position that has not been implemented.
Board operations and attendance: The chair said the CPRB has seven members currently with one holdover and two open seats (NAACP nominee was ineligible because that nominee did not reside in the city). She told the committee that the board has been trying to meet the community but that volunteer staffing and constantly evolving materials have limited broad printed distribution to date.
Budget and travel: The board reported a modest FY budget (about $15,000 last year), plans to send two board members to a national civilian-oversight conference this year and modest tabling costs for local outreach.
What’s next: The CPRB said it will continue ordinance revision work and requested that the council consider the practical effects of quorum language, ex‑officio membership and potentially funded staffing or an investigator position. The board invited committee members to ask questions; the committee took the update as informational. No council action was taken on the ordinance changes at the Aug. 18 meeting.
